wfn.org | [ACNS] ACNS DIGEST 18 March 2005

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

The following is a roundup of the recent ACNS Digest stories, with reports
from the USA, Canada, Nigeria, South Africa, and the Indian Ocean. The ACNS
Digest can be found here:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm

(346) 17-March-2005 - House of Bishops: A Word to the Church - USA

>From the Episcopal News Service (ECUSA)

A Word to the Church

The House of Bishops
Camp Allen, Texas

March 16, 2005

Beloved in Christ,

We are gathered at Camp Allen in Texas for our annual spring meeting, this
year on the eve of Holy Week. The work we have accomplished is in service
to that act through which God reconciled the whole world to himself through
Christ.

"We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again;
death no longer has dominion over him" (Romans 6:9). As we prepare to
celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death, we rejoice to place our
whole trust in the freedom Christ has won for us and to submit ourselves to
the service of his mission.

During these days we prayed the common prayer of our church, and our daily
celebration of the Eucharist brought us closer together in the presence of
the paschal mystery. Tears were shed to see lives taken and displaced by
the tsunami, as we heard from one of our community who traveled to that
region on behalf of Episcopal Relief and Development and of us all. In
hearing of the threats to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we were
challenged to be good stewards of the creation. In considering Christian
formation, we pondered how the Gospel is heard in diverse cultures: we were
encouraged to listen to all voices, and to respect the dignity of every
human being. Our hope and intention is to use the time ahead to initiate
ways to speak with and learn from our brothers and sisters across the
Communion about our common commitment to Christ and the different ways we
seek to articulate, not only with our lips but in our lives, the gospel we
share.

At our meeting in Salt Lake City in January 2005 we said that we would
"commit ourselves to a more thorough consideration of the range of concrete
actions identified in the [Windsor] Report at our House of Bishops meeting
in March 2005." We also said we believe it is extremely important to take
the time to allow the Holy Spirit to show us the way to deepen our
communion together.

We believe that the Covenant Statement we have made has been achieved under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our Covenant expresses remarkable
convergences among us during these days and emerged from our mutual desire
to speak as one House embracing widely divergent points of view. We sensed
a profound solidarity and willingness to bear one another's burdens and so
fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).

We pray that this Covenant Statement will be seen by brother and sister
Anglicans as responding to some of their concerns. We pray that our
overwhelming support for the Covenant may be a sign to them of our
unwavering commitment to life in communion.

We pray as well that our Covenant will be useful for us all in healing
relationships and opening the way for renewed solidarity in the service of
Christ's work of reconciliation. We believe our Covenant Statement is a
reflection of a fresh spirit of mutual forbearance and reconciliation among
us. We faced into our deep divisions with an openness that has not
characterized our recent past. We believe this marks the beginning of a new
day in our life together as bishops and as the Episcopal Church.

We move now toward Holy Week with a renewed sense of community and of the
work already accomplished for us through the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Very soon we and our sisters and brothers across the globe
will be walking the way of the Cross together. Following the footsteps of
Jesus, we cannot help but be opened to the needs of others as we move
forward as fellow members of Christ's crucified and risen body, the Church.
As the Apostle Paul tells us: "We have been buried with him by baptism into
death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).

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(345) 17-March-2005 - Canadian church leaders visit Mexico - Canada

>From the Anglican Church of Canada

17 March, 2005

The Rt Revd Sue Moxley, the Suffragan (assistant) Bishop of Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island, is one of a seven-member national delegation of
Canadian church leaders and lay people currently in Mexico.

The nine-day visit (March 11-19) initiated by KAIROS, Canada's largest
ecumenical organization, is meant to assess the economic, political,
social, and cultural consequences of trade liberalization in Mexico; and to
look at the future by developing concrete policy recommendations.

Other members of the delegation are; Bishop Raymond Schultz, national
bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Bishop Daniel Bohan,
auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, Father Paul
Hansen, Redemptorist Catholic priest and chair of the KAIROS Board, the
Revd J Mark Lewis, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada,
Sister Sheila Moss, of the Sisters of Saint Ann, and Wanda West, member of
the Union United Church in Montreal.

The delegation will visit Northern Mexico (Ciudad Juarez) and Southern
Mexico (Chiapas). Upon their return, the delegates will bring their
concerns to Parliament Hill in April during the Global Week of Action on Trade.

The delegation is sending daily reports on their experiences.

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(344) 17-March-2005 - Bishop elected, applications for more dioceses - Nigeria

Following the translation of Bishop Simon Bala to the missionary Diocese of
Kubwa, the Episcopal synod of the Church of Nigeria has announced the
election of the Revd Canon John Garba as the new Bishop of Gusau Diocese.

Also the Standing Committee of the Church has received application for the
creation of three additional dioceses.

The announcement was made by the Primate of the Anglican Church, the Most
Revd Peter Akinola, at the just concluded bi-annual meeting of the Church
held in Kaduna.
Born in 1958, the Revd Garba, until his election, was a priest at St
Michael's Cathedral Kaduna. He was ordained in 1991 and has served as
minister in Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto States.

