Conger

Mixed reactions greet Alexandria communique: CEN 2.13.09 p 7. February 14, 2009

Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.

Liberals and conservatives have voiced mix reactions to the Alexandria letter to the church from the 2009 primates meeting. Pressure groups on the left and right have reacted with dismay to the centrist approach taken by the document, while primates on both sides of the political spectrum have endorsed the document.

On Feb 5 US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told a reporter from the Episcopal News Service that she was encouraged by the tone of the communiqué. However, the call for continued “gracious restraint” made by the primates would have to be addressed by the General Convention in July.

“We are going to have to have honest conversations about who we are as a church and the value we place on our relationships and mission opportunities with other parts of the communion and how we can be faithful with many spheres of relationship at the same time,” she said.

“That is tension-producing and will be anxiety-producing for many, but we are a people that live in hope, not in instant solutions but in faithfulness to God,” the Presiding Bishop added.

Conservative primates gave the agreement high marks. “Archbishop Peter Akinola is pleased, I’m pleased, my brother Henry [Orombi] is pleased” with the outcome of the meeting, Bishop Venables told The Church of England Newspaper on Feb 5.

Alexandria had been a cathartic moment for the primates, Bishop Venables explained. “There is the recognition that this whole thing is falling to bits.” Past statements had left him feeling “is this just pushing the ball forward down the pitch?” In Alexandria the primates agreed “this is a broken communion. Let’s start with that and see where we go,” he said.

For traditionalists two different faiths were in contention. “A liberal expression of Christianity is not Christianity” as we know it, Bishop Venables said. Addressing this gap need take place before structural or legislative solutions were imposed on the church.

There was a visible and an invisible church, they said. “Being an Anglican without knowing Jesus” conferred membership “in a club” and not in the true church, Archbishop Orombi said. Acknowledging this division, they said, was a necessary step towards resolving the disputes.

Pressure groups gave mixed responses to the Alexandria Communiqué. In an unusual convergence of views, the Church Society and Integrity—a conservative evangelical group and a gay lobbying group—criticized the communiqué and the primates for usurping its authority.

On Feb 6, the Rev. David Philips for the Church Society argued the primates were not the proper body to deal with the disputes of doctrine and disciple within the Communion. He argued that “though there is honour and respect shown to the four instruments of Communion no international body exercises judicial authority over any of the constituent parts.”

The Rev. Susan Russell of Integrity also stated the primates had not the authority to dictate terms of the Episcopal Church. The moratorium against gay bishops and blessing endorsed by the primates is a “matter for General Convention” of the Episcopal Church, she argued.

However the two strongly parted company on the implications of the communiqué. Mr. Philips observed that while the “Lambeth Conference is dysfunctional and the Primates Meeting appears to be impotent,” a number of provinces were taking action against the Episcopal Church.

“Several provinces broke fellowship with the US and Canadian provinces” and were supporting the breakaway Anglican congregations of North America. “This is how the Communion is supposed to work.”

Ms. Russell argued the gay moratorium serves to scapegoat “a percentage of the baptized by excluding them from a percentage of the sacraments of the Body of Christ is participating in the appeasement of bigotry.” She said her group would campaign to overturn the Episcopal Church’s current agreement to ban gay bishops and blessings.

Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, whose deposition by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori drew harsh comment from the primates in Alexandria, gave a cautious welcome to the document. Writing on Feb 6 he said he was “grateful for the public recognition” by Archbishop Rowan Williams and the primates that the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) desired to remain Anglican and “be Anglican and to be in relationship with the Anglican Communion.”

CANA Bishop Martyn Minns applauded the communiqué’s “consistent stand for biblical truth and the importance of reconciliation between all peoples and their Creator,” the “unanimous reaffirmation of the entirety of Lambeth 1:10 as the Church’s teaching on human sexuality,” and the call for a “period of gracious restraint.”

However, Bishop Minns noted that he was not optimistic the Episcopal Church would honor the primates’ requests as it “continues to initiate punitive litigation on a massive scale. To date, there are at least 56 lawsuits initiated by The Episcopal Church, or its dioceses, against individual churches, clergy and vestries across the country.”

