Latimer: March 2007 Archives

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March 30, 2007

Row over Schori's Primates Satement

US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has qualified her support for the Primates’ Dar es Salaam communiqué, telling reporters her endorsement did not connote agreement,but signified her intention to act as the Primates’ messenger to the US House of Bishops.

Row over Schori's Primates Satement -
The Church of England Newspaper Electronic Edition
28.03.07
www.churchnewspaper.com/cen_online

In a March 21 conference call with reporters, Bishop Jefferts Schori said she backed the US House of Bishops’ decision to reject the pastoral council. Asked whether this support served to revoke her signature on the Primates’ communiqué,she responded that she had not signed the Feb 19 Dares Salaam statement.

Her assent had been given orally, she said. DrWilliams had gone aroundthe room asking each primate if they could live with this agreement. The Presiding Bishop said she told the primates: “I would bring thisback to the House of Bishops’ and “explain it” to them, and “seek the will of the House.” Asked to clarify her comments, she said the “best way to gain a consensus” among the Primates in Tanzania had been to support the communiqué, however,“she was not able to speak for the whole House of Bishops.”

Recollections of events from the final session of the primates meeting differ. Speaking with The Church of England Newspaper shortly after the meeting,one participant stated Bishop Jefferts Schori said “I accept,” in response to Dr Williams’ query whether she could live with theagreement.

The communiqué represented the “feeling of the meeting as a whole” Dr Williams’ told a Feb 19 press conference in Dar esSalaam, while Archbishop Andrew Hutchison told the Anglican Journal of Canada he had endorsed the communiqué after Bishop Jefferts Schori said she wouldsign it. “I told her, ‘It’s all about you. If you decide not to sign, I won’t sign. I’ll be there with you’.”

Not signing the Primates communiqué, Bishop Jefferts Schori told Archbishop Hutchison, would send the message “that at great expense and effort, we have accomplished nothing and we have nothing to say.”

The Presiding Bishop’scomments come at themoment of the American church’s sharpest divide,with some warning of impending schism, while others arguing all is well. Bishop Jefferts Schori explained the rejection was “not a final decision,” but are commendation by the Bishops to the church’s Executive Council. The Episcopal Church’s formalresponse to the communiqué would not come until September, after a series of town-hall style meetings and consultations acrossThe Episcopal Church,she said.

The Primates neededto “hear concerns around our polity”, she said, noting“ other parts of ocurred. Colorado Bishop Robert O’Neill told his diocese the bishops did not “close any doors or cut off the serious and substantive discussion that is necessary to respond fully and appropriately to the Primates’concerns.”

What the bishops’ rejection had accomplished was “to make a statement which self-differentiated ourselvesas The Episcopal Church while protecting the polity of our church. This means no outside interference which would violate our Canons or Constitution,”
Rochester, NY Bishop JackMcKelvey said.

Conservative leaders were less sanguine.“Appeals to ‘our polity’ would be more convincing if we actually took our polity seriously,” the Bishop of Dallas James Stanton observed. The consequences of the bishops’ rejection were grim, others argued. “It now appears that a divorce maybe unavoidable,” Bishop Jeffrey Steenson of the Rio Grande told his diocese. Now “there is clearly no place left for conservative Christians within the Episcopal Church’s official structures,” Dr Ephraim Radner of the Anglican Communion Institute stated, while Dr Paul Zahl, the Dean of Trinity School for Ministry, the Episcopal Church’s flagship evangelical seminary, lamented: “It is time for all of us to give up,” and “give up unconditionally.”

In a brief statementreleased through the Anglican Consultative Council,Dr Williams noted the results had been “discouraging,” showing the “need for further discussion and clarification.” A spokesman for Lambeth Palace told The Church of England Newspaper Dr Williams would release a detailed statement in the coming days.

At the close of the Primates’ meeting however, DrWilliams stated, “these are the terms that have been put” to the US House of Bishops. “I think it would be rather difficult if there were a response in other terms.” If the US church were unable to give the “reassurances” requested by the primates, “then in fact the damage is not repaired, and that has to affect some of the consideration we would want to give about the organs of the Communion,” Dr Williams said on Feb 19.

The leaders of the GlobalSouth coalition of primates were caught off guard by the US decision. Many were traveling or conducting visitations when the news broke, and have not had an opportunity to gather as a group to offer a collective response.

However, South American Archbishop Gregory Venables stated: “It is not possible to maintain a relationship when one party unilaterally and coldly departs from previously agreed foundations,” adding “now we must move to separation as quickly and as gracefully as possible.”
Archbishop Carlos Touche Porter of Mexico argued rejection of the pastoral council by the US was inevitable. There was “no other response” to the primates “that could have come out of the House,” he said.

Posted by latimer at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2007

Church must be 'safe place' for gay and lesbian people

Archbishop of Canterbury - Church must be 'safe place' for gay and lesbian people

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said that the churches of the Anglican Communion must be safe places for gay and lesbian people. His comments come in a welcome to an interim report on the Anglican Communion's Listening Process, a commitment to listen to the experience of homosexual people. Archbishop Williams warns that the challenge to create the safe space for their voices to be heard and for their dignity to be respected is based on a fundamental commitment of the Communion.

"The commitments of the Communion are not only to certain theological positions on the question of sexual ethics but also to a manifest and credible respect for the proper liberties of homosexual people, a commitment again set out in successive Lambeth Conference Resolutions over many decades. I share the concerns expressed about situations where the Church is seen to be underwriting social or legal attitudes which threaten these proper liberties. It is impossible to read this report without being aware that in many places - including Western countries with supposedly 'liberal' attitudes - hate crimes against homosexual people have increased in recent years and have taken horrifying and disturbing forms.

"No-one reading this report can be complacent about such a situation, and the Church is challenged to show that it is truly a safe place for people to be honest and where they may be confident that they will have their human dignity respected, whatever serious disagreements about ethics may remain. It is good to know that the pastoral care of homosexual people is affirmed clearly by so many provinces."

In his statement, Archbishop Williams paid tribute to the work of Canon Phil Groves and the team at the Anglican Communion Office involved in coordinating the Listening Process. The interim report, comprising summaries of the Communion's 38 Provinces' progress on the issue, can be found at www.aco.org/listening/reports/

The full statement follows:
"I am profoundly grateful to Canon Phil Groves and all at the Anglican Communion Office who have worked so hard to produce this preliminary account of what the Communion has done to honour its commitment at Lambeth 1998 to listen to the experience of gay and lesbian people. It is a commitment that has been repeated many times but it has not proved easy to set up an appropriate process that will involve the whole Anglican family.

"The sensitivities of this exercise are obvious. Social, cultural and legal contexts are very varied indeed. And in the present climate of the Anglican Communion, there is inevitably a suspicion either that this is just window-dressing, or that it is a covert programme for changing doctrine and discipline. Real - and mutual - listening is hard to achieve. There are contexts where it is difficult to find a safe place for gay and lesbian people to speak about their lives openly. There are contexts where people assume the debate is over. The report shows that listening is possible, but also that there is a great deal still to be done. The work continues, but we have a solid start here.

"I welcome this document as a valuable first stage in our collective response to the challenge that the last Lambeth Conference put before us, and I hope that it will be part of the 'deep and dispassionate'
study of issues in sexual ethics for which an earlier Lambeth Conference called."

Ends

___________________________________________________________________
ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London

Posted by latimer at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2007

The 'Listening' Process

A Study Guide For use at the Lambeth Conference 2008 on: The Process of Listening to Gay and Lesbian people and Mutual Listening on Human Sexuality. The culmination of months of work on what is known as "The Listening Process," a process begun in response to the mandate of Lambeth Conference 1998 Resolution 1.10, and subsequent Primates Meetings,

Listening Process Summaries now on-line

Preparation of a Study Guide on Human Sexuality for the 2008 Lambeth Conference Announced

Study Guide can be found here: www.aco.org/listening/study/

Summaries can be found here: www.aco.org/listening/reports/

The culmination of months of work on what is known as "The Listening Process," a process begun in response to the mandate of Lambeth Conference 1998 Resolution 1.10, and subsequent Primates Meetings, is now set out on the Anglican Communion website for use around the Anglican world. The Anglican Consultative Council, at their meeting in Nottingham, requested the appointment of a facilitator for this work.

Each of the summaries has been compiled in co-operation with the Primate of that Province. Facilitator Canon Phil Groves of the Anglican Communion Office said, 'The summaries have drawn upon public statements and further research. Each Primate has approved the final text.'

Each Province has sent reports, statements and papers. In addition the Facilitator has taken time to speak to Primates and their representatives form each of the Provinces and in order to produce these summaries. The primates asked for the summaries to be 'made more fully available across the Communion for study and reflection

In addition to the summaries, and the materials being formulated on our website, A Study Guide for use at the Lambeth Conference 2008 on: The Process of Listening to Gay and Lesbian people and Mutual Listening on Human Sexuality is underway. The facilitator requests contributions for the study guide, the full details are on the website.

The Primates also asked for 'the preparation of material to assist the bishops at 2008 Lambeth Conference.' The Facilitator for the Listening Process is asking for contributions to be used in the writing of a Study Guide.

The Revd Canon Phil Groves can be reached at the Anglican Communion Office in London. Email is phil.groves@aco.org, telephone +44 (0) 207
313 3917.

ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London,

Posted by latimer at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2007

America Rebuffs Primates

22.03.07 - The American Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops has rejected a key element ofthe communiqué issued by the Primates at last month’smeeting in Tanzania, saying they will not accept a pastoral council that undermines their authority.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 21 2007 No: 65 www.churchnewspaper.com

CHURCH OF ENGLAND THE ORIGINAL CHURCH NEWSPAPER ESTABLISHED IN 1828

America Rebuffs Primates

By George Conger

www.churchnewspaper.com/cen_online

The American Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops has rejected a key element of the communiqué issued by the Primates at last month’s meeting in Tanzania, saying they will not accept a pastoral council that undermines their authority.

The Bishops yesterday released their “Mind of the House” resolution rejecting the pastoral provision of the Dar es Salaam plan, but claimed is not a complete rejection of the Primates’communiqué.

The rejection of the pastoral council plan by the House of Bishops, following closely upon the dismissal of the recommendations of the Panel of Reference by the Bishop of Florida earlier this month, leaves the Archbishop of Canterbury few options as the American church has rejected all of the structural mechanisms put forward to event a confrontation with the Global South.

The Bishops meeting took place at Houston from March 16-21, where they wrote a four-part resolution, extended an invitation to Dr Williams to visit the US, and released a statement attacking the Primates’ communiqué and outlining why they ould not accede to its emands.

While Dr Williams and the Primates asked the House of Bishops to respond to the Dares Salaam plan, the US bishops have attempted to step out of the line of fire, and have made their recommendations to the US church’s Executive Council — asking it to make the decision.

The four-part resolution affirmed the Bishops’ desire to be invited to the 2008 Lambeth Conference and to remain “part of the councils”
of the Communion; stated that the interpretation of the Preamble of the US Church’s constitution, which says that it is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and in communion with the See of Canterbury, was a matter for the US Church alone to interpret; rejected the Dar esSalaam plan of pastoral careas “injurious” to the Episcopal Church; and pledged to find alternative ways of “meeting the pastoral concerns of the Primates.”

In a letter to Dr Williams,the bishops stated they believed there was an “urgent need for us to meet face to face” to discuss these issues and asked him to “join us a tour expense” at a meeting in the United States before the Sept 30 deadline set by the Primates’ communiqué.

However, the Rev Richard Kirker, Chief Executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, welcomed the Episcopal Church’s response.He said: “At last some sanity is breaking into the debate. There is an obvious realisation that the consequences of this pandering to the Puritans means an increasing hostility towards lesbian and gay people so clearly demonstrated by the Archbishop of Nigeria who is fiercely promoting anti-gay legislation in his country contrary to Scripture and all the decisions of Anglicanism over the last 30 years.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury has much to answer for. His decision to sell us down the river in the short term to buy time has back-fired - the Americans are having none of it and we hope he will now come to see his strategy has failed. "If the Americans are expelled from the Anglican Communion this will encourage those already bent on ourdestruction to persecute lesbian and gay people.”

The Episcopal News Service

www.dfms.org/3577_84198_ENG_HTM.htm

House of Bishops: Message to God's People

Spring House of Bishops Meeting
Camp Allen Episcopal Conference Center
Navasota, Texas
March 16-21, 2007

A Message to God's People...from the Bishops of the Episcopal Church

As we prepare for Easter and the joyous celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we send you greetings from Navasota, Texas where we gathered for the spring meeting of the House of Bishops. We represent fifteen sovereign nations, the fifty United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, and Micronesia bearing witness to the Gospel of Our Lord and the wonders of Christ's redeeming work in the world. We were reminded of the health and vitality of our Church as our new Presiding Bishop recounted her travels. We have experienced a sense of identity, clarity, and purpose in fulfilling our vocation as bishops. We were blessed by the presence of the Primate and the House of Bishops of the Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico. Together we discovered a growing unity as we seek the mind of Christ. Our meeting was marked by a spirit of thanksgiving and respect, lived in a rich rhythm of worship, work, study, and rest.

That spirit moved us deeper into our focus on mission for Christ. In that context we discussed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Primates' Communiqué, the draft Anglican Communion Covenant, as well as a number of other mission opportunities.

The central theme of the address by the Rev. Dr. Ian Douglas of the Episcopal Divinity School was that "the mission of the Church is to participate in the mission of God". This observation set the tone for our study and discussion of the MDGs. We gave special attention to the challenge of environmental sustainability, the theme of a presentation by Dr. John Pine of Louisiana State University who addressed the environmental implications of global climate change.

We heard from the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner and the Rev. Dr. Katherine Grieb, members of the Covenant Drafting Committee, each of whom brought a distinct perspective regarding the proposed Covenant. Their presentations, which are available on line, will inform further conversations as the drafting process continues prior to the Lambeth Conference of 2008.

Mission concerns received attention in a variety of workshops and presentations, including: the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, Darkness into Day campaign, TEAM (Toward Effective Anglican Mission), TEAC (Theological Education within Anglican Communion), Bishops Working for a Just Society, issues facing returning military personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families, as well as immigration and border issues viewed from both the United States and Mexican perspectives. The fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq was marked by a prayer vigil for peace. Then, in both formal and informal ways, members of the House expressed their strong desire to keep God's mission at the center of the life of the Church.

We also heard a well-documented report by the House of Bishops' Task Force on Property Disputes on the history and strategy of groups, including some in the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDAP) and others, to remove congregations and church property from The Episcopal Church. This report will be made available at a later date. We commend it, once publicly available, to diocesan Standing Committees.

We had an extended and thoughtful discussion of the Communiqué from the Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam, which represents the beginning of a longer process of response that will continue through the coming months.

It is our strong desire to remain within the fellowship of the Anglican Communion. The Primates' Communiqué, however, raises significant concerns. First among these is what is arguably an unprecedented shift of power toward the Primates, represented, in part, by the proposed "Pastoral Scheme." This proposed plan calls for the appointment of a Primatial Vicar and Pastoral Council for The Episcopal Church whose membership would consist of "up to five members; two nominated by the Primates, two by the Presiding Bishop, and a Primate of a Province of the Anglican Communion nominated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to chair the Council." We believe this proposal contravenes the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. Moreover, because it is proposed that this scheme take immediate effect, we were compelled, at this March meeting, to request that the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church decline to participate in this aspect of the Communiqué's requests. Nonetheless, we pledge to continue working to find a way of meeting the pastoral concerns raised by the Primates that are compatible with our own Church's polity and canons. We should note that our recommendation to Executive Council not to participate in the Pastoral Scheme, though not unanimously endorsed by this House, came at the conclusion of long and gracious conversation.

Finally, we believe that the leaders of the Church must always hold basic human rights and the dignity of every human being as fundamental concerns in our witness for Christ. We were, therefore, concerned that while the Communiqué focuses on homosexuality, it ignores the pressing issues of violence against gay and lesbian people around the world, and the criminalization of homosexual behavior in many nations of the world.

The Theology Committee of the House of Bishops was charged with the responsibility of developing a teaching guide for consideration of both the Primates' Communiqué and the proposed draft Covenant for the Anglican Communion. We anticipate this guide will be available by late May for use by bishops and dioceses in preparation for the September meeting of the House of Bishops.

The bishops unanimously affirmed a Mind of the House Resolution inviting the Archbishop of Canterbury and the members of the Primates' Standing Committee to meet, at a time of their choosing, with the House of Bishops.

As we prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery we call for your prayers for and commitment to God's mission of making all things new.

For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5)

Posted by latimer at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)

American Bishops Reject Primates' Ultimatum

The House of Bishops has declined to participate in a pastoral initiative designed by the primates to care for congregations and dioceses which for reasons of conscience cannot accept the episcopal ministry of their bishop or primate.

Bishops Reject Primates' Ultimatum
www.livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp?ID=3146

“We understand that the present situation requires intentional care for those within our Church who find themselves in conscientious disagreement with the actions of our General Convention,” the bishops said. “We pledge ourselves to continue to work with them toward a workable arrangement. In truth, the number of those who seek to divide our Church is small, and our Church is marked by encouraging signs of life and hope.”

The rejection was contained in one of three resolutions approved by the bishops on March 20. The resolutions were debated as part of a business session during the bishops’ annual spring retreat held March 16-21 at Camp Allen near Houston.

The bishops noted several times in the three resolutions that they desired to remain full members of the Anglican Communion. Only General Convention, however, can make decisions which are binding on The Episcopal Church. In their Feb. 19 communiqué, the primates asked the House of Bishops to respond on behalf of The Episcopal Church no later than Sept. 30. The bishops deferred the Church's response on the pastoral council to Executive Council.

The bishops listed five reasons why they considered the pastoral council and primatial vicar to be a bad idea. The pastoral council violates the canons which contain no provision for the primate to delegate authority. It would change the character of the “Windsor process.” It harkens back to a period of Colonialism from which The Episcopal Church was liberated. It replaces local rule by laity with a curial model.

“Most important of all it is spiritually unsound,” they said. “The pastoral scheme encourages one of the worst tendencies of our Western culture, which is to break relationships when we find them difficult instead of doing the hard work necessary to repair them and be instruments of reconciliation. The real cultural phenomenon that threatens the spiritual life of our people, including marriage and family life, is the ease with which we choose to break our relationships and the vows that established them rather than seek the transformative power of the Gospel in them. We cannot accept what would be injurious to this Church and could well lead to its permanent division.”