The Bishop-elect told our correspondent, "Shortly after my ordination in
1991 I spent four months in Gusau. I consider my going there in 2005 as a
Bishop as a very great challenge to me."

Meanwhile two Anglican Bishops are billed to retire by September 2005. They
are Bishops Jeremiah Fabuluje of the diocese of Kwara and the Rt Revd
Nathaniel Yisa of the diocese of Minna. The mandatory retirement age for
Bishops in the Anglican Church of Nigeria is 70, however the clergymen are
at liberty to retire before the specified age.

Bishops Fabuluje and Yisa preached their valedictory sermons at the Kaduna
meeting.
In his sermon topic entitled Obedience, the retiring Bishop of Kwara urged
Christians to think more seriously of the salvation of souls than the
raising of funds for building physical structures.

Speaking on the same topic, the Bishop of Minna called on Christians to be
more generous in their offerings to God as the Lord appreciates sacrificial
offering given in obedience and humility. According to him "to believe in
Jesus Christ, belong to him and behave like him is the total sum of
obedience. '

In a related development the bi-annual meeting of the Church also received
an application for the creation of three additional dioceses.  They are the
Ijebu-Igbo, to be carved out from the Diocese of Ijebu, Aguata, from the
Diocese of Awka and the Missionary Diocese of Western Izon, from the
Diocese of Warri.

However, the ratification of the proposed dioceses (full-fledged) will
depend on their ability to meet their financial obligation to the church
including the endowment fund, Lambeth Conference, and an investment fund
paid to the national office.

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(343) 16-March-2005 - House of Bishops adopts 'Covenant Statement' - USA

>From the Episcopal News Service (ECUSA)

Tuesday, 15 March, 2005

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church adopted, by nearly unanimous
vote late this afternoon, "A Covenant Statement" that includes "a
provisional measure to contribute to a time for healing and for the
educational process called for in the Windsor Report" (full text of
Covenant Statement follows below).

Preparation of an additional "Word to the Church" document to accompany the
Statement is a priority for the bishops' agenda tomorrow, March 16, the
final day of their six-day meeting of retreat and private reflection at
Camp Allen, an Episcopal conference center in Navasota, Texas.

The bishops have widely praised the spirit of collaboration and
collegiality that marked their framing of the Statement.

The Episcopal News Service will post March 17 wrap-up interviews about the
bishops' meeting.

The House of Deputies, to which clergy and laity are elected, and the House
of Bishops together comprise the General Convention, the chief legislative
body of the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church. The General Convention,
which meets every three years, will next convene in June 2006 in Columbus,
Ohio. General Convention's work is carried out between triennial meetings
by the Episcopal Church's Executive Council, to which representatives are
elected from both the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops.

House of Bishops' Spring Meeting
Camp Allen, Texas
15 March, 2005

A Covenant Statement of the House of Bishops

We have received the Windsor Report as a helpful contribution to our
relationships with Anglican brothers and sisters across the world. We
recognize its recommendations as coming from a broadly representative
commission inclusive of bishops, clergy, and laity and as an attempt to
speak as equals to equals. We experience it as being in the best tradition
of autonomy within communion and as helpful in our efforts to live into
communion. Likewise, we appreciate receiving the communique from the
February meeting of the Primates and take seriously the perspectives and
convictions stated therein.

It is our heartfelt desire to be responsive and attentive to the
conversation we have already begun and to which we are being called and as
a body offer the following points.