‘No schism in the communion’ Dr Williams tells the primates: CEN 2.13.09 p 7. February 14, 2009

There is no schism in the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury declared at the close of the 2009 primates meeting in Alexandria, Egypt.

However, the 35 Anglican leaders gathered Feb 1-5 at the Helnan Palestine Hotel formally acknowledged the “deep divisions” and impasse over seemingly “irreconcilable” differences on doctrine and discipline surrounding homosexuality.

Over four days of closed door meetings, the primates received presentations on the Sudan, Zimbabwe, global warming, the international financial crisis and the coordination of the church’s independent relief and development agencies. However, the focus of the conference, Dr. Rowan Williams explained on Feb 5 had been “ecclesiology. What kind of church are we?”

The closing communiqué stated the communion was beset by “mistrust” and theological tension. The way forward, in the short term, was for Dr. Williams to “initiate a professionally mediated conversation which engages all parties at the earliest opportunity” and to appoint “pastoral visitors” to act as “consultants in situations of stress and conflict.”

The way out of the impasse would be found in an Anglican Covenant, which would set the parameters of common Anglican polity, the primates said. “Unless the Covenant is robust and accepted, the federal model is on the horizon” for the Anglican Communion, Dr. Williams told a press conference at the close of the meeting.

The communiqué reaffirmed the church’s teachings on human sexuality, as stated in the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10, called for a continued and broadened “Listening Process” that Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda said meant including the voices of conservatives, and affirmed the moratoria on gay bishops and blessings, and violations of ecclesial jurisdictions.

Dr. Williams conceded that the “moratoria are holding rather badly on both sides” but added that they were not “completely ignored.” Cross-border violations and gay blessings continued, but he said that the third moratorium had held as there were no new gay bishops. “We are trying to see the glass as half full and not half empty,” he explained.

He outlined three points he thought salient to the week’s discussions brought by a report given by the Windsor Continuation Group (WCG). The WCG had urged a shift in the ecclesiological relations within the Communion. Dr. Williams said these called for a “shift of focus” from a church perceiving itself to be “autonomous with accountability added on” to one where a church saw itself as “autonomous and accountable.”

The WCG also urged a rethink of the relationship between the four instruments of Communion: the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.

The breakaway groups in the US and Canada remained part of the Anglican Communion, Dr Williams reported, but their “institutional relationship” remained “unclear.” The primates also condemned the deposition of the breakaway bishops and clergy in North America. The communiqué “deplores” these “actions that deepen division or give rise to suspicion or hostility,” Dr. Williams said, citing the text of the communiqué.

The primates also backed the WCG’s recommendation for mediation between the ACNA and the US and Canadian Churches. Dr. Williams said that a mediation process had begun in Brazil between the Diocese of Recife and the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, and he hoped this would lead to an eventual reconciliation.

Outside the meeting, conservatives voiced skepticism that mediation would work. Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker noted the Panel of Reference created after the 2005 primates meeting was given a similar mandate and its recommendations had been ignored by the Episcopal Church. The Bishop of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti stated he was unaware of any mediation project underway between his diocese the Brazilian church.

However, Dr. Williams said the effort to reconcile the divided church was worth making.

Anglican primates agree mediation programme: CEN 2.06.09 February 7, 2009

First published in The Church of England Newspaper’s Religious Intelligence section.

Anglican primates have endorsed a mediation programme to reconcile liberals and conservatives. A report backed by the heads of all the Anglican provinces around the world has put forward the innovative proposal as a way to settle the dispute between conservatives, who oppose the ordination of homosexual clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions, and liberals.

Over four days of closed-door meetings, the primates received presentations on the Sudan, Zimbabwe, global warming, the international financial crisis and co-ordination efforts amongst the church’s independent relief and development agencies. However, the focus of the conference, Dr Williams explained on Feb 5, had been “ecclesiology. What kind of church are we?”

The closing communiqué recognized the Anglican Communion was a divided church, one beset by “mistrust” and great theological tensions. The primates asked Dr Williams to engage outside mediators to bring the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) — a consortium of breakaway congregations and dioceses from the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada along with several continuing Anglican groups — together in conversation with the Episcopal Church and the Canadian church.