In the first resolution, the bishops said only General Convention can define the Church's relationship toward the Anglican Communion. In the second resolution, the bishops restated their desire to continue to participate in the life and work of the Communion and requested an urgent meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the primates standing committee.

“We believe that there is an urgent need for us to meet face to face with the Archbishop of Canterbury and members of the primates’ standing committee, and we hereby request and urge that such a meeting be negotiated by the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury at the earliest possible opportunity,” they said. “We invite the Archbishop and members of the primates’ standing committee to join us at our expense for three days of prayer and conversation regarding these important matters.”

Posted by latimer at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2007

Dialogue with people of other faiths in New Zealand

By Rev Dr Bob Robinson: The recently issued ‘National Statement on Religious Diversity’ concludes with a call for New Zealand’s faith communities “to promote mutual respect and understanding” and to “build and maintain positive relationships with each other.” This is an ideal opportunity to learn about this issue and dialogue with other Christians about it.

Dialogue with people of other faiths in New Zealand

Written by Bob Robinson

Are there persuasive biblical and theological reasons for it?

The recently issued ‘National Statement on Religious Diversity’ concludes with a call for New Zealand’s faith communities “to promote mutual respect and understanding” and to “build and maintain positive relationships with each other.” Theologically conservative Christians are, however, little interested in inter-religious dialogue. They are either indifferent to such dialogue or are even found – because of belief in the message of the Bible, especially its message about the uniqueness and finality of Christ – holding negative views about the religions, and with no time or taste for dialogue. Such Christians seem to prefer monologue to dialogue, especially in public. Now there is quasi-official pressure (in the form of this ‘National Statement,’ and presumably for pragmatic reasons such as the avoidance of social conflict) for religions to be less confrontational and more accommodating in their attitudes towards each another. And, with varying degrees of thoughtfulness, exasperation and factual knowledge, there is the often-heard question from members of the public, “Why can’t the religions get along better and stop their arguing and fighting?”

How should NZ Christians respond to such appeals to ‘get along better’ and to ‘start talking to one another’? In this writer’s experience some good reasons can be advanced to help Christians at least understand or consider dialogue and without compromising the Christocentric faith that is vital to their Christian self-understanding. In fact, these reasons could be summed up in the following suggestions and affirmations taken from the Bible and from some theological and pragmatic reasons and examples.

1. Remember our own ‘alien’ status

In the first five books of the Bible there are more than fifty references to ‘aliens’ or ‘strangers’ and how the people of God are to treat them (all followers of ‘pagan’ religions, of course) with respect and even a generous welcome. The reason: because you too were once aliens and strangers; you remember what it is like to feel strange and culture-shocked and for that very reason you are to be generous and hospitable. The label ‘alien’ or ‘foreigner’ is then repeated in the New Testament (eg 1 Peter 2.11) and applied to us as Christians – which implies that we too should treat newcomers with welcoming respect.

2. Notice that the Bible is more generous than we sometimes recall

Christians are usually well aware of the Bible’s teaching about the realities of sin and idolatry and about the unique revelation and final salvation found in Christ alone. But they often seem unaware that alongside this stream runs another that offers a rather more positive assessment of the religions. This stream points out that all humanity is made in God’s image and all human beings are the beneficiaries of God’s providential faithfulness and immense love. God’s creation and care of the whole universe (Gen 1), God’s universal presence in every corner of reality (Ps 139), God’s universally present wisdom working within human personalities and structures (Prov 8; Rom 2), God’s covenant through Noah with the entire human family (Gen 9) – all these impact on every single person in the world. There is a ‘general revelation’ available to all (God not having left himself without a witness anywhere: Acts 14.17; see also Rom 1 and Acts chapters 10 and 17) and some non-Israelite believers in the living God acknowledge and are known by him (Melchizedek (Gen 14), Jethro (Exod 18), Ruth, Naaman, the Ninevites, Job and others). In other words, even in the Bible itself there is far more recognition of universal or general revelation than conservative Christians are usually able or willing to admit. That is, there is some real knowledge of God among those who cannot be called God’s people in the Biblical (meaning covenantal) sense. From the New Testament as well one could argue (along with the early church) for some positive implications of Logos theology, including the statement in John 1.9a that describes Christ as the true light that enlightens / shines upon everyone. And attention should also be given to Acts 10 (Cornelius), eg verses 34f and Paul’s statements in Acts 17.22-31 (especially 26f) that God has planted the human search for God within all people. It is also God’s plan to re-create and restore all of creation (1 Cor 15:22-28; Eph 1:9f; Phil 1:10f). So, from this cosmic – universal – inclusive stream a case can be made for religion as including a search, even a divinely inspired search for God. Searching is not the same as finding, of course; but think of the dialogue opportunities if and when we realise that our friends of other faiths might be on some kind of God-inspired search!

3. Note that ‘dialogue’ is a Biblical idea

There are a number of clear biblical precedents for at least some kinds of dialogue. The Bible has many examples of genuine conversations in which the prophets, Jesus, Paul and even God communicate in ways that can be called dialogue in the sense of communication that moves well beyond monologue and confrontation. This is what Jesus is reported as doing in his question and answer sessions with his contemporaries, not least in the portrayal of his encounters with the relatively few non-Jewish people that he met (such as the Samaritan woman and the Syro-Phoenician woman) – as we shall see. If the Bible affirms dialogue, so should we!

4. Note further that ‘dialogue’ is even a Biblical word

In the Septuagint ( the Greek version of the Old Testament), and in the New Testament we find: dialegomai (to converse, confer), dialogizomai (to reflect on, discuss), dialogismos (consideration, discussion) which makes clear that dialogue certainly has some place in the biblical repertoire – alongside communication understood as monologue or proclamation. Some kind of ‘dialogue’ is what Paul is reported as doing in his encounters with both Jews and gentiles. In fact, the Greek verbs (from which the word ‘dialogue’ is derived) are used some ten times in the New Testament (mainly in Acts 17-24, but also elsewhere) in the sense of ponder, consider, converse, discuss or argue. For example:
“Jesus dialogued with them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?’” (Luke 24:38)
“As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he dialogued with them from the Scriptures.” (Acts 17:2)
See also examples from Athens (Acts 17:7), Corinth (Acts 18:4), Ephesus (Acts 18:19; 19: 8f; 20:7, 9), in court (Acts 24:12, 25).
Care must be taken not to exaggerate the place of dialogue as a means of communicating the Gospel in the NT. But at the same time, we can question the assumption that proclamation - in the sense of monologue - is the only Biblically-based or Biblically-approved means of communication.

5. Consider the personal example of Jesus

It is not certain whether Jesus actually met few or many people of other religions; after all, he rarely moved beyond the ancient borders of Israel. But based on an understanding of the demographics of the Israel of his time, there is as one scholar puts it, “every possibility that Jesus was in frequent contact with non-Jews …. In Jerusalem, Judea, and the countryside surrounding the Sea of Galilee, it would be almost impossible for him to avoid them.” It is true that these encounters as recorded in the Gospels are few in number: for example, the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7.24-30 // Matt 15.21-28), the centurion whose servant was healed (Matt 8.5-12 // Luke 7.1-10). But each of them is significant because of the way in which they do involve real dialogue and even appear to have Jesus changing his mind or, at least, stretching the traditional understanding of the possibility and place of gentiles within the growing Kingdom.

There are also teaching passages in the Gospels that seem to be relevant. There are, for example, parables in which Jesus refers to gentile participation in the Kingdom of God (Mark 4.30-32; Matthew 22.1-14; 25.31-36; Luke 11.29-32). There are also occasions on which Jesus praises the faith of pagan gentiles and urges his Jewish hearers to learn from them. Such gentile faith seems commendatory to Jesus – which is why a contemporary evangelical scholar can write of the examples in Luke 4, and that of the centurion whose servant is healed, that “the Gospel writers imply that we Christians can also learn from these pagans.” And, over against the attitude and actions of a priest and a Levite, Jesus also commends the attitude and the actions of the ‘good Samaritan’ (Luke 10) a phrase that is a virtual oxymoron in the minds of his hearers. Jesus also points out that it is “foreigner” - a Samaritan - who was the only leper among the ten who was “found to return and give praise to God” (Luke 17.18). Again, if Jesus engaged in genuine dialogue, so should his followers too.

6. Weigh the theological impact of Jesus’ example

Among the characteristics of these dialogue-based encounters the following might be noted as relevant.

(a) Jesus is surprised and affirms the faith of the gentiles in most of the stories examined – and this is in addition to stories where other gentiles exercise faith (eg the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5).
(b) An eschatological note is sounded, especially in the teaching passages that often follow the encounters. That is, the new age has begun in Jesus – and the gentile response is proof of this! For example, immediately after the healing of the centurion’s servant and Jesus’ commendation of the centurion’s faith, Jesus announces that “Many will come from the East and the West to feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt 8.11f). The discussion with the Samaritan woman clearly sounds an eschatological note and the arrival of the Greeks in John 12 prompts Jesus to say that “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12.23). This same eschatological note is also heard in the Temple cleansing (which is in itself a highly significant challenge to Jewish nationalism) where, according to Mark 11, Jesus echoes the Isaianic hope that God’s house “shall be called a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56.7). Also relevant is the parable of the great banquet (Matt 22.1-14; Luke 14.15-24).
(c) But at the same time – and in sharp contrast with most of the Jewish belief of his time – this is an eschatology without vengeance on gentiles as the further teaching of Jesus makes clear, for example in the highly significant Nazareth sermon in Luke 4.
(d) The disciples are surprised (as well as being made anxious) by the gentile response.
(e) The presence of the Kingdom is affirmed in these encounters between Jesus and the gentiles. As one writer points out, “the miracles worked by Jesus for ‘foreigners’ have the very same meaning that he gives to all of his other miracles. They mean that the Reign of God is already present and at work (cf. Mt 11.4-6; Lk 4.16-22; Mt 12.25-28).”
(f) And this leads to an even more profound point: Jesus – the fully human as well as the truly divine Son – does seem to learn from his encounters. This is the Christ who had “made himself nothing” (literally: ‘emptied’ himself (Phil 2.7)) who learns what he previously did not know in his humanity (cf Luke 2.52; and Heb 5.8).

