wfn.org | [ENS] Anglican Primates: An Overview (Daybook)

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@mail.epicom.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

February 18, 2005 -- Friday Forum: Voices on issues in the news

Anglican Primates: An Overview

International leaders to gather February 21-25 in Northern Ireland;
Chicago
diocese plans prayer vigil

International leaders to gather February 21-25 in Northern Ireland

[ENS] -- The Primates of the Anglican Communion will meet at the
Dromantine
Conference Centre near Newry, Northern Ireland, February 21-25.

International concerns facing the leaders include relief efforts after
the
South Asia tsunami, and a priority for the gathering is to receive and
discuss the Windsor Report, the culmination of almost a year's dialogue
between the 17-member Lambeth Commission on Communion. The report, which
was
officially released in October 2004, includes recommendations on how the
38
Anglican and Episcopal provinces can remain in communion, especially
amid
differing viewpoints.

The Primates requested the Windsor Report in October 2003 in response to
decisions of General Convention -- the Episcopal Church's chief
legislative
body -- to confirm the election and ordination of an openly gay bishop
in
New Hampshire, and the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster's adoption of
rites for blessing same-gender unions.

The 77-million-member Anglican Communion is made up of 38 autonomous or
self-governing member churches or provinces in 164 countries worldwide.
The
Churches of the Anglican Communion exercise jurisdictional independence
and
are said to be united by affection and common loyalty.

The Primates' Meeting is one of the four instruments of unity in the
Anglican Communion, the other three being the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the
once-a-decade Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council
(ACC), the Anglican Communion's main decision making body.
Inter-Anglican
polity is such that the Primates' Meeting does not act legislatively or
unilaterally on behalf of the provinces.

Each province relates to other provinces within the Anglican Communion
by
being in full communion with the See of Canterbury. The Archbishop of
Canterbury is therefore a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the
Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of Primates, and is president of
the
ACC.

The term "primate" means senior archbishop or presiding bishop of a
province
in the Anglican Communion. In some provinces the primate is also called
Archbishop and/or Metropolitan, while in others the term Presiding
Bishop --
or as in Scotland, Primus -- is preferred. In some provinces the term is
translated into their own language, such as "Obispo Primado" in the
Province
of the Southern Cone (South America).

In the United Churches of South Asia, the Moderators of the churches are
invited to the Primates' Meetings by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is recognized as the "primus inter pares,"
the
first among equals and attendance at a Primates Meeting is by invitation
from him.

Between 1979 and 1997, the Primates of the autonomous Churches of the
Anglican Communion met every two or three years in consultation on
theological, social, and international issues. Since 2000, the Primates
have
met annually. Meeting locations: Ely, England 1979; Washington, USA
1981;
Limuru, Kenya 1983; Toronto, Canada 1986; Cyprus 1989; Ireland 1991;
Cape
Town, Southern Africa 1993; Windsor, England 1995; Jerusalem 1997;
Oporto,
Portugal, 2000; Kanuga, USA, 2001; Canterbury, England 2002; Brazil, May
2003; London, England, October 2003.

The Provinces and Primates of the Anglican Communion are listed below.
Primates' biographical information can be found online at:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/primates/biog/index.cfm.

The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia
The Most Rev. Whakahuihui Vercoe

The Anglican Church of Australia
The Most Rev. Dr. Peter Frederick Carnley AO

The Church of Bangladesh
The Rt. Rev. Michael S Baroi

Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil
The Most Rev. Orlando Santos de Oliveira

The Episcopal Church of Burundi
The Most Rev. Samuel Ndayisenga

The Anglican Church of Canada
The Most Rev. Andrew Sandford Hutchison

The Church of the Province of Central Africa
The Most Rev. Bernard Amos Malango

Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America
The Most Rev. Martin de Jesus Barahona

Province de L'Eglise Anglicane Du Congo
The Most Rev. Dr. Dirokpa Balufuga Fidèle

The Church of England
The Most Rev. Rowan Douglas Williams

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
The Most Rev. Peter Kwong

The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean
The Most Rev. Remi Joseph Rabenirina

The Church of Ireland
The Most Rev. Robert Henry Alexander Eames

The Nippon Sei Ko Kai (The Anglican Communion in Japan)
The Most Rev. James Toru Uno