“We request the Archbishop of Canterbury to initiate a professionally mediated conversation which engages all parties at the earliest opportunity. We commit ourselves to support these processes and to participate as appropriate. “We earnestly desire reconciliation with these dear sisters and brothers for whom we understand membership of the Anglican Communion is profoundly important.

“We recognise that these processes cannot be rushed, but neither should they be postponed,” the primates said.

Dr Williams said the call for mediation and for “pastoral visitors” from Lambeth to act as “consultants in situations of stress and conflict” acknowledged the insufficiency of the approaches taken by the last two Primates’ Meetings to the North American problem.

The 2007 “pastoral scheme” authorized by the primates in Dar es Salaam “did depend upon the Episcopal Church taking ownership of it,” he said. Trying to “impose” a solution without it’s “cooperation would have been impossible.” However, there was no “schism,” Dr Williams said, but stated there was “deep division” within the Communion, but “what that will mean, we don’t know.” The way forward was to remain faithful to the Windsor process and form an Anglican Covenant. “Unless the Covenant is robust and accepted the federal model is on the horizon” for the Anglican Communion, Dr Williams said, adding that none of the primates wanted to change or loosen the current Communion of churches into a Federation of churches akin to the international Lutheran or Reformed church federations.

The communiqué reaffirmed the church’s teachings on human sexuality, as stated in the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10, called for a continued and broadened “Listening Process” that Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda said meant including the voices of conservatives, and affirmed the moratoria on gay bishops and blessings, and violations of ecclesial jurisdictions.

Dr Williams conceded that the “moratoria are holding rather badly on both sides” but added that they were not “completely ignored.” Cross-border violations and gay blessings continued, but he said that the third moratorium had held as there were no new gay bishops. “We are trying to see the glass as half full and not half empty,” he explained.

Speaking to the media at the close of the conference, Dr Williams outlined three points he thought salient to the week’s discussions brought by a report given by the Windsor Continuation Group (WCG). The WCG urged a shift in the ecclesiological relations within the Communion. Dr Williams said these called for a “shift of focus” from a church perceiving itself to be “autonomous with accountability added on” to one where a church saw itself as “autonomous and accountable.”

The WCG also urged a rethink of the relationship between the four instruments of Communion: the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.

The primates also backed the WCG’s recommendation for mediation between the ACNA and the US and Canadian Churches. Dr Williams said that a mediation process had begun in Brazil between the Diocese of Recife and the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, and he hoped this would lead to an eventual reconciliation.

The breakaway groups in the US and Canada remained part of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Williams reported, but their “institutional relationship” remained “unclear.” Asked his personal view of the deposition of Canadian theologian JI Packer and Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, Dr Williams declined to answer, but noted the communiqué “deplores actions that deepen division or give rise to suspicion or hostility.”

Both liberals and conservatives came away pleased. US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told a reporter from the Episcopal News Service on Feb 5 that she was encouraged by the tone of the communiqué, but said the “long-term impact of ‘gracious restraint’ is a matter for General Convention. “We are going to have to have honest conversations about who we are as a church and the value we place on our relationships and mission opportunities with other parts of the Communion and how we can be faithful with many spheres of relationship at the same time,” she told ENS.

“That is tension-producing and will be anxiety-producing for many, but we are a people that live in hope, not in instant solutions but in faithfulness to God.” The hand of providence was also seen by conservative leaders in the meeting. “Something like the freshness of the Holy Spirit” descended upon the meeting, Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of South American said.

There was “something different here, something special,” he said. “Without a doubt there was a lot of anger and tension” underlying the conversations, but the “orthodox had a calmness and peace” that Bishop Venables said had come from God.

“Archbishop Peter Akinola is pleased, I’m pleased, my brother Henry [Orombi] is pleased” with the outcome of the meeting, Bishop Venables told a reporter for The Church of England Newspaper on Feb 5.

