Anglican Communion leaders to meet in Tanzania
Episcopal News Service. January 31, 2007 [013107-02]
The Primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion will gather for their regularly scheduled meeting February 14-19, 2007, in Jangwani Beach near Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
There are 38 Primates (senior bishops, Presiding Bishops, Moderators) of the Anglican Communion. The Primates come together from the geographic Anglican Provinces around the world. The Archbishop of Canterbury chairs the meetings with the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, serving as secretary.
As "primus inter pares" -- first among equals -- the Archbishop of Canterbury gathers his fellow Primates together for Bible study, worship and conversation on the current state of affairs and mission in the global church. Archbishop Rowan Williams has stated that he is looking to the Primates for guidance on matters relating to the Lambeth Conference 2008 as well as looking at the Episcopal Church's response to the Windsor Report, in light of a special report to be discussed from a sub-committee of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) and Primates Standing Committee. There will also be reports on the Panel of Reference and The Listening Process. Also on the agenda is the welcoming of Hellen Wangusa of Uganda as the new Anglican Observer at the United Nations in New York. She will be installed at services in New York at Trinity Church, Wall Street, and in Zanzibar Cathedral.
New primates will be welcomed from several provinces, including Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia; Australia; Brazil; Burundi; Hong Kong; Indian Ocean; Ireland; Japan; Korea; Scotland; Southeast Asia and the United States.
This is the first time an Archbishop of York will officially attend a Primates Meeting. Kearon said, "It is the hope that the presence of Dr. [John] Sentamu will allow more discussion of church life in Britain, as the Archbishop of Canterbury's focus is heavily global during these gatherings."
On Sunday, February 18, the Primates will travel by boat to Zanzibar for a Solemn Eucharist in the Anglican Cathedral, where the altar is built over an old slave trading post, as the people of Zanzibar commemorate the 100th anniversary of the last slave sold in Zanzibar and the 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in the British empire.
The Primates Meetings have always been private. Press and media briefings will be offered as appropriate and if needed. There will be a final press briefing if a communique is issued. Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) will be updated with photos on a daily basis.
To subscribe to the ACNS List visit: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/acnslist.html
Press and media are asked to register to make certain they receive all news and information items coming from the Tanzania meeting. There is no press facility on site but local hotels, we understand, have internet and wireless access.
A formal public photo call will follow the Eucharist on Sunday in Zanzibar.
ENDS
For additional information on the Primates Meeting contact:
Canon Jim Rosenthal
Mobile/Cell: +44 (0) 7803 894751;
Office: +44 (0) 207 313 3909
Email: jim.rosenthal@aco.org
For matters relating to the Archbishop of Canterbury contact:
The Rev. Jonathan Jennings
Office: +44 (0) 207 898 1280
Presiding Bishop looks forward to Primates' collaboration
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has underscored her commitment to the collaborative work of the Anglican Primates' Meeting, set for February 14-19 near Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
"Our shared work as Primates of the Anglican Communion is strategic for addressing hunger, poverty, and preventable disease around the world, and I especially look forward to collaborating on initiatives related to the Millennium Development Goals," Jefferts Schori said. "There is much we can achieve together in building the Reign of God, but it will require us to see that God's larger purposes transcend our internal differences. That willingness to trust in God's leading despite our own fears and divisions is the trust Jesus showed us. May we seek to follow in his road."
In other news, ENS has confirmed that three U.S. bishops have been invited to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury for a consultation in Tanzania prior to the opening of the official Primates' Meeting agenda.
Those bishops are Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, who is convenor of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDAP), a consortium endorsed by some 10 of the Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses; Christopher Epting of the Episcopal Church Center in New York, who is the Presiding Bishop's Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs; and Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana, who, among other ministries, is president of the Presiding Bishop's Council of Advice.
From Tanzania, ENS will carry regular reports written by international correspondent Matthew Davies and ENS director Robert Williams, who was editor of the daily newspaper of the 1998 Lambeth Conference.