wfn.org | Secretaries of Anglican provinces grapple with church's diversity

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2000-138

http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

Secretaries of Anglican provinces grapple with church's diversity

by James Solheim

     (ENS) Secretaries of 31 of the Anglican Communion's 38 provinces met at a 
retreat center outside of Toronto August 24-31 to discuss common issues and 
problems--on practical as well as theological levels. 

     Through a series of presentations and workshops, they dealt with issues such 
as funding, strategic planning, communication, organizational change, clergy 
discipline and the structure of the inter-Anglican budget. But they also 
discussed broader issues, such as international debt, peace and justice, the role 
of young people in the church, and how to live with diversity.

     "It is an ideal forum for looking at a wide variety of issues," said the 
Rev. Patrick Mauney, who attended the meeting as the Episcopal Church's director 
of Anglican and Global Relations. "Participation has been increasing steadily," 
he pointed out. "As interest continues to grow they could play an even larger 
role in the Anglican Communion. These are key people in the provinces and their 
important role is too often overlooked."

     Mauney said that there is growing concern in many of the provinces over 
ordained ministry, especially the lack of younger clergy. "The African churches 
are growing so fast that many clergy are postponing retirement, especially where 
they don't have retirement schemes. That means there are fewer places for the 
young clergy," he said. "And of course there are vastly unequal resources among 
these churches."

Dealing with diversity

     A plenary session on the Virginia Report underscored the importance of 
dealing with diversity and remaining faithful church members. Some expressed 
concern that the report's vision of how to sustain community was too narrow. They 
agreed, however, that the report needed serious appraisal throughout the Anglican 
Communion.

     As the secretaries shared news from their provinces, it became clear that 
the church in many parts of the world is suffering persecution and is a victim of 
political violence. The impact on the life of the church in the midst of civil 
wars in the Sudan, Uganda, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, 
and Sierra Leone was revealed in personal stories.

     A major session during the meeting outlined the situation of the Anglican 
Church of Canada, which is facing bankruptcy because of a pattern of abuse of 
indigenous youth in residential schools it operated. Participants heard how the 
church was working together with indigenous church members to shape a response.

     The Rev. Rosemari Sullivan, executive officer of the General Convention, 
said the meeting was a valuable opportunity to connect with those who have 
similar roles. "And yet we all work in such extremely different contexts," she 
said in an interview, "ways that we wouldn't recognize without this kind of 
personal contact." She found the stories from her colleagues "fascinating and 
moving."

     She was able to describe how the General Convention is one way for the 
Episcopal Church "to increase connectedness with one another and with the rest of 
the Anglican Communion." It was a valuable opportunity for her to build some 
bridges to curb what she called "widespread misunderstanding of our church and 
its governance--to deal with the image of a highly politicized church." 

     Opening channels of communication makes it is possible to deal directly with 
questions about our actions," she said. Participants decided to stay in touch 
using e-mail.

--James Solheim is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of News and 
Information.