The 2009 Primates’ Meeting was a spiritual as well as emotionally powerful encounter, as the primates took ownership of the brokenness of the church. “There is the recognition that this whole thing is falling to bits,” Bishop Venables explained. Past agreements had left him feeling “is this just pushing the ball forward” down the field? In Alexandria the primates agreed “this is a broken communion. Let’s start with that and see where we go,” he said.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s leadership in Alexandria also presented an opportunity to move forward. Dr Williams had grown in office conservative leaders told CEN, and had regained some of the trust lost over the last few years. Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda said Dr Williams “chaired the meeting very wisely” and was “very sensitive.”

Conservatives leaders were also impressed by the contribution of the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu who led discussions on the Christian response to the international financial crisis, as well as emerged as a strong advocate for the Anglican Covenant.

Bishop Venables and Archbishop Orombi stated that a legislative or legal solution at this phase of the debate would not resolve the splits. The question of recognizing a parallel province in North America was premature, they said, as the underlying theological differences had not been addressed. There was a visible church and an invisible church, they said. “Being an Anglican without knowing Jesus” conferred membership “in a club” and not in the true church, Archbishop Orombi said. Before a vote on a third province is taken “we have to see what happens to the Communion,” he said.

For traditionalists two different faiths were in contention. “A liberal expression of Christianity is not Christianity” as we know it, Bishop Venables said. Addressing this gap need take place before structural or legislative solutions were imposed on the church. The Anglican Covenant process would define where the parties stood and Archbishop Orombi said “it will be another way of describing we are not in Communion.”

Archbishop Orombi said he hoped that Dr Williams would call a theological council that could devote the time and expertise to engage in these issues. “My proposal is let’s have two sets of theologians and debate these things. Primates don’t have the time,” and the Primates’ Meetings are not the proper venue for these issues.

The two primates urged traditionalists in the United States to take heart from the agreement and both pledged the support of their provinces until a “safe place” had been established for them. Archbishop Orombi also urged ACNA to make its case to Dr Williams, setting forth both the factual and theological rationale for a new province.

Traditionalists must “hold together, remain together” and persevere in their fight, “for we are standing with you,” he said.

Bleak outlook for Communion as Primates gather in Alexandria: CEN 2.06.09 p 7. February 7, 2009

The future prospects of a united Anglican Communion appear bleak at the midpoint of the 2009 primates meeting, following two days of talks on the divisions over doctrine and discipline centering round human sexuality. While the 34 primates have spoken as one on the issue of Zimbabwe, they are sharply divided over the question of what the permissible limits of doctrinal and liturgical authority might be—-how far can a province go with theological innovation and local practices and still be called Anglican?

The venue for the Feb 1-5, the Helnan Palestine Hotel in Alexandria, Egypt, is best known as having been the site where the Arab League gave birth to the PLO in 1964. Should the meeting continue on its present trajectory, it may well be the site of the demise of the Anglican Communion.

However, crisis has been a constant at the Anglican primates meetings. At the mid-points of the 2005 meeting in Dromantine, Northern Ireland and the 2007 meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the communion appeared set for collapse, but the meetings were saved by the personal intervention by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams. Whether Dr. Williams can pull off a third primates’ miracle is unclear.

The meeting opened for business on Feb 1 with a “meet and greet” day of prayer, conservation and welcome to the seven newly elected primates attending the meeting. In the evening the primates travelled to Central Alexandria’s St. Mark’s Anglican Church, and participated in a service consecrating the former colonial-era garrison church as a pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Egypt.

In his sermon to the ebullient congregation of Alexandrine Anglicans, Dr. Williams spoke of the city’s place in Christian history, and offered an oblique criticism to the conservative primates. Extolling the virtues of finding Christ in one’s neighbor, he urged quietness, stillness and respect for diversity upon his peers.

While past exhortations for patience and tolerance from Dr. Williams had kept conservatives in check, after six years of meetings over the same set of issues, patience appeared to be wearing thin. Speaking informally outside St. Marks, the Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola urged his colleagues to be consistent and honour the primates past agreements.

The primates started the formal business session of the meeting on Feb 2 with five presentations from the primates of Canada, Burma, Southern Africa, Uganda and the Episcopal Church of the United States on the question: “What impact has the current situation had on your Province’s mission priorities?”

