Kigali convention center for #gafcon23 pic.twitter.com/9adCaXh485
— Didace Niyifasha (@DidaceNiyifasha) April 16, 2023
Kigali convention center for #gafcon23 pic.twitter.com/9adCaXh485
— Didace Niyifasha (@DidaceNiyifasha) April 16, 2023
The Anglican Church of Uganda and clergy from Oryun Community Church in South Korea have launched a training centre for missionaries in Uganda.
The Daniel Missional Leadership Training Centre at Lweza in Wakiso District, Central Uganda, was commissioned last week at a colourful event graced by top Anglican Church leaders in Uganda and Oryun Community Church.
Speaking at the event on 21st March, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda, Dr Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, said the centre will train young leaders to usher God’s Kingdom into their homes, churches, universities, workplaces and the rest of the world.
“The commissioning of the centre is a clear testimony that the Anglican Church of Uganda shall be celebrated for sending missionaries to the world,” Kaziimba said, adding, “We envision many young people being equipped for the works of the ministry and sent to the world to light it.”
Anglican Church in Uganda and South Koreans launch new missionary training centrehttps://t.co/su7AlpDC3t pic.twitter.com/7Ni5LR8aez
— Anglican Ink (@anglicanink) April 3, 2023
I am writing to you regarding last week’s [partial] Lambeth [gathering (and hereafter-ed.)] as this is on the minds of many Anglicans around the world. Over the last couple of decades, Lambeth [gathering] organizers and events like these have routinely mixed heresy and orthodoxy; treating both positions as equally valid. The clear teaching of Scripture is treated as one of many valid options with no accountability for those Provinces who depart from the Bible. I wish I could be writing to you and sharing that the recent Lambeth [gathering] was different, but it was not. Before the Lambeth [gathering], Archbishop Henry Ndukuba (Nigeria), Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba (Uganda) and Archbishop Laurent Mbanda (Rwanda) wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury that they were not attending the [gathering] “because the Anglican Communion has failed to address with remorse and repentance the issues that necessitated their absence at the 2008 Lambeth [partial] Conference.” Retired Archbishop Mouneer Anis eloquently named the problem, “The Anglican Communion cannot deal with the brokenness of the world if she herself is broken.”
Sadly, rather than being a source of healing and unity, the Lambeth [gathering] compounded the problems. The Lambeth [gathering] was filled with confusion, and what that means for global Anglicanism has just begun to be felt. The Canterbury Communion is broken, not just metaphorically, but literally, as those in attendance could not in good conscience all share Holy Communion. The Primates of Brazil, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North America, Rwanda, and Uganda, and many bishops from all over the Anglican Communion in the Gafcon movement did not attend the Lambeth [gathering] because to do so would violate their consciences. However, we respected the decision of our brother Primates whose consciences led them to go to Lambeth and contend for the Gospel and the Holy Scriptures. The power of their presence magnified the power of our absence.
Archbishop Justin Badi (South Sudan) and Archbishop James Wong (Indian Ocean) of Gafcon and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans admirably led the orthodox cause for biblical theology and morality in the midst of a situation in which the balance of institutional power was stacked heavily against them. I commend them for differentiating themselves from the false teaching of the Canterbury Communion and for not partaking of Holy Communion with unrepentant bishops living in immorality. It was also helpful that they reminded the [gathering] that we have not agreed to walk together no matter how many times the Archbishop of Canterbury says otherwise. At the end of the [gathering], these orthodox leaders in attendance provided a communique of their experience at the meeting, and for all those who care about the future of global Anglicanism, I commend it for your reading. The Canterbury Communion has ceased to be a place where communion can be shared and has devolved into something more akin to a federation or association of Provinces with a common history and incompatible theologies and moral….[theology].
"We are living in a unique moment in which, by the grace of God, global Anglicanism can be genuinely reformed by Biblical repentance and renewal." ~ @ArchbishopFoley addresses the outcomes of the Lambeth Conference and looks ahead to Kigali. Read it here: https://t.co/FzDlvJMl1t
— ACNA (@The_ACNA) August 9, 2022
The Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer, has been suspended from duty, it was announced on Wednesday, after two formal complaints alleging misconduct were made.
An official statement from the Scottish Episcopal Church said: “Due process will now follow, through the clergy disciplinary canon. . . The suspension will be kept under regular review. It does not constitute disciplinary action and does not imply any assumption that misconduct has been committed.”
The Bishop of Edinburgh, Dr John Armes, will serve as Acting Bishop of the diocese during this suspension, in addition to his normal duties.