It is not unreasonable to apply the example of Christ to our situation today: if Jesus is found to enter into genuine dialogue from which he learns, then so might his followers today.

7. Dialogue will help understanding and reduce tension

The simplest reason for entering into dialogue is the need to understand clearly why others believe and act in the ways they do, and to offer explanations in turn. This enables misunderstandings to be removed and positive understanding to be deepened. (In fact, it includes what someone has called “the art of avoiding misunderstanding.”) Division and opposition between religious communities often seem to be an unnecessary burden to add to a nation (or world) already and painfully divided by other issues. Interreligious understanding is especially important where ignorance, social isolation and prejudice can and do breed misunderstanding, fear and alienation – and dialogue can help overcome these. At the very least, the way of dialogue seems to offer a means towards a more positive coexistence in place of the self contented passivity or insecure suspicion that can be found in religious communities. No compromise is entailed in allowing and even promoting such increased understanding.

8. Common social concern is a form of dialogue

When urgent human needs are tackled together by Christians and others rather than separately this might be called a kind of ‘dialogue in action.’ Such dialogue that arises out of mutually agreed social concerns enables Christians to meet with their neighbours as national citizens and not simply as members of different religious groups. Such action adds a practical and visible dimension to a dialogue which may otherwise become both empty and unrewarding if attempts are made to confine it to discussion of religious matters alone. Whereas religion might separate, common action for social justice might unite in some way (however limited and temporary that might be). Again, no compromise is implied in allowing and even promoting such shared social concern (whether it’s helping refuges with housing or homework or any other need) - and, as agencies such as World Vision have found, people never forget those who help them in their times of need.

9. Common humanity and the ideal of community are reasons for dialogue

Another starting point for dialogue can be the common humanity that is shared by people of different faiths. Common humanity, not common religion or religious experience, is the common denominator in the meeting of people of different faiths. This is a basis for dialogue that may be of particular interest or appeal to those Christians who hesitate to pursue the inter-faith encounter because of a distaste for the seemingly inevitable interreligious disputations that so quickly arise. The Christian appeal to a common humanity has a theological as well as a pragmatic basis. For example, there are the Biblical statements about humanity made in the image of God (Genesis 1.26a, 27a) and about the unity of humankind (Acts 17.26a). The idea of a shared and inter-dependent humanity also points to the distinctly personal basis of dialogue in which meetings are not meetings between, say, Christianity and Islam, or even between representatives of Christianity and Islam but, rather, an encounter of human beings - of individual Christians and individual Muslims. Dialogue is, in fact, the movement from thinking and talking about ‘them’ to thinking and talking in some way about ‘us’. This need not imply a unity between religions; perhaps the notion of potential harmony – which is less static and abstract and implies the continuing recognition of religious differences – may be a better basis for dialogue.

10. Dialogue can become a means of mission

Some have seen dialogue as a means of implementing the Christian mission in general including evangelism. Such dialogue will, of course, raise concerns for those who might be unhappy to be seen as the targets of Christian missionary interest but Christians have always wanted to share their faith and every example of such witnessing to gentiles in the NT involves dialogue. This is not the only reason for dialogue – as this paper has been arguing. But it is significant that two of the three opening paragraphs of the ‘National Statement on Religious Diversity’ strongly affirm the past and present significance of Christianity in NZ and so people of other faith will not be surprised to meet vocal and witnessing Christians. In fact, they are usually surprised not to meet more of us – and they are invariably (in this writer’s experience) open to talking about spiritual issues and even to being prayed with. Dialogue will confirm that this is true!

11. Consider some notable personal examples

In this writer’s experience, it can also be helpful and reassuring to some Christians to consider a few actual lived-out examples of the inter-religious encounter. Two examples from the meeting of Christians and Hindus come to mind. There is, for example, Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889 1929) who is said to be “perhaps the most famous Indian Christian who has yet lived, and whose influence has been widespread and prolonged.” He combined a deeply Christ-centred faith with a quite positive and creative adaptation and use of Hindu terminology. After his dramatic conversion, his life’s work was to “offer the water of life in an Indian cup.” Books, films and videos are available about this remarkable Christian. Then there is the American missionary, E Stanley Jones (1884 1973) who spoke and wrote widely on ‘The Indian Christ’ and whose ‘Round Table’ conferences enabled an unprecedented series of meetings of people of different faiths (and some of his highly readable books are still in print). The encounter between Hinduism and Christianity in these two examples can continue to inspire and challenge. They might be seen as examples of a commitment to one’s own faith that does not require the denigrating of other faiths. In a postmodern context a narrative retelling of these lived examples of a fruitful and intentional encounter across religious boundaries may be helpfully reassuring – and even inspiring – to some. Readers may know of other examples, including some notable Kiwi stories, about missionaries and others who have live on the boundaries.

12. Loving friendship is the usual (and best) place to start

Sustained ordinary friendship is both a means of and one of many conditions for fruitful dialogue. One of the simplest means of healing suspicions between religions is to take the simple step of forming and cultivating genuine friendships. Whenever there is co-operative endeavour for the common good, or joint participation in gatherings and organizations, or respectful attendance at one another’s weddings or funerals, or a serious attempt to understand (or even study in some way) the beliefs of another, then a kind of dialogue (perhaps what might be called an ‘interior’ or silent dialogue) is occurring. In other words, the most common forms of interreligious encounter are, then, the most prosaic: the everyday meetings and the often unavoidable cultural immersions of life of which conversation itself is perhaps the most basic. Too often inter-faith discussion is confined to the meeting of what might be called the elite and articulate traditions of the faiths. At least from a Christian perspective, attention is well drawn to the potential value of the simple but important casual encounters of everyday life and the importance of preparing members of congregations to make sensitive use of them in fostering understanding and co-operation when that is possible. Moreover, to start with friendship is to start with the common humanity that all people share – and not with the religious beliefs that, if begun with, may lead to disagreement.

Another way of understanding dialogue is to see it as a fruit of the Gospel. Thoughtful friendship is a witness to the love of Christ, and an expression of Christian neighbourliness. God loves every person in the world and that includes each of our neighbours. In fact, alongside love of God, this is the next great commandment according to Jesus: that we love our neighbours as ourselves. We can’t be said to love our neighbours if we don’t talk with them – and that’s dialogue!

Conclusion

Despite some problems, there are substantial reasons why Christians should enter into dialogue with others. The reasons offered are numerous. Beginning with the Bible, we have noted the use of the ‘dialogue’ word-group and the example of the apostle Paul. There is the perhaps surprisingly positive example of Jesus towards the Gentiles he met and spoke about. And then there are the pragmatic and theological reasons that have been discussed. Not all the reasons advanced will persuade all those who hesitate to engage in dialogue but, in this writer’s experience, at least some reluctant Christians are willing to consider dialogue on the basis of the biblical examples and the substantial theological and pragmatic reasons that can be given for a principled engagement with people of other faiths – reasons that do not compromise Christian beliefs about the uniqueness and finality of Christ but, in fact, build on his example.

Posted by latimer at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2007

Magazine publisher accepts Christ, leaves homosexual lifestyle

The publisher of Venus Magazine, a 13 year old periodical for homosexuals of African-American descent, announced on the magazine's website that she has become a Christian and now rejects the lesbian lifestyle she has lived for her "entire adult life."

Magazine publisher accepts Christ, leaves homosexual lifestyle

Jeff Johnson
OneNewsNow.com
March 2, 2007
www.onenewsnow.com/2007/03/magazine_publisher_accepts_chr.php

"Over the past 29 years of my life I have been an aggressive, creative and strategic supporter of gay and lesbian issues," Charlene E. Cothran, VENUS Magazine publisher wrote in the article. "I’ve organized and participated in countless marches and various lobbying efforts in the fight for equal treatment of gay men and lesbians.

Cothran goes on in the online edition's current "cover story" to describe her financial contributions to homosexual lobbying organizations, but says her life has now changed.

"As the publisher of a 13 year old periodical which targets Black gays and lesbians, I have had the opportunity to publicly address thousands, influencing closeted people to ‘come out’ and stand up for them selves, which is particularly difficult in the African-American community," Cothran writes. "But now, I must come out of the closet again.

"I have recently experienced the power of change that came over me once I completely surrendered to the teachings of Jesus Christ," she continues. "As a believer of the word of God, I fully accept and have always known that same-sex relationships are not what God intended for us."

Cothran details a discussion with a local pastor that galvanized the doubts she had been having while trying to reconcile her homosexual behavior with the biblical prohibition on sex outside of a one-man, one-woman marriage.