These elicited a “very interesting discussion” the primates’ spokesman Archbishop Philip Aspinall of Australia told reporters, noting there had been a “huge diversity” of responses in the small group discussions that followed.

Dr. Williams’ selection of the five churches, allowed an artful display of the various views within the Communion. The Burmese Archbishop Stephan Than Myint Oo said that from a cultural perspective the discussion of sexual ethics was distasteful in his society. While the bishops had spoken of these issues, there was no desire to unsettle the church as a whole by pursuing this question in light of the pressing issues facing Burmese Christians.

Archbishop Henry Orambi spoke to the traditional views on human sexuality, citing Scripture and the church’s unbroken traditional teachings, while Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz noted that in his country, the issues of human sexuality were not being driven by the church, but were a live issue with the courts and government.

US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori defended her church’s actions, saying its decisions could not be limited by any outside authority, and noted that her church had been studying the issue for many years. South Africa’s Archbishop Thabo Makgoba urged tolerance and patience, reminding the primates of his own church’s struggle to hold together through the seemly intractable divisions of the apartheid era.

The afternoon session then turned to a presentation on the work of the Anglican Covenant Design Group, led by the Primate of Southeast Asia, Archbishop John Chew of Singapore. The media spokesman for the primates, Australia’s Archbishop Philip Aspinall said it was his impression that there had been a “pulling back from the language of sanctions and teeth” in the draft document.

The Covenant would be about “koinonia … fellowship .. of communion” between churches, he said and not a legal code for “hitting people over the head with sticks.”

In his briefing Archbishop Chew told the primates the Covenant was a work in process. Its drafters had taken on board the criticisms and comments offered by bishops attending the 2008 Lambeth Conference, and were also waiting upon responses due by March 9 from the 38 provinces. Once these materials had been collated, a final draft would be presented to the May meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Jamaica for ratification.

Dr. Aspinall told reporters there was an “increasing realism” within the Common on the practical limits of the Covenant’s legal reach. He believed the emphasis of the final draft would likely be on developing closer relations and “building trust.” The Covenant would request a “self-limiting” of authority on issues of doctrine and discipline from the provinces, but could not command obedience.

The primates closed their first day with an evening presentation on Zimbabwe, and issued a call for strongman Robert Mugabe to go.

On day two, the primates received a report from the Windsor Continuation Group (WCG). Dr. Williams imposed a media blackout on the document-delaying its public release until after the close of the meeting, and press spokesman declined to speak to the details of the conversations. However the intensity of the conversation led to an adjustment of the agenda, with discussions spilling over into the afternoon.

Chartered by Dr. Williams in the wake of his Advent Letter to the Primates in December 2007, the WCG was asked to advise him on the “implementation of the recommendations of the Windsor Report, how best to carry forward the Windsor Process in the life of the Communion, and to consult on the ‘unfinished business’ of the Report.”

The six member team led by the former Presiding Bishop of the Middle East and Jerusalem, Bishop Clive Handford offered three presentations to the bishops of the 2008 Lambeth Conference. It called for a moratorium on gay bishops and blessings, and a “holding bay” for disgruntled conservatives. It also rejected the “proliferation of ad hoc episcopal and archiepiscopal ministries,” asserting that such arrangements “cannot be maintained within a global Communion.”

In December the WCG met in Texas and prepared a final draft of their report to the primates, which was given to the primates at the start of the meeting. Primates contacted by CEN declined to speak to the issues raised in the meeting, though all agreed there had been a full and frank airing of views.

An evening session devoted to the perils of global warming broke the primates’ focus on the splits within the Communion, but after two days of talks, the primates appear haggard and exhausted. The positions of the various factions are clearer, but have also hardened, with little sign that a compromise can be reached. While two days remain to come to a common mind as to how the communion might go forward, Dr. Williams faces the formidable task of reconciling what one primate said appears to be “two irreconcilable positions” within one church.

Primates meeting opens in a fog of confusion: CEN 2.02.09 February 2, 2009

First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.