The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East
The Most Rev. George Clive Handford

The Anglican Church of Kenya
The Most Rev. Benjamin M P Nzimbi

The Anglican Church of Korea
The Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Chul Bum Chung

The Church of the Province of Melanesia
The Most Rev. Sir Ellison Leslie Pogo KBE

La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico
The Most Rev. Carlos Touche-Porter

The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma)
The Most Rev. Samuel San Si Htay

The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Most Rev. Peter Jasper Akinola DD

The Church of North India (United)
The Most Rev. Zechariah James Terom

The Church of Pakistan (United)
The Rt. Rev. Dr Alexander John Malik

The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea
The Most Rev. James Simon Ayong

The Episcopal Church in the Philippines
The Most Rev. Ignacio Capuyan Soliba

L'Eglise Episcopal au Rwanda
The Most Rev. Emmanuel Musaba Kolini

The Scottish Episcopal Church
The Most Rev. Andrew Bruce Cameron

Church of the Province of South East Asia
The Most Rev. Datuk Yong Ping Chung

The Church of South India (United)
The Most Rev. Badda Peter Sugandhar

The Church of the Province of Southern Africa
The Most Rev. Njongonkulu Winston Hugh Ndungane

Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America
The Most Rev. Gregory James Venables

The Episcopal Church of the Sudan
The Most Rev. Joseph Biringi Hassan Marona

The Anglican Church of Tanzania
The Most Rev. Donald Leo Mtetemela

The Church of the Province of Uganda
The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi

The Episcopal Church in the USA
The Most Rev. Frank Tracy Griswold

The Church in Wales
The Most Rev. Dr. Barry Cennydd Morgan

The Church of the Province of West Africa
The Most Rev. Justice Ofei Akrofi

The Church in the Province of the West Indies
The Most Rev. Drexel Wellington Gomez

Diocese of Chicago to hold prayer vigil for Primates' Meeting

[ENS, Source: Diocese of Chicago] The Rev. Catharine Phillips, chaplain
to
the Diocese of Chicago's Windsor Report Task Force, is organizing a
diocesan-wide prayer vigil for the upcoming meeting of Anglican Primates
in
Northern Ireland, February 21 - 25.

Philips, who is vicar of St. Benedict's in Bolingbrook and also serves
on
the diocesan Congregations Commission, organized a similar vigil for the
special House of Bishops meeting January 12 - 13 which addressed the
recommendations of the Lambeth Commission on Communion. The
recommendations
were published as the Windsor Report last October.

"It was a powerful experience for many of us, myself included," said
Phillips in an email sent February 15 to diocesan clergy. "We prayed for
a
deep sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit and attention to the mind
of
Christ." The prayers were framed in such a way, she said, that all
persons
could pray them, "regardless of where any us of stand on any particular
issue."

Phillips is asking clergy and laity to sign up to pray for a specific
hour
during the five-day meeting, a particular hour each day of the meeting,
for
a particular primate throughout the meeting, or just for the meeting
throughout the week.

The vigil period, which allows for the six-hour time differential, runs
from
12:01 a.m. Monday, February 21 through 9 a.m. Friday, February 25.
Phillips
is recommending people use the prayer for the church on page 816 of the
Book
of Common Prayer, one that "we can all pray together." The text of the
prayer reads: "Gracious Father, we pray for thy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it;
where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform
it.
Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it;
where
it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our
Savior.
Amen."

The February meeting is a regular gathering of the 38 primates --
archbishops or presiding bishops -- of the 38 provinces of the Anglican
Communion which includes the Episcopal Church. The meeting, which is
closed
to public and press, will be centered on Bible study and the Eucharist,
and
will be led by Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams.
Archbishop Robin Eames, Primate of All Ireland and chair of the Lambeth
Commission on Communion, will serve as host, and the new secretary
general
of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon, will serve as
secretary.
The primates are expected to release a statement at the end of the
meeting
in a press briefing at Dromantine Conference Center.

To sign up for Chicago's prayer vigil contact Phillips at
catharinephillips@ameritech.net. Phillips says she is also welcoming
participation by members of other dioceses.

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