We reaffirm our commitment to the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888 and
each of its individual points. We reaffirm our earnest desire to serve
Christ in communion with the other provinces of the Anglican family. We
reaffirm our continuing commitment to remain in communion with the
Archbishop of Canterbury and to participate fully in the Anglican
Consultative Council, the Lambeth Conference, and the Primates' Meeting,
and we earnestly reaffirm our desire to participate in the individual
relationships, partnerships, and ministries that we share with other
Anglicans, which provide substance to our experience of what it is to be in
communion.
We express our own deep regret for the pain that others have experienced
with respect to our actions at the General Convention of 2003 and we offer
our sincerest apology and repentance for having breached our bonds of
affection by any failure to consult adequately with our Anglican partners
before taking those actions.
The Windsor Report has invited the Episcopal Church "to effect a moratorium
on the election and consent to the consecration of any candidate to the
episcopate who is living in a same gender union until some new consensus in
the Anglican Communion emerges" (Windsor Report, para. 134). Our polity, as
affirmed both in the Windsor Report and the Primates' Communiquï¿©, does
not give us the authority to impose on the dioceses of our church moratoria
based on matters of suitability beyond the well-articulated criteria of our
canons and ordinal. Nevertheless, this extraordinary moment in our common
life offers the opportunity for extraordinary action. In order to make the
fullest possible response to the larger communion and to re-claim and
strengthen our common bonds of affection, this House of Bishops takes the
following provisional measure to contribute to a time for healing and for
the educational process called for in the Windsor Report. Those of us
having jurisdiction pledge !
to withhold consent to the consecration of any person elected to the
episcopate after the date hereof until the General Convention of 2006, and
we encourage the dioceses of our church to delay episcopal elections
accordingly. We believe that Christian community requires us to share the
burdens of such forbearance; thus it must pertain to all elections of
bishops in the Episcopal Church. We recognize that this will cause hardship
in some dioceses, and we commit to making ourselves available to those
dioceses needing episcopal ministry.
In response to the invitation in the Windsor Report that we effect a
moratorium on public rites of blessing for same sex unions, it is important
that we clarify that the Episcopal Church has not authorized any such
liturgies, nor has General Convention requested the development of such
rites. The Primates, in their communiquï¿© "assure homosexual people that
they are children of God, loved and valued by him, and deserving of the
best we can give of pastoral care and friendship" (Primates' Communiquï¿©,
para. 6). Some in our church hold such "pastoral care" to include the
blessing of same sex relationships. Others hold that it does not.
Nevertheless, we pledge not to authorize any public rites for the blessing
of same sex unions, and we will not bless any such unions, at least until
the General Convention of 2006.
We pledge ourselves not to cross diocesan boundaries to provide episcopal
ministry in violation of our own canons and we will hold ourselves
accordingly accountable. We will also hold bishops and clergy canonically
resident in other provinces likewise accountable. We request that our
Anglican partners "effect a moratorium on any further interventions"
(Windsor Report, para. 155; see also 1988 Lambeth Conference Resolution 72
and 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution III.2) and work with us to find more
creative solutions, such as the initiation of companion diocese
relationships, to help us meet the legitimate needs of our own people and
still maintain our integrity.
As a body, we recognize the intentionality and seriousness of the Primates'
invitation to the Episcopal Church to refrain voluntarily from having its
delegates participate in the Anglican Consultative Council meetings until
the Lambeth Conference of 2008. Although we lack the authority in our
polity to make such a decision, we defer to the Anglican Consultative
Council and the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church to deliberate
seriously on that issue.
The bonds of affection are not ends in themselves but foundations for
mission. Therefore, we re-commit ourselves to work together throughout the
communion to eradicate HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases,
to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and to address the other
efforts mentioned by the Primates' Communiquï¿© (para. 20). We dedicate
ourselves to full and open dialogue in every available venue through
invitations for mutual visitation, intentional exploration of the
theological perspectives and spiritual gifts that our diverse cultures
offer, and collaborative partnerships for the purpose of shared mission in
Christ.

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(342) 15-March-2005 - CPSA to assess role in society - South Africa

The Church of the Province of Southern Africa or CPSA is to hold a planning
meeting from Monday 14 March evening until Thursday 17 March in Kempton
Park, Johannesburg. This meeting was called in response to a decision by
Archbishop Ndungane and a representative body of clergy and laity that
there is a need for the CPSA to rethink its current modus operandi if it
wants to make a tangible difference in the world in which it exists.

It is strongly felt that the survival of the church and the survival of
humanity depends on an integrated approach to development, in partnership
with other civil society organisations, government, business and global
organisations. Issues of community development, economic justice, poverty
alleviation, education and health have been prioritised as critical issues.

It is intended that this planning meeting will address some of these
challenges, assess the church's capacity to confront them and identify
strategies and relevant people to deal with them.

Presentations and discussions on poverty, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis,
Malaria, education and theological education will form part of the programme.

It looks likely at this stage that Africa - and especially Sub-Saharan
Africa - is the one continent where none of the Millennium Development
Goals will be met by the target date of 2015. For this reason a significant
amount of time will be spent discussing awareness and monitoring of, and
lobbying for the Millennium Development Goals and the role of the church in
achieving these.

Speakers will include Archbishop Ndungane, academics from South Africa and
other countries and representatives from the World Bank and the USA
church's Episcopal Relief and Development and UNAIDS. Representatives from
all dioceses in Southern Africa have been invited to take part.

For more information 'phone Penny Lorimer, Media Liaison for Archbishop
Ndungane, on 082 894-1522.

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(341) 15-March-2005 - Church lauds return of peace to Kaduna - Nigeria

A report on the Standing Committee meeting in Kaduna for the Church of
Nigeria (Anglican Communion), reported in ACNS 3954
(http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/39/50/acns3954.cfm) can be
found here:

http://www.anglican-nig.org/kaduna_peace.htm

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(340) 15-March-2005 - Church extension underway in Madagascar - Indian Ocean

March 14, 2005

[Antsiranana - Indian Ocean] The church is growing in the north of
Madagascar -- the church building in the town of Ambilobe in the Antakarana
is being extended.

"We laid the foundation for the extension of the Church on Wednesday 9
March, with Archdeacon Rakotovao Alphege who is the Parish priest," reports
the Rt Revd Roger FH Chung Po Chuen, Bishop of Antsiranana.

"Please pray that the Ambilobe Church will be ready for the ordination of
four priests and two deacons on 4 September 2005 and that we will meet all
the required expenses for that purpose."

He said his predecessor, Bishop Keith Benzies -- who is buried in the
Ambilobe churchyard "planted a fruitful mission" in the town. He added:
"One of the future deacons is David Hamilton, a newly-hatched missionary
who has just landed in our Diocese."

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