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Council of the Church in East Asia Meets

Diocesan Press Service. May 25, 1973 [73146]

MANILA, The Philippines -- For the first time in several years the bishops of all eleven member dioceses of the Council of the Church in East Asia (CCEA) were able to attend the annual meeting of bishops, held this year in Manila, 7-10 May.

The Council has had a constitution and held regular meetings since 1961, though it had existed for some years before that date. Bishops of seven races, representing dioceses in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Taiwan and Korea, met in Manila. The meeting, held in St. Andrew's Seminary, combined features of a retreat, a party for close friends, and a hard working conference. Bible study, which occupied a third of the time spent in session, was led by Fr. William Heffner, Asia/Pacific secretary for PECUSA (Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America). Bishop Lani Hanchett of Hawaii was present as a visitor.

Political conditions in some East Asian dioceses are delicate. In some places the Church is under severe pressure. The bishops spent much time in sharing their hopes and worries. In Mindanao there is a situation similar to that in Northern Ireland, where political and criminal influences have exacerbated a long-standing religious tension; Bishop Constancio B. Manguramas of the Episcopal Missionary Diocese of Southern Philippines reported how both Muslims and Christians can be found among the rebels, the refugees, and the rehabilitation workers.

Reports on church affairs included the growing hope of the Korean Church to establish a third diocese next year; a marked increase in liturgical growth in the region, especially in the Philippines, Sarawak, and Korea; growing concern among the bishops about ministry to Asian seafarers; and important developments in lay training, especially in Malaysia and Singapore.

During discussion of the ecumenical climate in the various dioceses of southeast Asia the bishops agreed that in some places constitutional union of churches may not be the best form of unity to be aimed at. It is possible that some other kind of organic relationship may be preferable.

The bishops agreed to support two financial projects this year: U.S. $750 each to the Philippines for rehabilitation and to Melanesia for hurricane relief.

There were three noteworthy expressions of opinion. The first was a welcome to the new form of MRI (Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence in the Body of Christ) being proposed for the Anglican Consultative Council agenda at Dublin in July. The bishops urged that the phrases "giving church" and "receiving church" should be abolished, and that the scope of the scheme should be clearly expressed so as to involve the total mission of the Church rather than merely the financing of projects.

PECUSA had asked all parts of the Anglican Communion what effect the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate would have on their relationships. The bishops said, " We believe that the dioceses of S. E. Asia would remain in full communion with PECUSA if it ordained women to the priesthood and episcopate, though some dioceses would be distressed, and for some the questions of priesthood and episcopate would have to be considered separately." (Not all accept the PECUSA bishops' assumptions about the nature of the unity of the priesthood and episcopate.)

On the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church the bishops said: "We acknowledge with thankfulness and joy the many manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church today; we welcome the increasing sense of freedom and exuberance in worship which characterizes our own life and that of many of our congregations; and we recognize the value of the 'charismatic' movement as a corrective to excessive secularism in some contemporary theology. At the same time we remind our dioceses of the injunction of St. Paul: 'If we live by the Spirit . . . we shall have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another. ' " (Gal. 5:25-26).

Next year's meeting of the bishops is expected to take place in the diocese of Taejon (Korea) and to be combined with a consultation with members of Anglican missionary agencies and others about the new MRI proposals, if the latter are accepted by the Anglican Consultative Council.