Bishop Dyer’s tenure has been troubled since early in her time in office. She is the first woman bishop in the Scottish Episcopal Church, and was elected by the College of Bishops after the diocese failed to agree a candidate….
LATEST. The Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer, has been suspended from duty, it was announced on Wednesday, after two formal complaints alleging misconduct were made https://t.co/sXq1hcl1s4
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) August 10, 2022
Orthodox bishops attending this year’s Lambeth Conference have published a Communique with their assessment of the health and future of the Anglican Communion.
Primates leading the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA)[1], representing some 75% of Anglicans across the globe, told a press conference (AUG5) that they will positively respond to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s invitation for primates to bring forward proposals for the future basis and discipline of the Anglican Communion, but started with their passion for world mission.
Archbishop Justin Badi, Chairman of the GSFA said: “The world is suffering in so many ways, right across the globe. Many of the human needs focused on in this Conference, ranging from climate change to human dignity, to sustainable development, are felt most acutely in Global South provinces. We will take action and reflect further on the ‘Calls’ we have received so that we can apply them to our own national and regional contexts.”
But the primate was explicit regarding the GSFA position on sexuality. He said: “We wish to be clear about our commitment to Resolution 1:10 [2] in its entirety; and that includes the commitment to listen to the experience of homosexual persons, to minister pastorally and sensitively to all and to condemn all irrational fear, homophobic behaviour and violence. We also give thanks to the Lord for the life, witness and ministry of faithful same-sex attracted Christians in our churches who practise abstinence, and we hope to pastorally support them more in our local churches.”
Read it all and make sure to read the full text there.
'The Communion is not healthy. The road to recovery will be long and must start with a decision on whether Scripture is an essential basis of our common life as one Communion.'
Read the GSFA press release from today here:https://t.co/G7iVziTQj2 pic.twitter.com/f20h2ZKyJZ
— Lambeth '22 Resource Group (@LCResourceGroup) August 5, 2022
It is with great pleasure that I send my warm greetings as you continue your meeting in the fifteenth Lambeth Conference. As we all emerge from the pandemic, I know that the Conference is taking place at a time of great need for the love of God – both in word and deed.
I am reminded that this gathering was necessarily postponed two years ago, when you had hoped to mark the centenary of the Lambeth Conference that took place in 1920, in the aftermath of the First World War. Then, the bishops of the Anglican Communion set out a path for an ongoing commitment towards Christian unity in a changing world; a task that is, perhaps, even more important today, as together you look to the future and explore the role of the church in responding to the needs of the present age.
Now, as so often in the past, you have convened during a period of immense challenge for bishops, clergy and lay people around the world, with many of you serving in places of suffering, conflict and trauma. It is of comfort to me that you do so in the strength of God.
LATEST. The #LambethConference is taking place “at a time of great need for the love of God” in a changing world, the Queen has said https://t.co/99s53mNWyg
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) August 3, 2022
Bishops travelled from Canterbury to London on Wednesday for the launch of a new environmental initiative, the Anglican Communion Forest.
A tree was planted in the garden of Lambeth Palace, in the first act of what, it is hoped, will become a global movement of reforestation and habitat renewal.
Bishops are being encouraged to launch initiatives in their dioceses which help to preserve and regenerate the ecosystem; this need not necessarily be tree-planting, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, said, at a press conference on Wednesday morning, but could include restoring grasslands, or taking action to prevent the destruction of the rainforest.
The Archbishop of Canterbury said that there was “no doubt about the urgency, severity, and scale of the climate emergency”, and that it was “most especially an emergency for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable”.
“We are not just doing symbolic actions,” he insisted. He said that the structure of the Anglican Communion made it possible to “reach to the very heart, the very ground level of what is happening”.
LATEST. Bishops travelled from Canterbury to London on Wednesday for the launch of a new environmental initiative, the Anglican Communion Foresthttps://t.co/4IX0XIypcN
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) August 3, 2022
“I am in full agreement with my predecessor [Archbishop Yong]”, he said, reiterating that what the GSFA was seeking was not new, but a restatement of the faith. He encouraged Anglicans around the world to be a “holy remnant, and stand upon the truth” of the Lord, and not succumb to the fancies and fads of the moment.
Archbishop Tais was elected the sixth Archbishop of South East Asia at an extraordinary meeting of the provincial synod on 24 Sept 2019. He had served for over 25 years in the Diocese of Sabah as a parish priest, archdeacon, assistant bishop, and vicar-general before being elected bishop in May 2015. He is the first indigenous bishop of the diocese located on the northern coast of Borneo. He is married to Angeline Wong and they have five children.
