Conservative Anglicans, meeting in Jerusalem, struggle to find a united voice
Episcopal News Service, Jerusalem. June 24, 2008 [062408-01]
Matthew Davies
The diversity of opinions expressed by some of the 1,000 participants attending the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) reveals that the current divide in the Anglican Communion is more than simply a conflict between liberals and conservatives.
The language adopted in a 94-page document, "The Way, The Truth, The Life," released on June 19, appears to indicate that the GAFCON leadership had already made up its mind that division was inevitable. The document, however, was drafted by a small number of GAFCON leaders. Other participants at the June 22-29 summit in Jerusalem are "at different points in the journey," Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda told ENS.
Acknowledging that the conservatives at GAFCON are struggling to find their voice, Orombi recognized that "some are staying; some are tired; some are walking. It's important for people here to define their needs."
Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria states that GAFCON is not going to break away from the Anglican Communion. "We have no other place to go, nor is it our intention to start another church," he said.
Bishop Bruce MacPherson of the Diocese of Western Louisiana, who said he is attending GAFCON "to see how all of this will influence the work of the Lambeth Conference," emphasized that he is committed to the Episcopal Church remaining a constituent member of the Anglican Communion.
An Episcopal priest, who asked not to be named, said he never had and never would consider leaving the Episcopal Church. "I am here for the duration," he said, "even if I disagree with recent events that have strained relationships."
At the other extreme, some GAFCON attendees are leading breakaway groups in the U.S. Former Episcopal priest Martyn Minns was consecrated as a bishop in the Anglican Church of Nigeria and leads the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) that lays claim to 67 churches in the U.S., including 11 Episcopal Church parishes in the Diocese of Virginia.
Some Anglicans perceive these developments as divisive while others regard them as an expression of outreach to Episcopalians in the U.S. who have found that they cannot remain in the Episcopal Church because of recent developments, including the 2003 consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay man to be elected a bishop in the Anglican Communion.
Minns, who is not recognized as a bishop by the Archbishop of Canterbury, said that GAFCON is bringing people together across divides and that participants "are thrilled to be here and have a love for the Anglican Communion which is breathtaking."
Orombi told participants during a June 23 keynote address that "the Anglican Communion is in need of healing, and the antidote is Jesus Christ."
While Akinola writes in GAFCON's 94-page document that "now we confront a moment of decision," Minns says he is not sure what the outcome of the conference will be, and described it as "a movement, not a moment."
Bishop Robert O'Neill of the Diocese of Colorado, who is visiting the Holy Land at the invitation of Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani, observed that "while the GAFCON document states that 'there is no longer any hope...for a unified Communion,' other conservative voices claiming equally solid evangelical credentials argue that 'the ship hasn't sunk yet' and make a case for staying in relationship and bringing their voices to the table in order to strengthen and renew the mission of the church."
O'Neill was one of eight people pictured on an official list of those to be denied entry to GAFCON should they try to show up. O'Neill confirmed that he had no intention of attending GAFCON and was in Jerusalem as Dawani's guest.
In addition to Minns, several other former Episcopal priests who have been consecrated in African provinces to serve as missionary bishops in the U.S. are also attending the GAFCON conference.
These actions have been described as "interventions" or "boundary crossings" by official councils or representatives of the Anglican Communion and they violate a request made in the Windsor Report for such actions to cease. Published in October 2004, that report includes recommendations on how the Anglican Communion could maintain the highest degree of unity amid differing viewpoints on biblical interpretation and human sexuality issues.
Minns said that the Windsor Report had set forth an acceptable plan that made specific demands of the Episcopal Church, which, he said, have not been adhered to. Asked about the Windsor Report's request for bishops to cease boundary crossings, Minns said that is not the presenting issue.
While Minns and other irregularly consecrated former Episcopalians have not been invited to attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference next month, Orombi, Akinola and two other African primates will be boycotting the once-a-decade gathering through personal choice. Those primates have declared that the bishops in their provinces will also stay away, despite reports that some were hoping to attend the Canterbury gathering.
"Lambeth has been designed not to wrestle with the important issues" being addressed at GAFCON, Minns said.
MacPherson said he is disappointed that some bishops attending GAFCON have chosen to boycott the Lambeth Conference. "It's important for us all to be at the table together," he said, and agreed that GAFCON does not simply represent a conflict between liberals and conservatives.
Other conservative TEC bishops at GAFCON -- including Jack Iker of Fort Worth, Peter Beckwith of Springfield and Keith Ackerman of Quincy -- have said they will be attending the Lambeth Conference.
In his opening address to the conference June 22, Akinola said that GAFCON has "understandably elicited both commendation and contempt in varying measures from all who claim a stake in shaping the future identity or in destroying the traditional identity of the global Anglican Communion."
At a news conference following that address, Akinola and Orombi declined to condemn violence against homosexuals after a series of questions from the media specifically addressed reports of gay and lesbian people being raped and tortured in Africa. Both archbishops referred to contextual issues and Akinola noted that "every community, every society, has its own standards of life."
GAFCON has been perceived by critics as a "divisive event," or one that tries to undermine the Communion, its legislative processes and the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury as a spiritual leader.
MacPherson told ENS, however, that he did not see GAFCON as a divisive event but one of real concern for the Anglican Communion. "It's important not to get involved in this side or that side but to be faithful to the mission of the church," he said.
Akinola told the conference June 22 that the Anglican Communion needs to be rescued from "apostates" and criticized Lambeth Palace, home to the Archbishop of Canterbury, for its lack of interest "in what matters to us, in what we think or in what we say."
GAFCON is expected to release a statement towards the conclusion of its meeting after "bishops, priests and laity meeting in Jerusalem…[have] had a chance to seek God's guidance and contribute their thoughts to the Statement Committee," an official conference release said.
The conference is asking participants to offer feedback about the gathering. Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of the Anglican Church of Kenya said that the committee is especially interested in hearing what peoples' concerns and fears are about GAFCON. "We are looking for the weaknesses so that we can deal with them at the very beginning…Unless we give people a chance to evaluate us…we have a problem," he said.
For the Rev. Canon Brian Cox, who is in Jerusalem working on a faith-based reconciliation project in the Middle East, the important question is: "To what extent is GAFCON an invitation for conversation?
"Is it possible that conservatives in the church -- those who have remained and those who have chosen to form new structures -- are sending a signal that there needs to be a real conversation?" asked Cox, a priest from the Diocese of Los Angeles. "Is it possible that GAFCON presents an opportunity for a more intentional process of reconciliation in the Anglican Communion?"
Throughout the week, GAFCON pilgrims will attend plenary sessions and workshops and visit historic sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee.
Dawani, who has expressed concerns that the conference would import "inter-Anglican conflict" into his diocese and made earlier calls for it to be moved, addressed GAFCON participants during a June 22 service of Evening Prayer at St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem.
Describing the Anglican community in the Holy Land as "orthodox," Dawani told ENS: "We do not agree with recent developments in the Episcopal Church concerning sexuality, but that is not going to divide us. Unity is at the heart of the gospel and we as indigenous Christians in this Holy Land are committed to the work of peace, justice and reconciliation."