27 September 2015 A.D. ANGLICAN JOURNAL: Welby calls for primates’ meeting in 2016
27 September 2015 A.D. ANGLICAN JOURNAL: Welby calls for primates’ meeting
in 2016
Forget, Andre. “Welby calls for primates’ meeting in
2016.” Anglican Journal. 16 Sept 2015.
http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/welby-calls-for-primates-meeting-in-2016. Accessed 27 Sept 2015.
Archbishop of
Canterbury Justin Welby has invited the 37 primates (senior archbishops) of the
Anglican Communion to a face-to-face meeting in Canterbury in January
2016.
A press
statement issued today by Lambeth Palace said, without elaborating, that the
meeting would be an opportunity for a “review of the structures of the Anglican
Communion.”
It quoted Welby
as saying that he has suggested that primates “need to consider recent
developments but also look afresh at our ways of working as a Communion.”
The press
statement has already caused some controversy. The Guardian ran an
article under the headline, "Archbishop of Canterbury urges breakup of
divided Anglican Communion," to which Lambeth Palace responded by tweeting
"Just to clarify, the Archbishop of Canterbury is NOT planning to break up
the Anglican Communion." The headline has since been changed.
The Guardian reported that
the archbishop would propose that the worldwide grouping be reorganized “as a
group of churches that are all linked to Canterbury but no longer necessarily
to each other.” It quoted an unnamed Lambeth Palace source as saying the
proposal would allow Welby to maintain relations with both liberal and
conservative churches in the Communion, which have been deeply divided over the
issue of human sexuality.
Fuelling the
controversy was an invitation extended by Welby to Archbishop Foley Beach, head
bishop of the Anglican Church in North America, to be present for part of the
meeting. ACNA is composed of clergy and congregations that have left the
Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church over the blessing of
same-sex unions by some dioceses in Canada and the election of bishops in
same-sex relationships in the U.S.. The creation of ACNA, which has its own
episcopacy, has led to a complicated situation where it is considered fully
Anglican by some provinces in the Communion, but is not in communion with
Canterbury—one of the traditional requirements of Anglicanism.
In the
statement, Welby acknowledged that “we each live in a different context,” and
that “the difference between our societies and cultures, as well as the speed
of cultural change in much of the global north, tempts us to divide as
Christians.” But, he pressed for unity, saying, “A 21st-century
Anglican family must have space for deep disagreement, and even mutual criticism.
We have no Anglican pope. Our authority as a church is dispersed, and
ultimately found in scripture, properly interpreted.” (The Archbishop of
Canterbury is primus inter pares (first among equals) at any meeting of
primates and is recognized as the focus of unity for the Anglican Communion,
which has 85 million members worldwide.)
Welby expressed
the hope that the meeting will enable the Communion “to set a course which
permits us to focus on serving and loving each other, and above all on the proclamation
of the good news of Jesus Christ.”
In an interview
with the Anglican Journal, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the
Anglican Church of Canada, said the invitation was "not a surprise,"
and nor was Welby's stated desire to review the structures of the communion.
"He's been quite open about that from early on.”
When it comes to
his own thoughts on what a review of the structures should involve, Hiltz
sounded a note of caution.
"My hope
would be that we don't just come at a conversation like that from the point of
view of saying, ‘nothings working and everything needs to be fixed or made
new.’ Because I, for one, don't believe everything is broken," Hiltz said,
pointing to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) as an example of a
"pretty healthy" instrument of communion.
Regarding
Beach's participation in the meeting, Hiltz pointed out that membership in the
Anglican Communion is a process overseen by the ACC, and stressed that Beach's
participation does not mean ACNA is a part of the Anglican Communion.
"I think
considerable care has been taken with regard to how Archbishop Foley will be
present," Hiltz said. "My understanding is that he will be present
for some time in conversation with the primates in advance of the formal
meeting… The provision that Archbishop Justin has made, I know…comes out of his
passion for and hope of reconciliation."
Archbishop
Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion welcomed
Welby’s announcement of a primate’s meeting saying, “The Anglican Communion must
now allow the Holy Spirit to intervene in the differences that divide us.” In a
press statement, Idowu-Fearon said the invitation extended to Beach “is an
opportunity to listen to useful ideas from this group on how we continue as a
Communion in light of the search and openness to the leading of the Holy
Spirit.”
Invitations have
been sent, but how many primates will come? "I'm hopeful everybody will
come, but my honest answer is it remains to be seen," said Hiltz, adding
that he does not feel his hope is unfounded. "I think the fact that
everybody showed up for his installation two years ago was a really good
sign."
The meeting, the
first to be hosted by Welby since he was enthroned in 2013, will also give
primates a chance to “decide together their approach to the next Lambeth
Conference,” said the press release.
The primates
last met at the Emmaus Centre in Dublin in 2011, a gathering attended by 23
primates. Seven boycotted the meeting over concerns about the Anglican Church
of Canada and The Episcopal Church’s (TEC) acceptance of same-sex blessings in
some jurisdictions and their support for the full inclusion of gays and
lesbians in their churches.
The primates'
meeting is one of the three instruments of communion in the Anglican Communion,
the other two being the Anglican Consultative Council and the Lambeth
Conference of bishops.
Welby has said
he wants a guarantee of broad participation from across the Anglican Communion
before he schedules the next Lambeth Conference. The conference, which is an
opportunity for the world’s Anglican bishops to discuss and make decisions
about issues facing the Communion, is usually held every ten years. The last
conference was held in Canterbury in 2008.
- See more at: http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/welby-calls-for-primates-meeting-in-2016#sthash.yXSNwngh.dpuf
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