Posted on 11/22/2006 3:25:46 PM PST by sionnsar
Representatives from eight dioceses of The Episcopal Church as well as clergy and lay leaders affiliated with the Anglican Communion Network met at an undisclosed location in Northern Virginia Nov. 15-17 with the Anglican primates of Kenya, Nigeria, West Africa and the West Indies.
A statement issued Nov. 8 by the Global South Steering Committee said the purpose of the private consultation was to to investigate their appeal [for alternative primatial oversight] in greater detail and identify possible responses. The primates moved the gathering to another location after an earlier published report named The Falls Church in suburban Washington, D.C., as the meeting's location.
Minimal information has been provided on the deliberations which were led by archbishops Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya, Peter Akinola of Nigeria, Justice Akrofi of West Africa and Drexel Gomez of the West Indies. U.S. participants in the gathering told TLC they had been asked to refrain from commenting and that all public statements would be made by the visitors, the Global South Steering Committee. Meeting participants did say the discussions included testimony about the problems of The Episcopal Church, and discussions of structural solutions to these problems that could implemented by overseas primates.
The committee released a statement Nov. 20, stating they met with representatives from the dioceses of Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy, San Joaquin, South Carolina, and Springfield, as well as with representatives of other Windsor-compliant dioceses and of congregations separated from The Episcopal Church.
The primates said they heard presentations on the political and theological state of The Episcopal Church, and noted they were distressed to learn of the legalistic and autocratic environment facing some faithful Anglicans. They said they felt morally and spiritually compelled to assert their solidarity with those present, and would report their findings to the wider leadership of the Global South Primates coalition, pledging to do all in our power to bring about the desired outcome of the Windsor process.
Detailed discussion was held over proposals outlined in the Global Souths Sept. 22 communiqué from Kigali, Rwanda, in which Global South primates called for the creation of a separate ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the U.S.A. Various possible structures for creating a 39th province in the Anglican Communion for traditionalist dioceses and congregations were also proposed.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori wrote an open letter on Nov. 1 to the four primates, inviting them to pay a call on me to begin building a missional relationship, noting that The Episcopal Church and the Global South primates had a common interest in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
In the statement issued before the meeting, Archbishop John Chew, secretary of the Global South Steering Committee, said the primates would respond to the invitation from the Presiding Bishop in due course. But Bishop Jefferts Schori has yet to receive a response from any of the primates, according to Canon Bob Williams, director of communications at the Episcopal Church Center.
I know what you mean.
The first thought that came into my mind was,
"APES FOR EVOLUTION"
Ungulates, Ruminants To Follow Suit
Those must be the future humans they are talking about.
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