SINGAPORE: Global South Anglicans call for action against Episcopal Church, Anglican Church of Canada
Episcopal News Service. April 23, 2010 [042310-01]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
A communiqué issued April 23 at the end of the Fourth Anglican Global South to South Encounter in Singapore called on Anglican Communion provinces to "reconsider their communion relationships" with the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church.
The communiqué said the two provinces must show "genuine repentance" for actions that it said show they "continue in their defiance as they set themselves on a course that contradicts the plain teaching of the Holy Scriptures on matters so fundamental that they affect the very salvation of those involved."
The statement contrasted the work of two Nepalese Anglicans, whom the communiqué said were bringing the gospel to that "principally Hindu and Buddhist nation," with the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada "and all those churches that have rejected the way of the Lord as expressed in Holy Scripture."
The only action specially mentioned in connection with such rejection is the Episcopal Church's recent consent to the ordination and consecration of Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop-elect Mary Glasspool, a partnered lesbian, which the communiqué said "has demonstrated, yet again, a total disregard for the mind of the Communion."
Some 130 delegates from 20 Anglican provinces in Africa, West Indies, Asia and South America attended, according to the communiqué, along with what it called a number of "our partners in the Gospel" from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The statement welcomed two Communion Partners bishops from the Episcopal Church and "acknowledge[d] that with them there are many within TEC who do not accept their church’s innovations. We assure them of our loving and prayerful support."
The organizers have not released a list of participants and the communiqué was unsigned. Cherie Wetzel of Anglicans United posted a roster April 19 in which she listed Diocese of Central Florida Bishop John Howe and Diocese of South Carolina Mark Lawrence.
The Communion Partners organization of bishops and priests describes itself as providing a "visible link to the Anglican Communion" to those who need assurance of that connection, as well as "fidelity to the canonical realities, integrities and structures of the Episcopal Church."
The Global South statement also commended the decisions of archbishops Mouneer Anis (Jerusalem and the Middle East), Henry Orombi (Uganda) and Ian Ernest (Indian Ocean) to refuse to participate in meetings of the various Instruments of Communion at which Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada representatives are present.
It also urged Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to take action against the two provinces, as suggested in the Windsor Report (presumably in Section D), the 2005 Primates Meeting Communiqué from Dromantine (presumably paragraphs 13-19) and apparently in the so-called "Schedule" appended to the 2007 Primates Meeting Communiqué from Dar es Salaam.
In an earlier video message, Williams had told the gathering that "there are no quick solutions for the wounds of the body of Christ," and that he was "in discussion with a number of people around the world about what consequences might follow from that decision, and how we express the sense that most Anglicans will want to express, that this decision cannot speak for our common mind."
In a related concern, the communiqué said that the Primates' Meeting -- not the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion made of members of the Anglican Consultative Council -- should oversee the eventual implementation of the Anglican Covenant.
In other matters, the communiqué noted "the global shift in Christian demography brings with it new opportunities for evangelistic outreach" and called for a fresh understanding of "the challenges that are confronting the Church and the wider society."
"We also need to pay particular attention to the pastoral needs of the laity, especially women and young people, who are witnessing to their faith at the cutting edges of mission," the statement said.
The communiqué noted that some potential participants were unable to attend because of the disruption in air travel after a volcanic eruption in Iceland. "We were reminded yet again of the fragility of our earthly existence and our utter dependence upon the grace of God for life itself," the communiqué said, also noting the challenges of natural disasters, political instability and "the ever-present challenge of living in a world of multiple religions and competing truth claims."
The complete text of the communiqué is available here.