Global South issue communiqué from Singapore

(Staff)  “If over 80 percent of Anglicans live in the Global South, why is this not reflected in communion structures?” Archbishop Ian Ernest, Primate of the Indian Ocean, asked in a letter he wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury dated April 12^th.

A week later Ernest was one of numerous archbishops attending the fourth Global South to South Encounter April 19^th-23rd at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Singapore. There he raised the same question again. The church leaders had met to consider how the Anglican Communion might be better structured so it could fulfill its gospel mission.   

A total of 130 delegates from 20 provinces in the Global South (comprising Africa, West Indies, Asia and South America) were in attendance. They claimed to represent “the vast majority of the active membership of the Anglican Communion.”

(American Archbishop Robert Duncan attended the meeting as a “partner” on behalf of the Anglican Church in North America.) The Archbishop of Canterbury addressed the meeting by video.

At the end of their meetings the Global South Encounter in Singapore released an official communiqué which included:

·       A condemnation of the continued defiance of the clear teaching of Scripture by the Anglican Church of Canada and the US Episcopal Church.  (See section #16)

·       An expression of solidarity with Archbishops Mouneer Anis (Jerusalem and the Middle East), Henry Orombi (Uganda) and Ian Ernest (Indian Ocean).  “[We] are encouraged by their decision not to participate in meetings of the various Instruments of Communion at which representatives of The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada are present”.  (#17)

·       A request that all Global South provinces that have not officially declared they are out of communion “reconsider their communion relationships with The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada until it becomes clear that there is genuine repentance”.  (#18)

·       An assurance of love and prayerful support for the “Communion Partner” bishops and the orthodox Anglicans they represent within the Episcopal Church. (#19)

·       Embrace of the ACNA. “We are grateful that the recently formed Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a faithful expression of Anglicanism. We welcomed them as partners in the Gospel and our hope is that all provinces will be in full communion with the clergy and people of the ACNA and the Communion Partners.”  (#19)

·       A desire to strengthen and rewrite the proposed Anglican Covenant. “We are currently reviewing the proposed Covenant to find ways to strengthen it in order for it to fulfill its purpose. For example, we believe that all those who adopt the Covenant must be in compliance with Lambeth 1.10. Meanwhile we recognize that the Primates Meeting, being responsible for Faith and Order, should be the body to oversee the Covenant in its implementation, not the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion.”  (#21)

·       A desire to restructure the Anglican Communion.  “We believe that there is a need to review the entire Anglican Communion structure; especially the Instruments of Communion and the Anglican Communion office; in order to achieve an authentic expression of the current reality of our Anglican Communion.”  (#22)

During plenary sessions earlier in the week, Primates addressing the gathering called for dramatic action. Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda) called for structural changes within the Anglican Communion. He added, "We need a new way forward. We are no longer in communion with Rowan [Williams] or TEC or Canada… I love the Anglican Communion but I am a Christian first.” 

Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis (Jerusalem & Middle East) explained the need for new structures in Anglicanism by reiterating the history of the Global South.  He said, “We [the Global South] need a structure – not to create another Communion as we consider ourselves the Anglican Communion. The others have departed the faith. Not us. So we are the faithful Anglican Communion… We need a structure not to compete with the current dysfunctional structure of the Anglican Communion, but to move forward away from the distraction of the current crisis.”  

Plenary presentations also focused on how Global South churches can help combat poverty. Nicholas Okoh, the new Primate of Nigeria, delivered the first thematic address and spoke about the “absolute” necessity for economic empowerment in the Global South. Beyond the ethical dimension, the archbishop cited the danger of wealthier members of the Anglican Communion buying the loyalty of poorer ones, thus compromising them.

New leadership

With Archbishop Peter Akinola (Nigeria, retired) stepping down as chairman, new leadership was announced for the Global South: Chairman Archbishop John Chew (South East Asia); Vice-Chairman Archbishop Henry Orombi (Uganda); and General Secretary Archbishop Mouneer Anis (Jerusalem & Middle East).  

Canadian letter

The Anglican Communion Alliance (ACA) (formerly know as Anglican Essentials Federation) appealed to the Global South leaders gathered in Singapore to remember the orthodox still within the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC). ACA chair, the Rev. Dr. Brett Cane, wrote that the ACC “is the body to which the vast majority of the Canadian Anglican Conservatives still belong” and that one of the four ecclesiastical provinces in the ACC, Rupert’s Land, “is deliberately holding to the moratoria set out at Lambeth 2008.”   The letter also urged the Global South to “to take up the Anglican Covenant as it stands”.

Web journalist David Virtue reported from the Singapore meetings: “There is no tension here. There is joy and peace. No one is being asked to reconcile the irreconcilable. This is Anglicanism at its finest.”