Conservative [Anglican] Primates Will "Act Together" In Tanzania

VirtueOnline-News ^ | 1/19/2007 | David W. Virtue with Auburn Traycik and Gary L'Hommedieu

[sionnsar]

Main Entry: pri'mate
Etymology: Middle English primat, from Old French, from Medieval Latin primat-, primas archbishop, from Latin, leader, from primus
Date: 13th century
1 often capitalized : a bishop who has precedence in a province, group of provinces, or a nation
2 archaic : one first in authority or rank : LEADER
3 [New Latin Primates, from Latin, plural of primat-, primas] : any of an order (Primates) of mammals comprising humans, apes, monkeys, and related forms (as lemurs and tarsiers)
-pri'mate-ship \-*ship\ noun
--pri-ma'tial \pr*-*m*-sh*l\ adjective

JACKSONVILLE, FL - Global South Anglican Primates are going to "act together" at their mid-February meeting in Tanzania, Indian Ocean Archbishop Gerald James Ernest told members of the Anglican Mission in the Americas holding their Winter Conference here today.

Asked if they would be seated with revisionist American Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, at the Primates' Meeting, Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, another of several Anglican leaders attending the AMiA meeting, said, "In Africa whether you are a friend or [enemy] normally we welcome you, but welcoming you does not mean we agree with what you are doing. When you are called to a meeting you don't say no, but you can say no to the agenda for that meeting. We can begin the meeting, but the agenda itself will tell whether we can continue with everybody or not."

Privately pressed for more, Archbishop Ernest said only that "we will see what the agenda is all about. We know where the Global South and CAPA (Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa) Primates stand, but we are definitely waiting until the preparatory meetings" that will take place in February before the Tanzania gathering. "We work together and we shall be together" on this issue, he said.

Central African Archbishop Bernard Malango, who was on the Lambeth Commission that produced the Windsor Report, was also among those appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to consider the results of the Episcopal Church's 2006 General Convention and make recommendations. Noting that that panel of so called "wise men" was comprised of both conservatives and liberals, he said, "It wasn't easy to advise Rowan (Williams) but we did, and next month we are going to hear what we discussed and commended it to him. Whether the Anglican Communion will change or be the same, I am not going to discuss." He observed, though, that "Our brothers and sisters in America know how to play with words. They say a different thing, but what do they mean?"

Retired Southeast Asian Primate Moses Tay said he was sympathetic with the challenges that serving Primates will face in their meeting, adding that "even the Archbishop of Canterbury might not know and even he may be deceived. " Evoking applause and some mirth, he remarked: "I ask all of you, go back to your churches and...ask your intercessors to be praying day and night, shut the mouth of the devil!"

But Tanzanian Archbishop Donald Mtetemela also struck a pastoral chord, requesting prayers "from you all so that I may have the wisdom to bring God's word to Katharine as I know it in my heart. I've never been able to speak face to face with [her]. I've read what she has said about Jesus Christ and about everything else. I have said...this is a good opportunity to bring what I believe about Jesus Christ, to bring it to Katharine; whether she'll say yes or no I leave that to the Holy Spirit provided God gives me that opportunity. And of course I need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit...so that, as I bring the Word to her, it will be the Holy Spirit speaking to her using my simple words to her. He has to speak to her heart...that's number one."

He also urged prayers for the Primates as a whole as some of them have "holy anger" within them "because we have a zeal...and someone is distorting it." Pray that "we don't lose control so that we will be able to speak that truth which we know" and remain "mindful...of what the people left behind are expecting of us," he said.

Noting the heavy focus on Mrs. Schori and the American Church going into the Primates' Meeting, Mtetemela also requested that intercessors ask Jesus what it is that he wants the leaders to do generally at this time in the church, and to guide the prelates accordingly. "We can still address the issues of TEC, but the (real) issue...is how the devil is hurting the church and distorting the truth using the leaders of the church," he asserted.

In a humorous aside, Archbishop Malango took a swipe at pro-gay Western liberals who attempt to advance their cause by accusing African leaders of supporting polygamy. "I am married to one wife," he quipped, "and the fruits of our love produced five kids; 3 boys and 2 girls. We now have 13 grandchildren."

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Mtetemela also requested that intercessors ask Jesus what it is that he wants the leaders to do generally at this time in the church, and to guide the prelates accordingly. "We can still address the issues of TEC, but the (real) issue...is how the devil is hurting the church and distorting the truth using the leaders of the church," he asserted.

A question that often comes up in these threads is "don't Schori and her contingent realize that by following their current path they will soon have empty churches?" Mtetemela's statement above provides insight into the probablility that at some level, they do.