wfn.org | ACNS3600 Trinity Wall Street reassures African partners

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3600     |     USA     |	  1 OCTOBER 2003 

Trinity Wall Street reassures African partners

[ACNS source: Trinity Church Wall Street] The head of the grants program
of Trinity Church Wall Street has told partner churches in Africa that
they will not be penalized for expressing views opposed to the policies
of the Episcopal Church on the issue of human sexuality.

"You don't have to agree with us to be eligible for a Trinity grant,"
said the Revd James G. Callaway, Jr, deputy for Grants and Outreach.
"This has been our policy in the past, it is our policy now, and it will
remain our policy."

Father Callaway was speaking at the recent meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, of
the ninth session of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa. CAPA
is a continental body that brings together all 12 of Africa's Anglican
churches, as well as the Diocese of Egypt. 

Bringing greetings to the meeting, Father Callaway referred to "a few
instances" in which there had been accusations from within the Episcopal
Church that Trinity was making grants conditional upon agreement with
ECUSA theology.

"In fact, in these cases, the issue has not been whether or not there is
agreement on theology; but rather on how we relate to one another in
Communion," he said.

He said Trinity believed partners should feel free to express views as
strongly as they wished, within the bounds of Christian charity, "but
that we [partners] should do so within a framework of respect for one
another's autonomy as Provinces."

He added that Trinity avoided giving grants to parishes or individuals
in other provinces of the Communion who set themselves against official
structures of those provinces, because it did not want to promote
divisions within other provinces.

"On a wider level, we feel that unless the Communion decides on another
way of operating, it would be inappropriate for us in the United States
to take your dissenting parishes and dioceses within our jurisdiction,
or to be consecrating bishops in your provinces who wish to set
themselves up in opposition to you."

The full text of Father Callaway's greeting follows:

"In the current climate of contention over the debate on human
sexuality, it may be helpful to you if I reiterate our policy at Trinity
when it comes to making grants to partners with whom we do not have full
agreement on theological issues. 

"Our policy is this: We make grants to you, our partners, regardless of
whether we are in agreement with you on points of theology. We do not
believe we have to see eye to eye with you on every issue to work with
you around common mission concerns. This means that you should not fear
that your province or diocese will be penalized in our partnership for
your views on the current sexuality debate. More concisely stated: You
don't have to agree with us to be eligible for a Trinity grant. This has
been our policy in the past, it is our policy now, and it will remain
our policy.

"There have been a few instances in the last two years in which Trinity
has been accused from within ECUSA of making our grants conditional upon
agreement with our theology. In fact, in these cases, the issue has not
been whether or not there is agreement on theology; but rather on how we
relate to one another in Communion.

"Within Trinity Parish, among both the members of the congregation and
the clergy, there are differing views on the sexuality debate. Some
support the General Convention's decision, some are strongly against,
and I may say that parishioners in that group have not hesitated to
voice their dissent. This disagreement extends through our diocese and
the whole Episcopal Church as well.

"I suspect that you too have your disagreements, over other issues, in
your parishes, your dioceses and your provinces. You may have parishes
which dissent in some ways from their bishops. You may even have bishops
or dioceses who disagree with their archbishops on some issues.

"How should all of us, as partners from different provinces, respond to
the internal differences within one another's dioceses and provinces?
Our view at Trinity is that in a healthy partnership, we should feel
free to debate the issues between ourselves, to express our views as
strongly as we wish within the bounds of Christian charity, but that we
should do so within a framework of respect for one another's autonomy as
Provinces.

"At Trinity, we don't give grants to dissenting parishes or individuals
in other Provinces because we do not feel it is appropriate for us to be
promoting division in those Provinces. On the contrary, our policy is to
form partnerships with you, the official leaders of your dioceses and
provinces. On a wider level, we feel that unless the Communion decides
on another way of operating, it would be inappropriate for us in the
United States to take your dissenting parishes and dioceses within our
jurisdiction, or to be consecrating bishops in your provinces who wish
to set themselves up in opposition to you. 

"Fortunately, if we review the overall picture of our partnerships,
we're talking about an issue which has barely appeared on the radar
screen. We declined one grant two years ago on the basis that we felt
our autonomy as a province had not been respected. In contrast, in the
last five years we have given 84 grants throughout Africa, in every
province. 

"Since the last CAPA council meeting the Trinity Grants Program has
marked its thirtieth anniversary. We are proud that the founding vision
of our global work came from the late Bishop Stephen Fielding Bayne, who
was Associate Rector at the time. Bishop Bayne was truly a son of
Trinity: his father was a Church Warden; he was baptized at our Chapel
of the Intercession; Trinity sponsored him for ordination; he not only
served on the staff as I have indicated, but was buried from Trinity and
rests in the Trinity Church Cemetery in New York.

"When he went to establish the Office of the Executive of the Anglican
Communion, the Vestry supported his work by providing the furnishings
for his London office. As Anglicans I believe we are indebted to his
vision of 'Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence' which has set a
very solid foundation for our life together. I want to quote Bishop
Bayne briefly to keep our work together in perspective. He wrote, 'The
point is that the church is the one body in the world that is bigger
than human differences; the point is that we have a duty to placard
before the world the reconciliation God has worked in us through Jesus
Christ.'"

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