Anglican Crisis

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Anglican Crisis

• The Anglican Primates Meeting
• in Newry
• Northern Ireland
• February 21-25, 2005

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Newry, N. Ireland, UK
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The Issue

• Schism
• threatened by
• the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) ordaining
• an openly non-celibate homosexual bishop

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The Official Study of the Issue

• The Windsor Report (2004)
• We have first to remedy the deep tear which is
  currently threatening our very life.

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Windsor Report African Response

• ECUSAs subsequent Regret
• "They have only apologized and not repented,"
• Dr Reverend Bernard Malango, the Archbishop of
  Zambia, during a weeklong meeting on the Windsor
  Report in Africa last month.
  
• "Apology does not make sense to us,
• the biblical word is repentance,"
• agreed Kenyas Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, during
  the same gathering.
  
• (- East African Standard)

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The AnglicanPrimates meetat aCatholic Retreat
Centre inNorthernIreland
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Thirty five Primates of the Anglican Communion at
Armagh Cathedral on 22 February
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Archbishops Conference Sermon

• The Archbishop of Canterbury,
  addressing the Primates in Armagh
  Cathedral, said the Church must be a place
  of peace-making. He criticised the awkwardness
  with which Anglicans on either side
  of the debate treated each other. He also
  rebuked them for their "activism" and
  "determination to get an immediate
  resolution".

• Dr Williams, preaching in the Cathedral on the
  2nd evening
  
• Christ has made peace and our life rests on what
  he has done and on nothing else. So our own
  efforts at peacemaking and witnessing to alike
  must peace in world and Church not be
  characterised by anxious striving, by desperate
  activism, by the passion to get it all sorted and
  all right, now. He has made peace by the blood of
  his Cross, and we live in the fullness of what he
  has done.

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A Time of Retreat

• On the Monday and Tuesday mornings, we spent
  time in Bible Study, prayer and silent retreat,
  led by the Archbishop of Canterbury on the Lenten
  theme of the Three Temptations of Christ.

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Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria and
Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the West Indies

Wrote the Preface to Repair the Tear
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Archbishop James Ayong of Papua New Guinea and
the President Bishop of the Middle East, the Most
Revd Clive Handford, discuss matters during a
break
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• The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan
  Williams, celebrates the final Eucharist of the
  Primates Meeting

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• In the course of our meeting, we have become
  even more mindful of the indissoluble link
  between Christian unity and Christian mission, as
  this is expressed in Jesus own prayer that his
  disciples should be one that the world may
  believe (John 17.21).

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• Bishop Gene Robinsons
• enthronement as first
• self-confessed non-celibate
• homosexual bishop
• The communiqué stated that many Primates had been
  "deeply alarmed that the standard of Christian
  teaching on matters of human sexuality expressed
  in the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10, which should
  command respect as the position overwhelmingly
  adopted by the Anglican Communion, has been
  seriously undermined by recent developments in
  north America.

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• Gay Bishop Gene Robinson
• "The victimisation or diminishment of human
  beings whose affections happen to be ordered
  towards people of the same sex is anathema to us.
  We assure homosexual people that they are
  children of God, loved and valued by him."

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• THE AMERICAN and Canadian Churches have been
  asked voluntarily to withdraw from a key body in
  Anglican Communion for the three-year period
  leading up to the next Lambeth Conference in
  2008.

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• On AUTHORITY and AUTONOMY
• Affirmed the central place Anglicans accord to
  the authority of scripture, and of
  autonomy-in-communion as the balanced exercise
  of the inter-dependence between the thirty-eight
  Provinces and their legitimate provincial
  autonomy.

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• PROPOSAL for AN ANGLICAN COVENANT
• Within our Communion the Chicago/Lambeth
  Quadrilateral has already been effectively
  operating as a form of covenant that secures our
  basic commitment to
• Scripture,
• the Nicene Creed,
• the two Sacraments of the Gospel and
• the Historic Episcopate.
• We therefore commend this proposal as a project
  that should be given further consideration

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• We welcome the ministry of the Archbishop of
  Canterbury as that of one who can speak to us as
  primus inter pares first among equals about the
  realities we face as a Communion

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• While there remains a very real question about
• whether
• the North American churches
• are willing to accept the same teaching
• on matters of sexual morality
• as is generally accepted elsewhere
• in the Communion,
• the underlying reality of our communion
• in God the Holy Trinity
• is obscured,
• and the effectiveness of our common mission
• severely hindered.