"The spirit of God spoke directly into my soul and said you will choose this day who you will serve and if you make the wrong choice, I will allow you to drift so far away from me that you will never hear my voice again," Cothran recalls. "I gave God my heart and soul in the parking lot of the mall, right there in my car. A river of tears flowed as Jesus washed me and forgave me and redeemed me for His work."

The author and activist says her work with the homosexual community will continue, but its focus will drastically change.

"I intend be just as ‘out’ about my transformation as I was about my lesbian life. I have given every gift I have back to God, including VENUS Magazine" Cothran added. "The target audience will remain the same but the mission has been renewed. Our new mission is to encourage, educate and assist those in the [homosexual] life who want change but can’t find a way out."

Posted by latimer at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2007

TEAM: Three speakers put their local contexts into larger Communion's perspective

09.03.07 - Saying "our experience of the Anglican Communion is always local," the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, March 8 invited three participants in the Towards Effective Anglican Mission (TEAM) conference to connect their local contexts of mission to the entire Communion. Jenny Te Paa, the ahorangi or dean of Te Rau Kahikatea (College of St. John the Evangelist) in Auckland, New Zealand, told the conference about how she had been traveling throughout the Communion recently

TEAM: Three speakers put their local contexts into larger Communion's perspective

By Mary Frances Schjonberg
Thursday, March 08, 2007
www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_83214_ENG_HTM.htm

[Episcopal News Service] Saying "our experience of the Anglican Communion is always local," the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, March 8 invited three participants in the Towards Effective Anglican Mission (TEAM) conference to connect their local contexts of mission to the entire Communion.

Jenny Te Paa, the ahorangi or dean of Te Rau Kahikatea (College of St. John the Evangelist) in Auckland, New Zealand, told the conference about how she had been traveling throughout the Communion recently, talking to those who she called "ordinary, global Anglicans."

The first group she talked about was the theological students she has recently encountered both at her own college and those at Church Divinity School of the Pacific (the Episcopal seminary in Berkley, California) and at an ecumenical gathering in Montreal of Canadian seminarians. Those students always offer fresh insights -- if "often somewhat naïve."

Many asked her what to make of the fact that seven Primates refused to receive Communion during the recent Tanzania session of the Primates' Meeting because of the presence of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. She said that teachers and theologians sometimes have to admit that they have no understanding of events such as the "petulant politicizing" of a sacrament, a practice that she called "unconscionable."

At the recent United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) annual meeting in New York, Te Paa said the Anglican delegation prayed together each day for "peace among our people" and for the girls of the world, and they engaged in their own listening process.

They also felt the need to express their concern about how the mission of the church is being affected by distractions like the "incomprehensible" practice of boycotting Eucharist at the Primates' Meeting and the schemes of alternative primatial oversight, the reasons for which "are all but incomprehensible." So the delegation issued a statement "for the Church we love beyond calculation."

The third group Te Paa talked about was indigenous Anglicans who have been "largely polite and infinitely patient." She said that despite all that has been done to indigenous peoples, they have "exemplified what it is to be Christ-like."

In general, Te Paa said her conversations with Anglicans tell her that most people "are looking for an end to our squabbles over sexuality" so that everyone can be more focused on "transforming and deeply loving mission."

Abagail Nelson, vice president of programs for Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), said that ERD staffers see themselves as people who listen to those people like TEAM conference participants -- the people who work "where the road ends and the dirt paths begin."

In that listening, she said, "I continue to learn so much about faith" and its redemptive possibilities.

Nelson said ERD listens and then works to develop programs to support people in their work as they incarnate the church's mission. As an example she cited ERD's involvement in the NetsforLife initiative that in its current two-year Phase I has given away nearly a half million treated bed nets and trained 3,000 malaria-prevention agents.

"Everyone is being trained and training others," she said. "It's a vast underground network that's out there."

While there are other anti-malarial programs that give away bed nets, NetsforLife is among the few that includes training in malaria prevention. "Why didn't anyone ever tell us this before?" Nelson reported a young mother asking a NetsforLife worker.

"People don't use bed nets because they don't know what they're for," Nelson said, adding that lack of education is one of the kinds of chaos in which the malaria parasite thrives.

Nelson said that another important part of the NetsforLife program is the way it tracks its work and monitors its results. Those measurable results, like the benchmarks of progress built into the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), make people in government and in institutions sit up and take notice

She praised and thanked mission workers whom she called the "quiet heroes in the hidden spaces living out the Gospel."

"As church partners, we will remain with you," she promised, so that everyone can see "how we can become positive globalization forces."

Bishop Munawar Rumalshah of Pakistan told the conference about the mission of reconciliation in his context, which he called "one of the most volatile regions in the world."

He began by telling a story about meeting with then-Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold just after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. During the visit he conveyed his sympathies and asked a "slightly rude question" about when the Episcopal Church had deliberately engaged the world of Islam. Rumalshah reported that Griswold reached over and patted his knee "perhaps saying, ‘my dear son, wait for the day.'"

Four years later a huge earthquake hit Pakistan and 40 percent of the area devastated is in his diocese, Rumalshah said. Diocesan staffers packed what little they had and dashed off to the ruined areas.

He and his staff knew that "this was a moment of truth when we of the church must be counted among the people," most of whom are not Christian.

The bishop said he got his answer about the Episcopal Church's involvement with the Islamic world when ERD "moved in like angels from above."

"God used a tiny church like ours to bring hope to millions of people," he said.

And fundamentalist members of Islam accepted help from Christians, Rumalshah said, recalling a visit to an Islamic area during one of their holidays when 300 men greeted him and his companions after evening prayers. Pointing to the cross on this chest, the bishop said, "this cross had never hugged 300 fundamentalists."

Later he returned to the area at Christmas and "they greeted the Christian family in a way in which we had never experienced before."

Rumalshah told the participants that the rise of suicide bombings has forced him to contemplate the bombers' belief that they hold the keys to the kingdom. He noted that the Arabic and Greek words for martyr both come from root words meaning "witness."

For some people -- both Muslims and Christians -- witnessing means dying, and for others it means serving God's people, he said. One of two "diametrically opposed, radically different paths have to be chosen," he said, contrasting Osama bin Laden and Mother Teresa.

Rumalshah said he preaches reconciliation "not just because it is fashionable" but because it is what we are called to do as Christians. "The embrace, the hug, the smelling of each other's sweat ... is what I believe the mission of reconciliation is about," he said.

The need for reconciliation applies to everyone, he said. "One day, President George Bush and Osama bin Laden must embrace each other and be reconciled."

Later in the day, Idaho Bishop Harry Bainbridge, who also serves on the ERD board of directors, hosted a conversation about best practices and shared experiences. He also invited the conference to view one DVD illustrating development stories form the provinces of the Anglican Communion and another about a visit to the Sudan by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
More than 400 people from 30 of the Communion's 38 provinces are attending the March 7-14 TEAM conference to review the Communion's response to the MDGs and consider how the church can do more as one of the world's largest grassroots development networks. The TEAM conference is in part a follow up to the first-ever pan-Anglican conference on HIV/AIDS, which was hosted by Ndungane in Boksburg in 2001.

The conference is also meant to "encourage a prophetic articulation for an Anglican theology which supports witness and action for social justice."

More information about TEAM is available at the conference website.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.

Posted by latimer at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2007

Archbishop of Canterbury writes to Primates on Dar es Salaam

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said that generosity and patience will be required for the Anglican Communion in the days ahead. In a Pastoral Letter sent to the Primates

Archbishop - Communion challenges require 'generosity and patience'

5th March 2007
www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/releases/070305.htm

My dear friends

It is now just over a week since we finished our time of consultation together at Dar es Salaam, and I am sure that I speak on behalf of us all when I thank Archbishop Donald once again for his hospitality to us during our visit. It was far from being an easy few days, but there was a great deal of honesty in our conversation, and a direct facing of the tensions that we still find in the life of the Communion. I am writing to all primates and to members of the Joint Standing Committee now to inform those who were not at the conclusion of our meeting of the results of our deliberations, and to set out what I believe are the next steps in the process that we discerned while in Dar es Salaam.

Although this letter necessarily concentrates on the issues arising out of our discussion on The Episcopal Church, I would not want to lose sight of how much there is to celebrate in our common life. The reports of Archbishop Ndungane and Mrs Hellen Wangusa relating to the Millennium Development Goals, of Presiding Bishop Greg and the work of the Primates’ Theological Education Working Group, the early achievements of the Listening Process and of the Covenant Design Group and the proposal for a study on Biblical Hermeneutics all speak of the mutual enrichment we seek to give to our common life together.

This makes it all the more important that we tackle the issues surrounding the developments in The Episcopal Church in a way which liberates us from ongoing recrimination and suspicion, and which frees us to engage more fully with living into the fullness of the Gospel to which our Lord calls us.

As I mentioned near the beginning of our discussion at Dar es Salaam, there were a range of reactions from our number to the responses of the 75th General Convention to the requests made in the Windsor Report and adopted at Dromantine. These ranged from an acceptance that The Episcopal Church had done what was asked of it to a belief that General Convention had avoided giving anything like the clear response that was needed. It is important that we honour the opinions of all the primates, and recognise that there is a variety of opinion among us on significant aspects of the situation.