Archbishop Tais told AI preparation on today’s resolution reaffirming Lambeth 1.10 has been in process for over three months. Though he was not on the drafting committee that worked on the document that was brought to Lambeth 2022, it has his full support. He encouraged the approximately 275 Global South bishops present at Lambeth to support the document this week, and looked forward to discussing the importance of a clear and unmistakable stand on Biblical principles during the remainder of the conference.
SE Asia archbishop urges Anglicans to holdfast, standing on the truth of Scripture in the church's sex warshttps://t.co/pTaNG7CWuh pic.twitter.com/3qtUhS8I8X
— Anglican Ink (@anglicanink) August 2, 2022
From there:
GSFA to Offer Bishops at the Lambeth Conference An Opportunity To Re-Affirm Lambeth 1.10
– Text Available August 2, 2pm
In fulfilment of one of its four stated priorities for the Lambeth Conference, tomorrow (AUG 2), the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) shall offer bishops an opportunity to re-affirm Lambeth 1.10 as the Anglican Communion’s official teaching on marriage and sexuality.
From 2pm, the Text of the Call shall be made available from the EFAC Stand in the Resource Centre, at various entrances on the Campus, via email to over 250 orthodox bishops signed up to receive GSFA notifications, and on www.lambeth22resourcegroup.com. A covering note to the text shall explain how bishops can anonymously reaffirm, and in a secure manner.
As a matter of courtesy, a copy of the text shall be given to the Archbishop of Canterbury tonight.
A Press Release, with details of the text, and how bishops shall reaffirm, will be circulated tomorrow, at 2pm. A range of international media has been pre-selected for interview. Following electronic distribution of the press release by Paul Eddy, PR Consultant to the GSFA/EFAC Resource Group and my Official Spokesman for the Conference, other media wanting an interview should email Paul (details below).
● For copies of all GSFA press releases, visit www.lambeth22resourcegroup.com
Archbishop Justin Badi, Chairman, GSFA & Archbishop of South Sudan
“My hope is that all Provinces will come back from where they have gone astray, that they follow the biblical teaching. That’s when we shall come out of it,” he repeats. “If not, the Communion will continue to be sick and suffer, and many will follow out of [it].”
What about an Anglican Communion that held these differences in tension, I suggest: acknowledge that, as Archbishop Welby had reiterated that morning, “We are a messy family. But families live with mess”?
There are “certain things we cannot live with, which are central, or paramount, which unite us all, and that is the biblical truth,” Archbishop Badi says. “I am an African in Africa: we have our own culture, but that should be out[side] of the Church. You are European or American and have your own culture that is yours. But what brings us together is the biblical truth.
“So our struggle here is [around] bringing culture into the Church, trying to say that, since we are autonomous, this can be there. But this should not happen. This cannot happen.”
“You can’t have differing minds and be a Church,” he said. “You must have the mind of Christ as policy. You teach one message and you help people expound, make simple what the scriptures say. That is it.’”https://t.co/QYQFtCMwBG
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 30, 2022
From there:
A Lambeth Palace spokesperson said today:
“The Archbishop of Canterbury had a planned meeting on Saturday with Archbishop Justin Badi, Chair of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GFSA), and some other Primates from the global South. This was one of several meetings that the Archbishop is having with Primates and others during the Lambeth Conference. It was a constructive conversation in a spirit of mutual listening about the concerns that the GSFA has already publicly shared.
“We won’t be commenting on speculation from unnamed sources not present at the meeting, other than to say that these should not be seen as reliable accounts of a conversation between primates conducted in the spirit of prayerful dialogue. The Archbishop remains focussed on the Lambeth Conference and committed to ongoing dialogue to ensure that we continue walking, listening and witnessing together in shared discernment of our calling to be God’s Church for God’s world.”
LATEST. The Archbishop of Canterbury announced at the Lambeth Conference on Sunday afternoon that using electronic devices to record bishops’ response to the Lambeth “Calls” was being discontinued for the rest of the conference
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 31, 2022
Archbishop Badi, spoke for them all when he said, “Today in Canterbury, we may be gathered together, but we most certainly cannot ‘walk together’ until provinces which have gone against Scripture – and the will and consensus of the bishops – repent and return to orthodoxy. The Communion is not in a healthy condition at present and only major surgery will put that right.”
