Archive for December, 2007
Written by: R. Mwita Akiri, PhD
Saturday, December 29th, 2007
The Rev Canon Dr R. Mwita Akiri is the General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Tanzania & Visiting Scholar, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, Canada
As some of you may know, Africa is a large continent. It has over 50 nation states and covers 30 million square kilometers, with a population of over three quarters of a billion. There are 12 Anglican Provinces in Africa (or national churches, each with a Primate) and the Diocese of Egypt. These form what is known as the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA). Though I have had the privilege to serve on one of the CAPA Boards (2002-2006), and to meet all the Primates of CAPA twice in Dar es Salaam (September 2005 and February 2007), I am not a CAPA spokesperson. Equally, though I am a member of the Anglican Consultative Council since 2005, I am not a spokesperson for the Anglican Communion. Therefore the reflections that I want to offer are personal, but I believe that they represent the general position of the Anglican Church of Tanzania and hopefully the Church in Africa.
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December 29 2007 | Articles
Written by: The Very Revd Dr. George Sumner
Wednesday, December 26th, 2007
This being Christmas Eve Eve, my question for you is this: back in your childhood, when Christmas had a numinous glow, what was the most memorable present you ever received? Several come to mind for me. There was a doll of my hero, Popeye, which I received on my 5th Christmas and dragged happily around the house all morning, only to discover to my horror later in the afternoon that my sister had performed surgery on him (we were surgeon’s kids) and the surgery had gone very very wrong…not sure I have forgiven her yet. A couple of years later, in my militaristic phase, I found under the tree two beautiful uniforms, of Union and Confederate soldiers, handsewn by my grandmother, one of which I have to this day. But the one I want to focus on this morning was actually given to my older brother: a see-through antfarm. There they were, working industriously within, digging, dragging, building, quite oblivious to the staring eyes of us, far larger beings taking in their predicament and their efforts. The antfarm: what strikes us when we watch is how industrious they are, but when one gets older one stops to think why? For they are equally unaware of themselves, and willing to be trampled by their comrades if it furthers the cause. It is all for the Farm, and down with the Ant, the individual anyway, a far cry from each wondering what there is for me under that tree. The great selfless one, in which we are but worker ants: it is strange, attractive, and awful to us as we look in on the plastic window.
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December 26 2007 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Friday, December 21st, 2007
The long awaited Advent Letter promised by the Archbishop of Canterbury is now in the public arena. It is a remarkable piece of work-one that deserves careful reading and reflection on the part of all. Its rich theological content and wise procedural protocols will place it, along with the Windsor Report and the Communiqué from Dar es Salaam, in the center of all future discussions of the nature and calling of the Anglican Communion. It should be remembered that statements of this nature are not trial balloons or proxies for our voting, up or down, but rather have the character of Anglican instrumental discourse, to be ranged with other such documents as defining the nature of Anglicanism at a critical time. So they must be assessed with the same level of seriousness with which they are constructed and promulgated.
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December 21 2007 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
Prepared by members of the Anglican Communion Institute
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s long-awaited Advent Letter is, in many ways, a sequel to his reflection of June 2006 – ‘The Challenge and Hope of Being An Anglican Today’. It is, in fact, a longer document (at over 4,300 words compared to the earlier reflection’s 3,350 words) and one which repays careful and repeated study rather than instant reactions. The present comments are not meant to pre-empt this need for patient reflection, through a simple summary; rather, we hope to contribute to it through attentive and extended reading of its meaning.
The letter falls into six distinct parts, which we shall examine in sequence.
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December 18 2007 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
December 17, 2007
Four years ago ACI traveled to Orlando to help constitute what became known as the “Network”. Martyn Minns, David Anderson, other conservative leaders and clergy, Bp. Robert Duncan and a cadre of bishops from conservative dioceses were there.
Tensions became apparent after 24 hours and the bishops withdrew. The meeting was brought to a close with only a part of the agenda fulfilled. It was apparent that some were not happy with the direction of those who wished to form, as it would transpire, a ‘new ecclesiastical jurisdiction.’
That tension never went away. It appears that the daily operating (and funding) of ‘Network’ was always and chiefly in the hands of those in favour of such a new structure. In turn, they related their movement to AMiA, various continuing churches, and in time to what would become CANA, with themselves becoming bishops in this, now termed, Common Cause movement.
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December 18 2007 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
While a number of aspects of my recent mapping of the Anglican Communion have been criticised (see my broader response here), probably the most controversial and contested aspect was the suggestion that we need to move from a simple pro-I.10 and anti-I.10 stance in relation to sexual ethics and distinguish four positions on the spectrum.
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December 06 2007 | Articles