Where I think we were united was on a shared conviction that the diagnosis of the Windsor Report, as received at the Primates’ Meeting in Dromantine, did constitute the way ahead, and that we looked for healing and reconciliation within The Episcopal Church and between The Episcopal Church and those Provinces where there remained broken or impaired communion.

I think we were all also agreed that the proposal for an Anglican Covenant represents the clearest way for our mutual trust and interdependent life to be renewed in the longer term. I remain indebted to Archbishop Drexel and to the Covenant Design Group for the early fruits of their work, and I remind you that we agreed that initial reactions from the Provinces suggesting revisions to the draft should be submitted to the Covenant Design Group through the Anglican Communion Office by the end of the year. This will enable a revised draft to be submitted for evaluation at the Lambeth Conference. I remind you also that it is not a formal synodical response which is necessary at this point, but a careful study of the proposed text through whichever channels you feel most appropriate in your own Provinces.

In the meantime, however, certain further steps are needed to facilitate healing and to build up trust as we consider the relationship of some of our Provinces with The Episcopal Church.

There was no questioning at our meeting of the fact that the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10 remains the standard of teaching on matters of sexual morality for the Communion. The Windsor Report requested certain assurances from The Episcopal Church with respect to the authorisation of Rites of Blessing for same-sex unions and the admittance of a candidate living in a sexual relationship outside marriage. It was our discernment at the meeting in Dar es Salaam that those assurances had not been as clearly given in the deliberations of General Convention as they might have been, and therefore we have asked the House of Bishops to clarify the response of The Episcopal Church in their two meetings in March and September this year. To address these requests to the American House of Bishops is not to ignore the polity of The Episcopal Church, but to acknowledge that the bishops have a key role, acknowledged in the Constitution of that church, in authorising liturgies within their dioceses and in giving consent to the election of candidates for episcopal order. A clear response on these questions is also needed in the near future: we cannot wait for another General Convention for further clarification. A readiness by the leadership of The Episcopal Church to live by that same formal standard of teaching on these matters which applies elsewhere in the Communion is perhaps the first and most important step in the way forward.

The second element to which we addressed ourselves in Dar es Salaam was the matter of those congregations and dioceses within The Episcopal Church who have sought alternative pastoral oversight because of their theological differences with their diocesan bishop or with the Presiding Bishop. I believe that it was our intention at Dar es Salaam to encourage The Episcopal Church to adopt a scheme of extended pastoral oversight which sufficiently addressed the concerns raised by some of our number at Dar es Salaam to ensure that there was a body of bishops in The Episcopal Church to whom the care of such congregations could be entrusted with confidence. The primates have therefore recommended that those bishops who can identify with “the Camp Allen principles” – essentially those bishops who have publicly committed themselves to affirm the Windsor Report and its recommendations – should work as a body with the Presiding Bishop to develop a scheme along the lines proposed by her for the establishment of a Primatial Vicar, which would meet the concerns expressed. Once a sufficiently strong scheme is in place within The Episcopal Church then this should be sufficient for all dissenting congregations and dioceses to find their home within it. In other words, interventions in the jurisdiction of The Episcopal Church will be able to cease once there is sufficient provision within The Episcopal Church for the adequate pastoral care of such congregations.

To speak on our behalf in the development of such a scheme, and to monitor developments within The Episcopal Church, the primates have agreed to appoint a Pastoral Council, to which we have invited the Presiding Bishop to nominate two members. I believe it is important to move swiftly to the appointment of one of our number to act as the Chairman of this Council, as well as making the two nominations allotted to the primates, and to this end I would like to remind you that nominations are requested at the earliest opportunity. The kinds of qualities the Council will probably require include skills in canon law, administration and mediation, as well as pastoral insight and of course availability. At the very latest, I would ask you to send nominations to me by Friday, 16th March.

It is my hope that if such a Pastoral Council may be brought into being in the very near future, it will be an appropriate body through which the work of healing and reconciliation for which we all look may be robustly carried forward, and an account given to the rest of the Communion on the working out of the Windsor Process especially as it relates to The Episcopal Church.

I am also in communication with the Presiding Bishop and the bishops identified in the Camp Allen correspondence to encourage the proposals developed at Dar es Salaam to be taken with all seriousness and dispatch. The practical question of how the Pastoral Council will be properly resourced and financed is of course central to this.

As a Primates’ Meeting, those of us who gathered at Dar es Salaam are conscious that respect for the proper constitutional autonomy of all the Churches of the Anglican Communion means that we can only offer advice and suggestions to The Episcopal Church on how best to proceed in the current situation. What I think we have done, however, is to indicate very clearly those steps which would enable all those Provinces currently in a state of broken or impaired communion with The Episcopal Church to see significant movement towards healing and reconciliation, and towards the sort of unity by which the Gospel may most fittingly be proclaimed.

I am sure that the next few months will bring further challenges which will need to be faced. If we can approach such challenges with a spirit of generosity and graciousness, however, and always ready to be submissive to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, then I am confident that the Anglican Communion can emerge from our present tensions renewed and strengthened for the mission which Christ has entrusted to us.

Rowan +CANTUAR:

Posted by latimer at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)

2008 NZ General Synod & Hermeneutics Hui

Crunch time: The 2008 NZ General Synod is shaping as a decisive event for this church’s grappling with the Windsor Report and the issues it deals with.

The following is a report of some highlights of the meeting of the Standing Committee of the General Synod, which convened in Rotorua on February 27 and 28, 2007.

Crunch time: The 2008 General Synod is shaping as a decisive event for this church’s grappling with the Windsor Report and the issues it deals with. And if this week’s Rotorua meeting of the Standing Committee has anything to do with it, that General Synod debate will be as constructive and informed as possible.

The Standing Committee, which met on February 27 and 28 at the Kingsgate Hotel, heard a report from Archbishop Brown Turei about the recent Primates’ meeting in Tanzania. It then devoted much of its first morning to considering the ramifications of that meeting, and debating how best it could promote church discussion about the key developments to emerge from that meeting.

Those developments, of course, include the release of the much-anticipated draft covenant for the Anglican Communion – one of the key Windsor Recommendations – and the Primates’ Communiqué which, among other things, gives the Primates reading of the state of the wider communion’s relationship with The Episcopal Church.

The Standing Committee seemed satisfied with our own Province’s contribution to efforts to find a way out of the impasse triggered by Bishop Gene Robinson’s ordination. In particular, the members seemed pleased with the inclusion of clause 8 of the Primates’ communiqué – in which the Primates declare their commitment to what they’ve called: The Hermeneutics Project. That’s the brainchild of our own Archbishop David Moxon, whose proposal for this had been presented to the Primates by the Australia’s Philip Aspinall.

Archbishop David told the Standing Committee that he hoped such a study would “enrich and rationalize the debate about sexuality.” The outgoing General Secretary, Robin Nairn, was one who gave a thumbs-up to Archbishop David’s work on this. The committee seemed to feel that the particular value of the hermeneutics project was that it proposed stepping back and asking fundamental questions about how Anglicans use, read and understand the Bible in its entirety – rather than focusing first on specific texts about which there is contention.

The aim of the hermeneutics project is to seek a consensus – or at least to attempt to find a range of ways that are acceptable to most – for using, reading and understanding the Bible. If that emerges, commented one member, then the church has a new basis for actually debating what the specific texts mean.

The outcome of the Rotorua discussions? The 18 members of the Standing Committee (including our three Archbishops) have been formally requested to ask their episcopal units to pray about, debate and discuss the draft covenant and primates’ communiqué at their respective synods, and to report back to next May’s General Synod.

The Standing Committee was also brought up to speed on plans for our own Hui on Hermeneutics, which is to be held in Wellington on August 28, 29 and 30, at the Loaves and Fishes café attached to Wellington’s Cathedral.

All interested Anglicans are invited to take part, although they will have to meet their own expenses. Archbishop David said an agenda for the hui would be circulated as soon as its been prepared.

The Standing Committee heard, too, of other efforts to prepare for next year’s Windsor debate at General Synod: at a special meeting next week the Bishops will consider how they can best prepare for a fruitful and constructive debate.

And there were efforts too, to get traction for The Listening Process first advocated by Lambeth Resolution 10:1 in 1998, which committed the Provinces “to listen to the experience of homosexual persons” who are within the church.

The new General Secretary, Jackie Pearse, was asked to write to the bishops, inviting them to report to the November meeting of the Standing Committee on the progress their units have made, and the insights that have been gained from their own listening

FULL REPORT

Anglican Church - Media Office
March 3, 2007

The following is a report of some highlights of the meeting of the Standing Committee of the General Synod, which convened in Rotorua on February 27 and 28, 2007.

Crunch time: The 2008 General Synod is shaping as a decisive event for this church’s grappling with the Windsor Report and the issues it deals with.

And if this week’s Rotorua meeting of the Standing Committee has anything to do with it, that General Synod debate will be as constructive and informed as possible.

The Standing Committee, which met on February 27 and 28 at the Kingsgate Hotel, heard a report from Archbishop Brown Turei about the recent Primates’ meeting in Tanzania.

It then devoted much of its first morning to considering the ramifications of that meeting, and debating how best it could promote church discussion about the key developments to emerge from that meeting.

The Standing Committee seemed satisfied with our own Province’s contribution to efforts to find a way out of the impasse triggered by Bishop Gene Robinson’s ordination.