Global South bishops say, 'We most certainly cannot walk together' https://t.co/8wAp7q0bB7
— Christian Today (@ChristianToday) July 29, 2022
The podcast argued that sexuality is the popular news hook for the Anglican wars, but that the doctrinal issues at stake run much deeper. Thus, I would like to place the unfolding Lambeth 2022 drama in the context of what your GetReligionistas have long called “Anglican timeline disease.”
With that in mind, let’s flash back to 1992 — that’s three decades, for those keeping score. Here is the top of the 1999 “On Religion” column I wrote about this behind-the-scenes event: “The time for broken communion?” This is long, but essential:
It’s been seven years since Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison faced the fact that some of his fellow bishops worship a different god than he does.
The symbolic moment came during an Episcopal House of Bishops meeting in Kanuga, N.C., as members met in small groups to discuss graceful ways to settle their differences on the Bible, worship and sex. The question for the day was: “Why are we dysfunctional?”
“I said the answer was simple — apostasy,” said Allison, a dignified South Carolinian who has a doctorate in Anglican history from Oxford University. “Some of the other bishops looked at me and said, ‘What are you talking about?'”
Many Episcopalians, he explained at the time, have embraced the work of theologians such as Carter Heyward, a lesbian priest, seminary professor and author of books such as “Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God.” Allison asked the bishops how they would deal with those who say they serve a god that is “older and greater” than the God of the Bible.
Some of the bishops said they either shared this belief or could not condemn it.
When the time came to celebrate the Eucharist, Allison knew what he had to do in this particular circle of bishops. He declined to share the bread and the wine, but didn’t publicize his act of conscience.
This brings me to news from Lambeth that is only a few hours old and, thus, hasn’t broken into headlines produced by major newsrooms. The headline at the Episcopal News Service proclaims: “Conservative bishops to refuse to take Communion with LGBTQ+ bishops, demand ‘sanctions’ for churches that allow for same-sex marriage.”
Here we go again: Growing Global South v. Western establishment at another tense Lambeth. Broken Communion is on the table. Is this news? https://t.co/2pM1zDsD79
— Terry Mattingly (@tweetmattingly) July 29, 2022
Speaking at their opening Press Conference of the Lambeth Conference, leaders of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) said they had taken the move after extensive requests to the Archbishop of Canterbury for a stand-alone resolution and, following the inserted reference to Lambeth 1.10 was withdrawn, on Tuesday, from the ‘Human Dignity ‘Call’. GSFA leaders claim that the Conference organisers have failed to recognise the foundations of ‘Lambeth 1.10’ which, they say, “is not just about sex and marriage, but fundamentally about the authority of the Bible which Anglicans believe to be central to faith and order”.
The GSFA will now table their Resolution and invite primates and their bishops to ‘sign up’. On Monday, senior GSFA representatives will seek to address the issue in the Plenary session on the Anglican Communion, making available the text of their resolution to all bishops, and providing secure means by which bishops can affirm their support. The GSFA is confident that leaders representing the majority of Anglicans across the globe will sign up. They will then present a signed copy by GSFA Primates, and others, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, inviting him to add his signature.
Lambeth 1.10 [1] was formally passed at the Lambeth Conference in1998, at which the majority of bishops agreed that marriage is between one man and a woman for life, and that sexual abstinence outside marriage is the Bible’s clear teaching.
Orthodox bishops at the Lambeth Conference – representing 75% of the Anglican Communion – announced today (29JUL) that they will be tabling their own ‘Lambeth Resolution (Call)’.
Read the full GSFA Statement here: https://t.co/9qDXlJ2RPX#LambethConference #LambethCalls pic.twitter.com/Ll0PZV1wVN
— Lambeth '22 Resource Group (@LCResourceGroup) July 29, 2022
According to Ian Paul, a member of the Church of England Evangelical Council, the process for drafting the Lambeth calls has complicated an already sensitive and divisive issue. He said the document with the calls came out last-minute and a member of the group drafting them said the wording had been changed without their knowledge.
“There are issues around the content, but I think there are really big issues around the process here,” Paul told PremierNews. “If you’re going to deal with something controversial amongst people who have different views, here’s the golden rule: No surprises. Put everything out in the open. Give people plenty of time. I think the real problem here is that everything’s come very, very late … that’s a guarantee to create misunderstanding and I think to create a lack of trust.”
The Lambeth Conference is convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury typically once a decade, but this is the first gathering since 2008 after the 2018 conference was postponed due to tensions over […Scripture, marriage and anthropology] and the 2020 event couldn’t be held due to COVID-19. It’s also the first to be led by Welby, who succeeded Rowan Williams in 2012.
