Latin America Sets Anglican Congress
Episcopal News Service. [84172]
PANAMA (DPS, Sept. 6) -- The first Latin American Anglican Congress will take place in July 1987 after more than 150 years of Anglican missionary work in Latin America.
The congress, called by the primates of the Churches of Brazil and the Southern Cone and the president of Province IX of the Episcopal Church, will meet for seven days and will deal with a great number of issues of common concern to the 27 Anglican jurisdictions in the area. Hispanic Episcopalians in the United States are invited as an "extra-territorial diocese."
The congress will gather "to know each other better, to share and celebrate our common life and to promote the growth, development and mission of the Anglican Communion in Latin America."
Plans for the congress were drawn by a group of eight persons representing the jurisdictions in Latin America. The two-day meeting was presided over by the Rt. Rev. Colin Bazley, bishop of Chile and delegate of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, the newest province of the Anglican Communion.
Bogota, Colombia, has been chosen as a possible site for the the congress, with Panama as an alternative site.
Each diocese is encouraged to send five persons: a bishop, a priest and three other persons including young people and women. Dioceses with more than one bishop are also invited to send them along. The congress will be open to visitors and guests, and around 200 persons are expected.
Among the subjects that the group listed for discussion are: Anglican identity, missionary strategy, urban and rural mission, training for ministry, evangelism, Anglican and Christian literature, and the socio-political situation of Latin America and the church's response to it. Subjects like theological education, Christian education, and music and liturgy have been also listed as possible congress topics.
The organizing group will report to their respective primates for final approval. The primates will also be asked to appoint one or two persons to the congress planning committee which will meet regularly between now and 1987.
The group is asking the Episcopal Church to second the Rev. Onell Soto, mission information officer at the Episcopal Church Center in New York, to assist the planning committee on its work.
The expenses for participants will be covered by each diocese. "Our people could go by bus from Chile (a traveling time of eight days) if needed," said Bazley.
He stated that the time has come for such a congress in Latin America, adding "We are coming of age, and we need to set the course of our lives in common consultation."