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• PASTORAL CARE
• We recommend that
• the Archbishop of Canterbury appoint
• a panel of reference to supervise
• the adequacy of pastoral provisions
• made by any churches
• for members of groups
• in serious theological dispute
• with their diocesan bishop

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Crossing boundaries in the Episcopal Church, USA

• The Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Revd Henry
  Orombi, said he would retain the USA parishes he
  already had as he was convinced that there was
  not adequate Episcopal oversight available in the
  US
• While defending cross-border action in the past,
  he said the communiqué was very clear about no
  new initiatives. "I'm not hunting for
  congregations."

• The Archbishop of Uganda
• greets members of the music group
• from the Church of St Mary
• and St Patrick, Newry

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Press Conference

• Finally, but certainly not least, African
  Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda spoke
  quietly, yet firmly, and in a gracious way of the
  leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury during
  the conference. He personally thanked him for his
  honest and fair chairmanship."I was touched by
  his allowing us to be open with each other, and
  to speak from our hearts. We are very committed
  to seeing God at work in our communion."

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Anglican Primates communiqué

• Two whole sessions of our meeting were devoted to
  the important work of
  
• the discernment of theological truth and
• the development and improvement of
  theological education
  
• through the sharing of resources across the
  Communion.
  
• The Archbishop of Canterbury has identified this
  as a priority concern during the period of his
  leadership.

• The plenary session in theological education
• Particular attention is being paid to
• the distinctively Anglican component
• in theological education.
• Theological education
• across the Communion
• needs to take more account of
• Anglican history, formularies or spirituality

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Press Comment

• The Archbishop of Uganda,
• the Most Revd Henry Orombi
• If the committee had been composed exclusively
  of African and Asian Primates the communiqué
  would have been suitably and poignantly filled
  with biblical citations and allusions. David
  Virtue (Irish press)

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The issue of same-sex unions

• Has the problem been addressed?
• The Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd
  Njongonkulu Ndungane, acknowledged that the
  meeting had not been able to deal with this
  issue
• "We want to be nice to each other as one Primate
  said 'There's an elephant in this room but you
  are not addressing it. (- Pat Ashworth,
  Irish Press)

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Reaction to the Communiqué

• Gay Bishop Gene Robinson
• It may be just a matter of time before there is
  a permanent split in the worldwide Anglican
  communion,
  
• - Leader of the Church in Canada says.
• Archbishop Andrew Hutchison's comments follow the
  decision to suspend the US and Canadian branches
  from a key group because of their liberal views
  on gays.
• He said the decision did not mean the issue of
  homosexuality had gone away.

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Archbishop James Ayong
and the Most Revd Clive Handford, The
Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd
Njongonkulu Ndungane, speaking privately
afterwards, said that it had been one of the most
difficult meetings he had ever been in - not
because of the issues involved but because of the
tenseness of the meeting.

(- Pat Ashworth, Irish Press)
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Verdict

• Archbishop Drexel Gomez
• Archbishop Drexel Gomez, a member of the
  commission which produced the Windsor Report,
  came to Ireland fearing that it could be the end
  for the Anglican communion. However by the end of
  the conference he was deeply moved by the fact
  there had been such honesty and sharing that he
  now felt optimistic for the future of the
  communion.
• "I was impressed with the honesty and civility of
  our meetings. I came with strong convictions. I
  was relieved, and agreed to create a space to
  hear the voices of others."

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Verdict

• The 2005 PM is a defining moment. .. . it  has
  decided for unity with the universal Christian
  Church in matters of doctrine and morals. The
  decisions are epochal."
• - The Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt Revd Robert
  Duncan, Moderator of the Anglican
  Communion Network (ACN)

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Press Conference

• Asked at the press conference whether this was in
  fact a split, Dr Williams said, We still face
  the possibility of division, of course we do..."
  
• He suggested that a real schism would be "if we
  had decided as a body we were no longer able to
  have any kind of relationship. Dr Williams
  described it as "a small miracle" that the
  communiqué had been unanimous

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Secular "Gay" Reaction

• On Sunday's comments by the
• archbishop, gay rights
• campaigner Peter Tatchell, from the
  group OutRage, said
  
• Gay Bishop Gene Robinson "Dr Williams appears
  prepared
  
• to maintain church unity at any
• price. Even at the price of
• betraying gay people and liberal
  humanitarian values."

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• The Archbishop said,
• Any lasting solution will require people
  somewhere along the line to say,
  
• 'Yes, we were wrong'."

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• END