Anglicans Drop Proposal to Reaffirm Traditional Marriage Stance https://t.co/4nExbtqcLC via @CTmagazine Anglicans have reaffirmed their departure from the gospel and the authority of Scripture.
— Stephen Davis (@DrStephenDavis) July 28, 2022
The event was postponed from 2020 because of the Covid 19 pandemic and takes place against a backdrop of global uncertainty – including the climate emergency, war and poverty.
Taking as their theme “God’s Church for God’s World”, the bishops will spend time praying and studying the Bible together (focussing on the book of 1 Peter) as well as discussing major challenges faced by their global communities – ranging from climate change and scientific progress to Christian Unity and inter-faith relations.
In a letter to delegates the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described the conference as a “historic occasion” and spoke of Jesus’ call for his followers to be united.
He wrote: “Two years ago, we could hardly have believed the course of world events that was about to unfold with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This, along with the ongoing challenges like the climate emergency, war and conflict in many countries and the huge inequalities of our world, continue to have a deep: impact on us all.
Bishop Tim Thornton, Chair of the…Lambeth Calls Subgroup, said:
“We have listened carefully and prayerfully to what bishops and many others have said in response to the draft Calls, especially that on Human Dignity. Archbishop Justin has invited the bishops of the Anglican Communion to come together as a family to listen, pray and discern – sometimes across deeply-held differences.
It is our prayer that these Calls can offer a basis for those conversations – and that all of our discussions will be marked by the grace and love of Jesus Christ.
Please continue to pray for us that we may continue to listen, walk and witness together.”
The Lambeth Conference organisers have responded to the row that has been generated in recent days over the inclusion of what is, in effect, a new vote on the Lambeth Resolution 1.10…
That Resolution, carried in 1998, defined marriage as “between a man and a woman” and rejected homosexual practice as “incompatible with scripture”.
Among the “calls” that the 650 bishops from the Anglican Communion will be asked to make at the conference, which starts in Canterbury later this week, is the “Call on Human Dignity”, framed by a drafting group led by the Primate of the West Indies, the Most Revd Howard Gregory.
The 2022 Lambeth Conference has published ten draft ‘Calls’ that will form the backbone of the Conference proceedings. We, the bishops on the Next Steps Group that is overseeing the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith process on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage, had first sight of the Calls on the day of their publication, the 20th July 2022. We understand that [some of the] Anglican Communion bishops from around the world will be invited to discuss and reflect on each Call and how each might be received and applied in their home context.
Importantly, we note that the work of the Conference will give bishops the opportunity to contribute and commit to the Calls or to ask that further work be done on the Call. In line with the Call on Anglican identity, the Calls allow for differences of views and the rights of autonomy within the Anglican Communion, recognising that Anglicans seek faithfulness to God in richly diverse cultures, distinct human experiences, and deep disagreements.
One of the Calls relates to human dignity. It calls on bishops to take redemptive action against the abuses of power that are the legacy of colonialism; to address economic injustices that unfairly disadvantage the world’s poorest communities; and it warns about the threat to human dignity of prejudice on the basis of gender and sexuality.
The Church of England is just one voice among 42 member churches of the Anglican Communion….
The Living in Love and Faith Next Steps Group has released a statement on the Lambeth Calls.
Read the statement on our website.https://t.co/JG6sHQ6uPr
— The Church of England (@churchofengland) July 22, 2022
“The Anglican Communion cannot deal with the brokenness of the world if she herself is broken”, so said Archbishop (Emeritus) Mouneer Anis in a letter sent this week to all the orthodox bishops attending the…[partial] Lambeth [gathering], starting on 27 July.
Archbishop Mouneer is the Hon Adviser to the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) which makes up 75% of Anglicans worldwide, and whose bishops are orthodox on matters of marriage and sexuality. He recently retired from the office of Bishop of Egypt and Archbishop of Alexandria.
The Archbishop, 70, who is widely respected across the Anglican Communion, is a veteran of the Lambeth Conference and of Anglican Consultative Councils.
In a briefing paper to orthodox colleagues, the Archbishop says that the “Anglican Communion stands at a crossroads. One road leads to healing the current divisions and another road makes the situation worse and irreparable between traditional and revisionist Anglicans.”