In particular, the members seemed pleased with the inclusion of clause 8 of the Primates’ communiqué – in which the Primates declare their commitment to what they’ve called: The Hermeneutics Project.

That’s the brainchild of our own Archbishop David Moxon, whose proposal for this had been presented to the Primates by the Australia’s Philip Aspinall.

Archbishop David told the Standing Committee that he hoped such a study would “enrich and rationalize the debate about sexuality.”

The outgoing General Secretary, Robin Nairn, was one who gave a thumbs-up to Archbishop David’s work on this.

The committee seemed to feel that the particular value of the hermeneutics project was that it proposed stepping back and asking fundamental questions about how Anglicans use, read and understand the Bible in its entirety – rather than focusing first on specific texts about which there is contention.

The aim of the hermeneutics project is to seek a consensus – or at least to attempt to find a range of ways that are acceptable to most – for using, reading and understanding the Bible.

If that emerges, commented one member, then the church has a new basis for actually debating what the specific texts mean.

All interested Anglicans are invited to take part, although they will have to meet their own expenses. Archbishop David said an agenda for the hui would be circulated as soon as its been prepared.

Tikanga reports

Archbishop Jabez Bryce gave an account of life in Fiji post the December 5 coup, and a report on this will be carried in the next issue of Anglican Taonga.

He also gave a report on the flooding which struck the northern Fiji island of Vanua Levu in mid February – and which wreaked havoc at Labasa, and caused considerable damage to Anglican property and mission in that city. All Saint’s Secondary School; St Mary’s Primary School; St Thomas’ church and a number of church houses and the homes of many parishioners have all been severely affected.

A week after the floods had receded all the school properties were still closed, and the church homes – including the one occupied by Bishop Api Qiliho – were still uninhabitable.

The report on damage done to the St Mary’s Hostel and church compound paints a bleak picture: At the height of the flood the warden and caretaker’s quarters, the hostel chapel and main dining hall were four feet under water, and when the waters receded workers and staff faced the task of removing hundreds of cubic metres of stinking silt.

The damage to Anglican property and plant here has been estimated at more than F$110,000. The magnitude of the disaster becomes clearer given the standard hourly rates paid to labourers hired to clean up the mess – F$1.75.

Meanwhile, at All Saints Secondary School, the flood damage has been costed at more than F$155,000.

For Tikanga Maori, Hone Kaa reported that he’d been one of 300 who had gathered at Whareponga Marae at Ruatoria on 11am on Saturday February 17 to witness Pane Kawhia’s ordination to the priesthood by the present and 14th Bishop of Waiapu, The Rt Rev John Bluck.

Pane is the great granddaughter of Raniera Kawhia – who, in 1860, at the same hour of the day, on the same day of the month, had been ordained a priest by the first and new Bishop of Waiapu, William Williams.

Hone also reported the ordination of the Rev Betty Reid, who is the sister of Bishop Muru Walters and the sixth person from the Walters/Ihaka whanau to be priested.

A radical earlier constitution

The Standing Committee also discussed the significance of an anniversary that’s soon to be commemorated in Auckland – on June 13, the 150th anniversary of the signing of the constitution of the Anglican church in New Zealand will be celebrated.

That first constitution had its deficiencies – Maori had no voice in its creation, and neither did women. Even so, the 1857 constitution was, for its day, perhaps as radical as the one adopted in 1992.

In the first place, it was the first constitution in the world to recognize that lay people had an equal place in the decision-making of the Anglican Church, alongside the clergy and the bishops.

In the second place, it affirmed that the Anglican Church was a voluntary organization in this country – and not the established state church.

The sesquicentennial will be marked with a commemoration at the tiny St Steven’s Church in Judge’s Bay, Parnell, where the 1857 signing took place – and it will followed by an evening gathering at Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral.

Progress report 1: Relocating the General Synod office to Auckland

Confirmed: The General Synod Office will be relocated to the Dean’s Lodge on the St John’s College campus in Meadowbank, and Jackie Pearse, the new General Secretary, will work from there from the end of March.

The Lodge will also be the office for the permanent secretary to Te Kotahitanga.

There are, however, some zoning difficulties. The Auckland District Plan that relates to the college property doesn’t allow the Lodge to be used solely as an office, and resource consent is now being sought to permit this.

In the meantime, however, the district plan does give the OK for the lodge to be used as a home office. So Jackie and her husband have been asked, on an interim basis, to live above the new office.

There was some discussion, too, about giving the Dean’s Lodge a new name to identify its new function.

One suggestion: Tui Tuia: The office of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

There was also discussion, about sharing facilities on the St John’s College campus with the Methodist Church’s Trinity College.

The Methodists have indicated they would like to consolidate and expand their presence at St John’s. A small working group will report back on developments in the wider Anglican-Methodist relationship, and the relationship between St John’s and Trinity College in particular.

Progress report 2: Preparing for The Charities Act

Professor Richard Sutton gave an update on the church’s preparations to be fully compliant with the 2005 Charities Act.

A small Anglican working group has been set up to advise and assist the church with registration and compliance – and episcopal units are encouraged to await the advice of that group before proceeding with any registration under the Act.

Next year’s General Synod – and the ones to follow?

The Standing Committee heard a verbal report from Robin Nairn about preparations for next year’s General Synod in the Diocese of Wellington – and it was warned that the costs of a synod held in the capital were likely to be considerably higher than the 2005 Christchurch event.

That final bill for that had been around $120,000 – and a similar event held next year in the Wellington CBD could tally $150,000. The committee members considered this, plus various options for pruning these costs – including finishing the synod a day early, on the Thursday afternoon, or changing the venue.

The Standing Committee will revisit this issue at its July meeting, once it has firm costings for a Wellington synod.

The committee also had some preliminary discussion about suggestions made in Robin Nairn’s final report that the whole business of how General Synods are run could be rethought.

Robin is concerned that general synods are becoming increasingly expensive, while the perhaps half those who attend don’t speak. Moreover, most of the representatives who go to Synod have taken five days of precious annual leave to do so. He encouraged the Standing Committee to examine the membership and timing of the synods.

Robin also floated the idea of an extended hui “where our people can articulate their visions and wishes concerning the mission of their church – leaving the legislative ‘tidy-up’ to an elected few, with written reports available for those who wish…”

The Standing Committee said its farewells to Robin on the Tuesday evening, and Bishop Kito Pikaahu arrived to pay tribute on behalf of Te Kotahitanga.

Posted by latimer at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)

UNCSW delegates proclaim a women's way forward in broken times

06.03.07 ... Jenny Te Paa, an Anglican UNCSW delegate and ahorangi, or dean, of Te Rau Kahikatea, the College of St. John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand said "The women of the Communion have, I believe, moved from bewilderment to outrage at the ways in which a small cabal of leaders have continued to insist that the issues exercising them alone over human sexuality are inevitably to preoccupy us as well,"

Listening: Anglican women, pledging communion with one another, seek to model reconciliation
UNCSW delegates proclaim a women's way forward in broken times

By K. Jeanne Person and Matthew Davies
Monday, March 05, 2007
www.dfms.org/3577_83098_ENG_HTM.htm

[Episcopal News Service] As the Anglican women delegates to the 2007 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) conclude their work this week in New York City, they are pledging to take their commitment "to remaining always in 'communion' with and for one another" to the wider Anglican Communion, and especially the 38 Primates, as a model for reconciliation.

The Anglican delegation of more than 80 women, representing 34 countries in the worldwide Anglican Communion, issued a statement March 3 vowing "to remain resolute in our solidarity with one another and in our commitment, above all else, to pursue and fulfill God's mission in all we say and do."

Acknowledging the "global tensions so evident in our church today," the women delegates "do not accept that there is any one issue of difference or contention which can, or indeed would, every cause us to break the unity as represented by our common baptism. Neither would we ever consider severing the deep and abiding bonds of affection which characterize our relationships as Anglican women."

By their statement, the Anglican delegates believe they are offering a women's way forward for reconciliation within the Anglican Communion at a time when theological differences regarding issues of human sexuality are causing tensions.

On February 19, at the conclusion of a meeting near Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the Primates issued a communiqué the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops to "make an unequivocal common covenant" by September 30 not to authorize same-gender blessings within their dioceses and to confirm that Resolution B033, passed at the 75th General Convention last summer, means that a candidate for bishop who is living in a same-gender relationship "shall not receive the necessary consent unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion."

"If the reassurances ... cannot in good conscience be given," the communiqué says, "the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion."

In the view of the Anglican women, the Primates' warning is inconsistent with the Christian mission of reconciliation and compassionate ministry, and a decidedly male approach to struggling with difference. All of the Primates are men of power, they note, except for Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

"The women of the Communion have, I believe, moved from bewilderment to outrage at the ways in which a small cabal of leaders have continued to insist that the issues exercising them alone over human sexuality are inevitably to preoccupy us as well," said Jenny Te Paa, an Anglican UNCSW delegate and ahorangi, or dean, of Te Rau Kahikatea, the College of St. John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand.

"The arguments are all a male ancient power play for territory and ownership of space, be it physical or theological," agreed Phoebe Griswold, a UNCSW delegate from the United States. "The women's ways forward have to do with working for the welfare of creation and the full flourishing of humankind."

Griswold is a founding member of Anglican Women's Empowerment (AWE), an international grassroots movement founded in 2003 to promote gender equality and to use the power of women to promote a humane agenda worldwide. The effort to bring Anglican women from all provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion to the UNCSW is that of AWE and the Office of Anglican Observer at the United Nations.