The 2009 Primates Meeting in Alexandria has opened in a fog of confusion with little expectation the five day meeting will resolve the Anglican crisis.

In their fourth meeting since the 2003 emergency session called by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams to respond to the consecration of V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire, the primates appear exhausted and frustrated, unsure of their authority within the Anglican Communion and the purpose of the meeting.

The viability of the Primates Meeting as one of the communion’s four “instruments of unity” is also under question. Archbishop Peter Akinola has urged primates to be consistent and not abandon the undertakings and pledges made at past gatherings. Others have voiced frustration with the communion’s current ecclesial structures, suggesting that Alexandria and the May meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Jamaica may be the last pan-Anglican global gatherings.

The primates have come at the invitation of Dr. Williams to Alexandria, the Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council, Canon Kenneth Kearon said, to review the work of the Lambeth Conference, explore issues of common interest, and prepare for the gathering of the ACC in Jamaica in May.

Australian Archbishop Philip Aspinall noted the primates meeting were times of “deep conversation, prayerful conversation” that allowed the primates to “get to know one another,” and for the wider church to hear what “issues were important” in their local churches.

Created as a forum for personal conversation by the primates by Archbishop Donald Coggan in 1979, the role of the Primates Meeting has expanded in response to the divisions over doctrine and discipline within the Anglican Communion. In 1988 the Lambeth Conference adopted resolution 18.2(a) encouraging a collegial role for the Primates meeting to enable it “to exercise an enhanced responsibility in offering guidance on doctrinal, moral and pastoral matters.”

The 1998 Lambeth Conference further enhanced the role of the Primates Meeting asking that it intervene “in cases of exceptional emergency which are incapable of internal resolution within provinces, and giving of guidelines on the limits of Anglican diversity in submission to the sovereign authority of Holy Scripture and in loyalty to our Anglican tradition and formularies.”

A return now to the “talking-shop” model of the early 1980’s would not work, one African archbishop told The Church of England Newspaper, while Archbishop Peter Akinola told some of his colleagues on Feb 1 that the primates must be consistent in their actions and not walk away from the undertakings made at the last three meetings.

As the primates began to arrive at the Helnan Palestine Hotel on Alexandria’s corniche, splinter groups on the left and right met to prepare strategies for the meeting. The larger conservative faction met on the afternoon of Jan 31. “Long distances” and “poor communications” in the developing world necessitated the pre-conference meeting, Presiding Bishop Maurice Sinclair, retired primate of the Southern Cone told CEN.

Bishop Sinclair, who after retirement served a term as Dean of the Anglican Cathedral in Cairo and as visiting lecturer at the Alexandria School of Theology, stated he had not been part of the strategy group for the Global South primates, but had been invited by the Bishop of Egypt, the Rt. Rev. Mouneer Anis to greet the primates on his behalf.

Not all of the Global South primates participated in the meeting, due to varying travel schedules. However, one primate said they hoped to prepare an action plan for the gathering, highlighting issues of common importance to the Global South.

The official agenda was finalized on Jan 31, changing Sunday Feb 1 to a “meet and greet” day, with the first business session pushed back to Feb 2. The meeting opened with an informal eucharist in the Palestine Hotel’s Dahabra conference room followed by prayer and conversation—-a “mini-indaba” one staffer said.

Located on the eastern edge of the city in the Montazah Palace Gardens, the 60’s vintage hotel was built on the site for King Farouk’s summer palace and played host to the Arab League summit that gave birth to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

After lunch the primates held an introductory session, with each primate introducing himself to the group, and Dr. Williams offered an overview of the meeting. No formal business was conducted, one primate told CEN, as they had merely exchanged “platitudes” all day.

The primates closed the first day of the meeting with a service at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, followed by a 4:30 service at St. Mark’s Anglican Church on Central Alexandria’s MidanTahrir (Liberation Square). The colonial era church, replete with plaques and memorials to British war dead, was re-consecrated as a pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Egypt.

In his sermon to the ebullient congregation of Alexandrine Anglicans, Dr. Williams spoke of the city’s place in Christian history, and offered an oblique criticism to the conservative primates. Extolling the virtues of finding Christ in one’s neighbor, Dr. Williams urged quietness, stillness and respect for diversity upon his peers.