“Broken Anglican Communion cannot deal with the brokenness of the world" – Global South Anglican archbishop says ahead of the 2022 Lambeth Conferencehttps://t.co/HiiyN9upcN pic.twitter.com/cGkzoT3IqS
— Anglican Ink (@anglicanink) July 22, 2022
THE Lambeth…[Gathering] will “look outwards” at issues such as evangelism, climate change, and economic injustice — but will also address matters of sexuality, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
Archbishop Welby was speaking at a virtual press conference on Wednesday afternoon, alongside the organisers of the Conference.
He said that the “basic aim” of the Conference would be “to look outwards”. The Church should express its “evangelistic mission and its life of discipleship through engagement with the great challenges that the next 30 or 40 years will impose upon the vast majority of Anglicans, especially those in areas of climate fragility, and of political and other fragility.
“But the knock-on impact of those crises will reside around the world, and it’s something that all God’s people in this world, all the Churches, are called to respond to, and to respond to prophetically and also, above all, compassionately with the love of God in Jesus Christ.”
With this in mind, he said, some of the “key themes” of the Conference would be “evangelism and witness”, and “reconciliation, both within the Church . . . but also as a reconciling agent in a world torn by war”.
A South Sudanese bishop who was forced with his family into exile before he was one year old, the Right Revd Anthony Poggo, has been named as the next Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. Bishop Anthony Poggo, the former Bishop of Kajo-Keji in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, is currently the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs.
Bishop Anthony was selected for his new role by a sub-committee of the Anglican Communion’s Standing Committee following a competitive recruitment process led by external consultants.
He will take up his new role in September, succeeding the Most Revd Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, who steps down after next month’s Lambeth [partial gathering] of Anglican bishops, which is being held in Canterbury, Kent, from 26 July to 8 August.
A South Sudanese bishop who was forced with his family into exile before he was one year old, the Right Revd Anthony Poggo, has been named as the next Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. #Anglicans #AnglicanNewshttps://t.co/KVsx1QMO6K
— Anglican Communion News Service (@AnglicanNews) June 14, 2022
Prominent faith leaders in Africa, including Anglican and Roman Catholic archbishops, have implored the world’s governments to support a People’s Vaccine movement, to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable people have protection against the Covid-19 virus.
On the eve of the global Covid-19 summit of world leaders convened by President Biden, 45 faith leaders issued a joint People Vaccine Alliance statement, calling for an “immediate action to address the massive inequities in the global pandemic response”.
The statement, issued on Thursday, says: “We are one global family, where our problems are tightly interconnected. However, we know the greatest impediment to people getting their vaccinations, tests, and treatment is inequity.
“World leaders must renew their approach to tackling the response to the global pandemic by treating Covid-19 vaccines, tests, and treatment — not as commodities but as public goods, which all people have the right to access. We encourage world leaders to unite and stand in solidarity with people from low-income countries by supporting a People’s Vaccine.”
“World leaders must renew their approach to tackling the response to the global pandemic by treating Covid-19 vaccines, tests, and treatment — not as commodities but as public goods, which all people have the right to access.” https://t.co/Z4Qu9Mte4M
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) May 13, 2022
Bishop Mark Lawrence has, upon the unanimous recommendation of the search committee, called the Very Rev. Ken Weldon to serve as the next Executive Director of St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center.
‘Boo’ (Weldon’s wife) and I are humbled to accept the call to St. Christopher, a place and ministry that has been so important to so many,” says Weldon. “We are grateful for the 14 years we have had at St. John’s, Florence, and excited to see what the Lord will do moving forward.”
Ken Weldon called to Serve as the Next Director of Saint Christopher Camp and Conference Center https://t.co/gjHzU1xGuv #anglican #Southcarolina #ministry #lowcountrylife pic.twitter.com/gBokBYLtjl
— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 6, 2022
The Anglican Communion is helping to give a voice to vulnerable communities during the COP26 summit in Glasgow, the Bishop of Reading, the Rt Revd Olivia Graham, has said.
Bishop Graham, a member of the Church of England’s environment working group, has been at the summit this week, among the many Christian people and organisations lobbying and praying in Glasgow.
“Leaders from all faiths are on the same page about climate chaos and environmental crises,” she said. “When we focus on something as big as this, our differences fall into perspective.
“With tens of millions of members across 165 countries, the Anglican Communion brings a global perspective to the conference that’s untainted by national interests. One of the many benefits of an Anglican presence here is giving voice to the plight of the small island states, which are already becoming slowly submerged by rising sea levels.”
“Leaders from all faiths are on the same page about climate chaos and environmental crises.” https://t.co/qHwotPRNt4
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) November 5, 2021