Anglican covenant conference to be held at Desmond Tutu Center, April 10-12
Episcopal News Service. January 29, 2008 [012908-01]
"An Anglican Covenant: Divisive or Reconciling?" is a public conference to be held April 10-12 at the new Desmond Tutu Center, located on the grounds of the General Theological Seminary (GTS) in New York City.
An Anglican covenant has been proposed as a way to resolve conflicts and clarify polity in the Anglican Communion, especially in the sexuality debate. In February 2007, the Anglican Primates' Meeting invited commentary on a proposed covenant in preparation for the Lambeth Conference to be held in England July 16-August 4, 2008.
The Tutu Center conference is an opportunity to engage the issues and ask questions such as: Will an Anglican covenant clarify Anglican identity and strengthen mutual interdependence or will it be a tool of exclusion and dominance? Is a covenant a biblical way forward, or would it impose a uniformity foreign to Anglicanism? Would a covenant assist or impede reconciliation among Anglicans?
"This gathering is an outstanding opportunity for church people to deliberate about a major issue facing the Anglican Communion," said conference co-convener Canon J. Robert Wright, professor of ecclesiastical history at GTS and historiographer of the Episcopal Church. "Many are concerned about the covenant process, but there have been few public opportunities to discuss it before the Lambeth Conference."
Three keynote speakers from parts of the Anglican Communion outside North America will present diverse views about the advisability of a covenant, the current draft, and the dynamics of current covenant discussion. Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the Province of the West Indies chairs the Covenant Design Group and is a strong advocate for a covenant. Offering a different analysis will be Dr. Jenny Te Paa, dean of the College of St. John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand, who also served on the Lambeth Commission on Communion. Canon Gregory Cameron, deputy secretary general of the Anglican Communion, will speak on the theme "Boundaries Old and Boundaries New: Views from the Edge of the Anglican Communion."
All interested persons from congregations, dioceses and the ecumenical community are welcome to attend the conference, as are persons who hold views anywhere along the wide spectrum of views in the current controversies of the church.
Panels of scholars from seminaries of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada will address the covenant question of reconciliation from the perspectives of scripture, history, theology, liturgy, ethics, mission and Anglican polity. As of mid-January, confirmed presenters include the Rev. Dr. Ellen Wondra of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois; Dr. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski of Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California; the Rev. Dr. Leander Harding of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania; the Very Rev. Dr. John Kevern of Bexley Hall in Columbus, Ohio; the Rev. Dr. Ian Douglas of Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and the Very Rev. Dr. Joseph Britton of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Students from the seminaries will be included as respondents to keynote and panel addresses.
"The conference's focus on reconciliation responds to a yearning in the church," said co-convener Titus Presler, sub-dean and professor of Mission and World Christianity at GTS. "The Tutu Center's opening conference last September highlighted global reconciliation, and this event will bring that theme to bear on the need for healing among the diverse groups in the Anglican Communion so that God's mission can flourish through us."
Registration begins February 1 on the website of the Desmond Tutu Center -- or by phone at 212-243-5150. Registration deadline for attending the conference is April 5, while the registration deadline for conference accommodation at the Tutu Center is March 5.
Further information about conference registration and costs is available at the Tutu Center website and by calling Conference Planning Director Chris Ballard at 212-243-5150.