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Resources
"Equipping the
Saints: A Crisis Resource for Anglican Laity"
"Small Steps
Down a Slippery Slope" (A Capsule History of Recent Events
in the Episcopal Church) by FIFNA
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The following videos are from December of 2007
courtesy of Anglicantv.org.
Printable copy
here.
22 September, A.D. 2006
The Kigali Communique
Global South Primates’
Meeting
The Anglican Communion
Kigali, Rwanda September 2006
Communiqué
_________________________________
The following is an
excerpt from the Kigali Communique. You are encouraged to read the
full text, here [pdf].
7. We recognize that
because of the ongoing conflict in the Communion many people have
lost hope that we will come to any resolution in the foreseeable
future. We are grateful therefore, that one sign of promise is the
widespread support for the development of an Anglican Covenant. We
are delighted to affirm the extraordinary progress made by the
Global South task group on developing an Anglican Covenant. For the
past year they have labored on this important task and we look
forward to submitting the result of their labor to the rest of the
Communion. We are pleased that the Archbishop of Canterbury has
recognized the exemplary scholarship and leadership of Archbishop
Drexel Gomez in asking him to chair the Covenant Design Group and
look forward with anticipation to the crucial next steps of this
historic venture. We believe that an Anglican Covenant will
demonstrate to the world that it is possible to be a truly global
communion where differences are not affirmed at the expense of faith
and truth but within the framework of a common confession of faith
and mutual accountability.
8. We have come together
as Anglicans and we celebrate the gift of Anglican identity that is
ours today because of the sacrifice made by those who have gone
before us. We grieve that, because of the doctrinal conflict in
parts of our Communion, there is now a growing number of
congregations and dioceses in the USA and Canada who believe that
their Anglican identity is at risk and are appealing to us so that
they might remain faithful members of the Communion. As leaders of
that Communion we will work together to recognize the Anglican
identity of all who receive, hold and maintain the Scriptures as the
Word of God written and who seek to live in godly fellowship within
our historic ordering.
9. We deeply regret that,
at its most recent General Convention, The Episcopal Church gave no
clear embrace of the minimal recommendations of the Windsor Report.
We observe that a number of the resolutions adopted by the
Convention were actually contrary to the Windsor Report. We are
further dismayed to note that their newly elected Presiding Bishop
also holds to a position on human sexuality – not to mention other
controversial views – in direct contradiction of Lambeth 1.10 and
the historic teaching of the Church. The actions and decisions of
the General Convention raise profound questions on the nature of
Anglican identity across the entire Communion.
10. We are, however,
greatly encouraged by the continued faithfulness of the Network
Dioceses and all of the other congregations and communities of
faithful Anglicans in North America. In addition, we commend the
members of the Anglican Network in Canada for their commitment to
historic, biblical faith and practice. We value their courage and
consistent witness. We are also pleased by the emergence of a wider
circle of ‘Windsor Dioceses’ and urge all of them to walk more
closely together and deliberately work towards the unity that Christ
enjoins. We are aware that a growing number of congregations are
receiving oversight from dioceses in the Global South and in recent
days we have received requests to provide Alternative Primatial
Oversight for a number of dioceses. This is an unprecedented
situation in our Communion that has not been helped by the slow
response from the Panel of Reference. After a great deal of prayer
and deliberation, and in order to support these faithful Anglican
dioceses and parishes, we have come to agreement on the following
actions:
a. We have asked the
Global South Steering Committee to meet with the leadership of the
dioceses requesting Alternative Primatial Oversight, in consultation
with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Network and the ‘Windsor
Dioceses’, to investigate their appeal in greater detail and to
develop a proposal identifying the ways by which the requested
Primatial oversight can be adequately provided.
b. At the next meeting of
the Primates in February 2007 some of us will not be able to
recognize Katharine Jefferts Schori as a Primate at the table with
us. Others will be in impaired communion with her as a
representative of The Episcopal Church. Since she cannot represent
those dioceses and congregations who are abiding by the teaching of
the Communion we propose that another bishop, chosen by these
dioceses, be present at the meeting so that we might listen to their
voices during our deliberations.
c. We are convinced that
the time has now come to take initial steps towards the formation of
what will be recognized as a separate ecclesiastical structure of
the Anglican Communion in the USA. We have asked the Global South
Steering Committee to develop such a proposal in consultation with
the appropriate instruments of unity of the Communion. We understand
the serious implications of this determination. We believe that we
would be failing in our apostolic witness if we do not make this
provision for those who hold firmly to a commitment to historic
Anglican faith.
* Provinces Represented:
Bangladesh**, Burundi,
Central Africa, Church of South India, Congo, Indian Ocean,
Jerusalem and Middle East, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Philippines**,
Rwanda, Southern Africa, South East Asia, Southern Cone, Sudan,
Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa, West Indies (** Not present but
represented) |