Posted on 11/17/2005 3:58:31 PM PST by sionnsar
A Panel of Primates pledged their continued support to North American conservatives at a traditionalists’ rally in Pittsburgh last week, but stated the ‘moment of decision’ had come, challenging traditionalists to chose which master they would serve. Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda called on the leaders of the North American Churches to prove their mettle, “standing boldly and standing courageously for Christ”. “Yes, we will stay with you”, Archbishop Yong Ping Church of Southeast Asia responded to pleas of continued support for embattled American and Canadian traditionalists, “as long as you remain faithful, Biblical, evangelical and orthodox”.
Seated in a half-circle on a raised platform facing the rally, the Archbishops participated in a question and answer session on the second day of the “Hope and a Future” rally. Queried about the slow pace of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Panel of Reference, Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the West Indies stated the Primates were “not only unhappy” but “very disappointed”, as “our requests have not been taken as seriously as we intended it to be.” “We were promised that the Panel would be established as a matter of urgency. That was in February. And the Panel has yet to respond to the first case,” he said on November 11. “Just two weeks ago, in Egypt, we took this concern to the Archbishop of Canterbury who promised that work on the Panel would increase. But as of yesterday the Panel still had yet to consider any of the matters placed before it,” Archbishop Gomez said.
Nor were the Primates sanguine over the future of the Anglican Communion. Archbishop Bernard Malango stated the Anglican Communion “is being broken” by the actions of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada over homosexuality. He hoped the Episcopal Church’s 2006 General Convention would conform to the recommendations of the Windsor Report. “If they say they will work together with us. Well and good. If they say no, forget about it.” Archbishop Gomez was equally sanguine. Presiding Bishop Frank T Griswold “and his colleagues will continue to try to fudge their response instead of being open, honest and upfront. They will try to say one thing while they mean something else,” he said. “We have news for them,” he added, noting that an “oleaginous” American response to Windsor would not suffice. “The final answer lays with the Primates of the Communion and not simply with a couple of people in England. The Primates will have the final word,” he said.
Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria challenged American Episcopalians to “pray fervently for ECUSA” as it had not yet shown any sign that it would repent. The Episcopal Church has “not shown any reason for us to believe that they intend to clean up their actions,” Archbishop Akinola said, as “all they have been doing so far is to try to justify their actions and to defend their impudence”. He asked traditionalists to “make up your mind of exactly what you want to do. Many of you have one leg in ECUSA and one leg in the Network. With that, my friends, comes disaster. “If you really want the Global South to partner with you, you must let us know exactly where you are,” he asked to thunderous applause. “Are you ECUSA or are you Network? Which one?”
Sometimes the bushes need a little pruning; too bad it is the most of the Episcopal Church.
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