If one were trying to make members of the Episcopal Church suspicious of the new “pastoral visitors” who have “named by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to assist in healing and reconciliation given the current tensions in the Anglican Communion,” here is what one would do:
One hesitates to call attention to the work Episcopal congregations do in certain countries, for fear that those who oppose the church’s position on same-sex relationships will attempt to undermine it. But this particular cat has jumped out of the bag and into the pages of the Amity (CT) Observer. Let’s pray it lives a long life.
Bishop Barbara C. Harris, who recently celebrated the 20th anniversay of her consecration as the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion rates a passing
The Primates and Moderators of the Anglican Communion, at their recent meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, called Anglican Churches world-wide to observe 25th February, Ash Wednesday, as a day of prayer and solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe. UPDATED
The Changing Attitude blog reports that the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs reported to the UN periodic review of human rights in Geneva on February 9, 2009 that they know of no gay and lesbian groups in Nigeria and therefore see no reason to protect their rights. Davis Mac-Iyalla and other leaders of Changing Attitude Nigeria described the statement as a lie.
It seems like Christians are always struggling with a “Corinthian” tendency toward division and disunity. To be sure, in our denomination, and global Anglicanism, we’ve seen lots of it in the past six years, and certainly will see more. It is worth remembering that the Church of England broke ties with Rome in the middle 16th century over questions of authority and power.
Representative of the Anglican Communion churches in the Americas will be gathering next week to share with each other what they are doing in mission in this hemisphere and to see how they might most effectively cooperate with each other.
The Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, meeting at Modderpoort in the Free State from 16 to 20 February 2009, have been shocked at the news that the Provincial Department of Health in the Free State has withdrawn anti-retroviral medication from HIV positive patients because of shortage of funds.
Canon Joanna Udal has been serving in the Sudan as Assistant to the Archbishop of the Sudan, an appointment made jointly through the Church Mission Society and Lambeth Palace. One responsibility of her new position is maintaining a broad overview of Anglican Communion affairs, including Communion-wide processes (such as the Covenant process) and an appreciation of the particular socio-political context and mission-challenges of individual churches and provinces.
The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Canon Kenneth Kearon writes: ‘I want to bring to your attention the request of the Primates and Moderators