The Anglican delegation is the largest non-governmental representation at UNCSW, an annual gathering at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, at which member nations and thousands of women from around the world seek to create policies promoting gender equality. In 2007, the UNCSW is meeting from February 26 to March 9 with the purpose of "ending all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child." The delegates are addressing issues such as inadequate education for girls, early marriage, the greater effect of poverty on girls, and violence.

What the Primates have failed to realize, Te Paa said, is that "the priority focus for Anglican women always has been the pressing issues of life and death, which are daily facing too many of the women and children of God's world. How can we compare the needless horrific suffering of women and girls being brutally raped when collecting firewood or water with the endless hysteria of male leaders wanting to debate whether gay men have full humanity or not?"

For the Anglican women, the mission to work together to heal God's world takes precedent over their theological differences. In their statement, they pledge to live out reconciliation for the sake of a suffering world.

"This sisterhood of suffering is at the heart of our theology and our commitment to transforming the whole world through peace with justice," the statement says. "Rebuilding and reconciling the world is central to our faith."

Among the delegates signing the statement are women with different perspectives on the issues of the blessings of same-gender unions and the consecration of bishops who live in openly gay relationships.

Olajumoke Florence Akinkoye is a lawyer and a UNCSW delegate from Nigeria, whose Primate, Archbishop Peter J. Akinola, has been a leader of theological conservatives. Akinola advocates for a literal interpretation of Scripture with respect to homosexuality and has harshly criticized the Episcopal Church for consenting to the consecration of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion.

"Everybody is aware of the Nigerian position," Akinkoye said. "My understanding of the Bible is God made man and woman. The Bible also says to be compassionate to others around us."

Akinkoye signed the Anglican women's statement affirming the women delegates' ongoing relationship, she explained, because "it does not draw a line of finality." The Anglican Communion, she says, is a family. "Even in the family, sisters and brothers from the same womb, we disagree," she said. "But that does not stop us from being sisters and brothers. I say this as a mother, as a woman, as a wife, it can never be over."

From New York City, UNCSW delegate Constance Beavon, who supports the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the sacramental life of the Communion, agreed. "The women of the Communion are united in New York City right now and have no intention of dividing, no matter what the men decide to do."

The women's statement came after a "sacred space listening process," according to Nomfundo Walaza, a UNCSW delegate from South Africa and a member of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council.

Walaza has sent the women's statement to the Anglican Communion's secretary general, the Rev. Cannon Kenneth Kearon. In an email to Kearon, Walaza explained that, as the Anglican UNCSW delegates continued their learning and advocacy at the United Nations on behalf of girls, they also created space for listening to one another. "Women were given the opportunity to share their concerns about the consequences of the current tensions within the Communion and the effect that these have on their work and ministries."

From this "sacred space listening process" evolved the women's commitment to remain in communion. According to Walaza, the statement was "passionately received" by all of the Anglican UNCSW delegates at a working session on March 3.

Going forward, the delegates wish to offer their model of listening, abiding communion, and common mission as an example for the Communion's leaders. The statement "emerged with profound urgency for the work needing to be done and with deep love and respect for the Church to which we proudly belong -- a Church which in spite of its occasional faltering still enables us to be prophetic witnesses to Christ's love and compassion in and for the world," Te Paa said.

Te Paa will publicly present the statement at "Towards Effective Anglican Mission" (TEAM), a March 7-14 conference in Boksburg, South Africa, that will focus on the church's work to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Meanwhile, Walaza has asked Kearon to relay the statement to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, with a request that it be sent to the 38 Anglican Primates.

The women delegates, themselves, will also endeavor to share the statement with the Primates. "Some of the delegates are asking, 'Can I take it to my Primate?'" noted a smiling Ann Skamp, a UNCSW delegate from Australia and convener of the provincial delegates specifically chosen and sent by their Primates to UNCSW. "I said, 'As long as you stand in front of him and read it.'"

To proclaim to the highest levels of power within the Communion, a women's way forward will be a grace, said Margaret Rose, director of the Episcopal Church's Office of Women's Ministries. "Women have a different thing to offer, a new thing," she said. "Women have a gift to offer the Church today that insists true unity comes in diversity."

-- The Rev. K. Jeanne Person is associate rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City. Matthew Davies is international correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.

Posted by latimer at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2007

US Presiding Bishop's webcast gets reviews from participants, viewers

28.02.07 - People around the world... listened on February 28 as Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori discussed the recent Primates' Meeting and answered listeners' questions. One of the members of the invited audience was Maori Anglican theologian Dr. Jenny Plane Te Paa, the "ahorangi" or dean of Te Rau Kahikatea (College of St. John the Evangelist) in Auckland, New Zealand.

Presiding Bishop's webcast gets reviews from participants, viewers
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_82922_ENG_HTM.htm

[Episcopal News Service] People around the world, as well as the 25 in the webcast studio facilities of New York's Trinity Church, Wall Street, listened on February 28 as Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori discussed the recent Primates' Meeting and answered listeners' questions.

One of the members of the invited audience for the webcast was Maori Anglican theologian Dr. Jenny Plane Te Paa, the "ahorangi" or dean of Te Rau Kahikatea (College of St. John the Evangelist) in Auckland, New Zealand. Te Paa said afterward that she was impressed with the "grace and dignity and clarity" she thought Jefferts Schori showed during the webcast.

She said she was glad that the Presiding Bishop had also brought those qualities to the Primates' Meeting. Speaking as a member of another province of the Anglican Communion, Te Paa said Jefferts Schori "is a gift to us all," in part because of her urgency in calling Episcopalians and all Anglicans to God's mission.

Te Paa, who is in New York attending the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) as part of the Anglican delegation, said she appreciates the urgency of that call because there is a "groundswell" of feeling around the Communion that is "recognizing how far we have gone away from God's mission."

Anglican women, she reported, are saying that Anglicans can only be distracted from God's mission "if we allow it to happen," she said.

Three seminarians from the General Theological Seminary (GTS) in New York were part of the studio audience. Meagan Sanders from the Diocese of Minnesota said that she came into the webcast "exhausted and I leave hopeful."

"The energy that [the Presiding Bishop] exudes makes me feel privileged to serve the God I've always felt called to serve," said Sanders, who will graduate from GTS later this year.

"Ultimatums bother me," she said, "but [the Presiding Bishop] communicated clearly that she doesn't see this as an ultimatum. And her understanding and her role in the listening process is a gift ... and I feel like we can trust her."

Steven Paulikas of the Diocese of Southern Ohio said after the webcast that he too was hopeful that "issues of polity both in our church and in the Communion will not obscure the mission of our church both here and globally."

Still, he said, "patience in terms of civil rights is problematic and I look forward to seeing how the Presiding Bishop will steer us in this time of patience."

Jeff Thornberg of the Diocese of New Hampshire said he came to the Trinity studio worried that gay and lesbian members of the church "were being ignored the sake of global unity." At the end of the webcast, he said he had a sense that the contributions of gays and lesbians are in fact not being ignored.

"The Presiding Bishop mentioned that this is an opportunity to look at who we are" as a church, he said, adding that he is concerned that "when we emerge from this at the end of the day, who are we going to be."

The Rev. Mittes DeChamplain, who teaches preaching at GTS, said after the webcast that she felt hopeful after seeing what she described as Jefferts Schori's "sense of charity" toward others.

DeChamplain said that members of the GTS community who are gay have been "deeply concerned" about what the Primates' communiqué meant for them. She said she heard Jefferts Schori being "steadfast" in her determination that the Episcopal Church would maintain the progress it had made in fully including gays and lesbians in the life of the church.

"What she said made me feel confident that love will find a way," she said.

The Rev. Rick Brewer, priest-in-charge of Christ Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, watched the webcast online and said that, throughout all of Jefferts Schori's communications since the Primates' Meeting has been "a voice that has asked us to stay centered and open."

He said that interest in his congregation runs from curiosity about what the news reports mean to a lack of willingness to be distracted from outreach and building the community of Christ Church, which began after a large number of members of the previous congregation left the Episcopal Church. Of the current members, Brewer said, three are from Canada and they are among the few who express concerns about the Anglican Communion and its future.

Brewer said that he was concerned that most people in the pews would have had trouble understanding Jefferts Schori's webcast presentation without a "significant" amount of education about the polity of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

"I think we're in this pickle," Brewer said, in part because of what he called the "deplorable state" of education throughout the Communion, "beginning with the Primates."

"I have difficulty being patient when I don't see any interest with them to learn how we think," he said. "I can't be very hopeful because I do not think people are negotiating in good faith."

Shirley and Bruce Jackman, members of Trinity Church who live in Brooklyn, New York, said afterward that they sensed calm, generosity and intelligence in Jefferts Schori's presentation and in her approach to answering the 35 questions that came to her from the audience and via email and telephone.

Shirley Johnson expressed confidence that the Presiding Bishop's "clarity of vision" will help her to lead the Episcopal Church through the decisions it faces.

She said that Jefferts Schori's call for patience must be heeded, noting that patience was part of the civil rights movement in the United States. "It was really a patient struggle by the very fact that it was peaceful," she said, recalling Martin Luther King, Jr.'s commitment to non-violence.

"You can't work through these problems without patience," Bruce Jackman agreed.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.

Posted by latimer at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)