‘Don’t forget us’ overseas leaders tell Crown Nominations Committee: The Church of England Newspaper, July 29, 2012 p 6. August 4, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Crown Nominations Committee, Global South
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‘Think globally, not locally’ when selecting the next Archbishop of Canterbury, 17 overseas archbishops told the Crown Nominations Committee (CNC) last week.
From 18-20 July 2012 the leaders of the Global South movement of the Anglican Communion met in Bangkok during the group’s Conference on the Decade of Mission and Networking and issued a communiqué reminding the CNC that the Archbishop of Canterbury was not solely the property of the Church of England.
“We deeply respect and appreciate our historical and spiritual relationship with the See of Canterbury,” the 20 July communiqué said. “We have written to the Crown Nominations Commission with concerns from the Global South and important principles for consideration as it nominates candidates for the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury.”
While the text of the letter to the CNC was not made public, leaders of the Global South movement have voiced concern over the parochial appointment process in the Church of England. Speaking to the Telegraph earlier this month, Dr. Mouneer Anis, Bishop of Egypt and Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, said the “voice of the Anglicans from the global south is really very limited and not one of the 16 members of the Crown Nominations Commission represents the global south.”
“Not one single person comes from elsewhere in the Anglican Communion except the Archbishop of Wales which is part of the United Kingdom … the selection of the new Archbishop is an expression of not really caring for the Anglican family.”
Dr. Anis noted that while the Archbishop of Canterbury was the “spiritual father” of the Anglican Communion, the Anglican Communion “has no say whatsoever” in his appointment.”
Running the show “from England” would be “acceptable in the 19th Century but not now,” the Egyptian bishop said. “It is a colonial approach.”
The two day conference entitled “Be Transformed by the Renewing of the mind to Obedience of Faith for Holistic Mission in a Radically Changing Global Landscape” drew Anglicans from the developing world and the West, organizers reported and “explored the trends in mission in the 21st century amidst the post-1989 global landscape, and evaluated the effectiveness of Anglicans in missions.”
In their communiqué, the 17 archbishops voiced “great sadness” in the actions of the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in authorizing same-sex blessings. “This action confirms our disappointment that The Episcopal Church has no regard for the concerns and convictions of the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide.”
Present at the meeting were the Primates of Jerusalem & the Middle East, Nigeria, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, Kenya, Myanmar, the Congo, the Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, and representatives of the primates of Southern Africa, West Africa, Central Africa and the Southern Cone.
