Episcopal News Service March 8, 2007
Knowing the Lord is about giving the poor a fair trial, Williams tells TEAM conference
Archbishop of Canterbury delivers keynote address in Boksburg, South Africa
By Matthew Davies
[ENS] A world where no one is forgotten, no one is invisible, "is a world in which God's promise has been fulfilled," Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams told delegates attending the Towards Effective Anglican Mission (TEAM) conference in his keynote address March 8 in Boksburg, South Africa.
"It requires absolute commitment to the whole community and everyone within it," he said.
Meeting through March 14 at the Birchwood Conference Centre near Johannesburg, TEAM is welcoming more than 400 people from 30 of the Anglican Communion's 38 provinces to review the church's response to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and how it can do more as one of the world's largest grassroots development networks.
Jenny Humphries, World Mission Adviser of the Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Church of England, introduced Williams with appreciation for "his skills of care and compassion and listening."
On the TEAM conference, Humphries said it is an "incredible privilege to realize that effective world mission involves all of us from everywhere of all ages."
Williams opened his keynote address by acknowledging his "enormous pleasure and privilege" to be in South Africa, noting that he has been looking forward to returning to the country for many years.
Although this marks his first official visit to South Africa as Archbishop of Canterbury, Williams and his wife, Jane, spent some time in the country in the mid '80s during the apartheid years.
He said that TEAM's opening March 7 Eucharist, which drew more than 1,000 people to the local township, Tsakane, "awakened the most exciting and deep-rooted memories from those years ago."
Williams paid tribute to Ndungane for his work in convening the TEAM conference and his commitment to the issues represented in the MDGs, in particular for his dedication in addressing the challenges of HIV/AIDS on the African continent.
Full story and photo: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_83206_ENG_HTM.htm
An audio stream of Williams' address will be available later today at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_23466_ENG_HTM.htm. More information about TEAM is available at the conference website at http://www.team2007.org. Continuing ENS coverage is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_23466_ENG_HTM.htm.
-- Matthew Davies is international correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.
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