In a theme sounded at the Lambeth Conference and at past international Anglican confabs, Dr. Williams urged toleration of dissent and diversity, arguing that by excluding or denigrating those who were different, we were excluding the Christ that was within them.

Asked after the service if he took issue with Dr. Williams’ pointed words, a senior African primate smiled and declined to be drawn, saying only that he had “heard what he said.”

Following the service a group photograph was taken. At the 2007 Primates’ Meeting, a number of primates declined to receive the Eucharist with US Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and objected to appearing in a group photograph with her. Organizers of the 2009 conference finessed the issue this time round as Bishop Jefferts Schori was not scheduled to arrive in Alexandria until the second day.

Thirty-four of the Communion’s 38 provinces will be present during the course of the five-day meeting. Two primates: the Rt. Rev. Samuel Azariah, Moderator of the Church of Pakistan, and the Rt. Rev. John Gladstone, Moderator of the Church of South India, informed ACC secretary general Canon Kenneth Kearon that scheduling conflicts prevented them from attending the gathering, while the Moderator of the Church of North India, the Rt. Rev. Purley Lyndoh is understood to have a scheduling conflict.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines, the Most Rev. Edward Malecdan was refused a visa by the Egyptian government and will not be able to attend, while visa difficulties have delayed the arrival of the Primate of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, the Most Rev Daniel Deng Bul Yak.

Three provinces are currently without primates and will be represented by their senior bishop: the Rt. Rev. Errol Brooks, Bishop of Northeastern Caribbean and Aruba for the Church of the Province of the West Indies, the Rt. Rev. Albert Chama, Bishop of Northern Zambia for the Church of the Province of Central Africa, and the Rt. Rev. Charles Koete, Bishop of the Central Solomon Islands for the Anglican Church of Melanesia.

The US Presiding Bishop will miss the opening day of the gathering, but will be present for the start of the business sessions on Feb 2. Departing from the Executive Council meeting in California on the evening of Jan 31, Bishop Jefferts Schori is scheduled to arrive in Egypt in the early morning hours of Feb 2.

The four primates who boycotted the Lambeth Conference: the Most Rev. Peter Akinola of Nigeria, the Most Rev. Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda, the Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya, and the Most Rev. Henry Orombi of Uganda will be present for the gathering.

Ten new primates have been elected since the 2007 meeting, and seven will be on hand: the Rt. Rev. Paul Sishkir Sarkar of Bangladesh, the Most Rev. Fred Hiltz of Canada the Most Rev. Paul Kwong of Hong Kong, the Most Rev. Stephen Than Myint Oo of Myanmar, the Most Rev David Moxon of New Zealand, the Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba of Southern Africa and Archbishop Deng of the Sudan.

Symbolic of the Anglican ennui is the absence of many outside lobbyists from Alexandria. Unlike past gatherings, few of the Communion’s advocacy groups are present, and at the start of the Conference only a handful of journalists have been accredited.

On Feb 2 the primates will hold their first full working day, with sessions devoted the Anglican Covenant, the crisis in Zimbabwe, and to presentations from several primates on the question: “What impact has the current situation had on your province’s Mission priorities.”

Primates’ Meeting to avoid divisive issues: CEN 1.28.09 January 28, 2009

The agenda for next week’s 2009 Primates’ Meeting will avoid taking action on the problems dividing the Anglican Communion, focusing its energies on discussion on how to discuss keeping the conflicting truth claims within the church. The Feb 1-5 meeting at the Helnan Palestine Hotel in Alexandria will open with a morning retreat led by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams followed by worship at St Mark’s pro-Cathedral. Business sessions will be interspersed over the week with worship and excursions to local sites, including the Alexandria School of Theology and the newly renovated Bibliotheca Alexandrina. However it is unlikely the agenda for the five-day gathering will survive unscathed. At their meeting in 2005 in Northern Ireland and in 2007 in Tanzania the primates rebelled, forcing the meeting to address the issues that had split the Anglican Communion. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.