Archbishop John Chew Hiang Chea has been elected head of the majority Global South Anglican bloc.
The announcement was made yesterday by outgoing Vice-Chairman Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda.
Archbishop Chew, who heads the 100,000-member Province of South East Asia, will succeed retired Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola of Nigeria.
Previously Honorary General Secretary of the Anglican Global South, he was elected at the Primates’ Meeting on Wednesday night. His new official title is: Chairman of the Global South Primates Steering Committee (GSPSC).
“We covet your prayers together as a team,” said the Singaporean archbishop.
Some observers may perhaps be tempted to read too much into the change from ++Peter Akinola to ++John Chew as the head of the GS coalition. The recently retired Nigerian archbishop had led the GS group for the last ten years. The fact that ++Chew has diligently served on the CDG, the Covenant Design Group, doesn’t mean that the GS is tossing aside ++Akinola’s more hardline stance and adopting a softer, more conciliatory one represented by ++Chew. After all, ++Henry Luke Orombi was elected the Vice-President.
What I think it shows is that the GS is more united around theological orthodoxy and moral orthopraxis than over a political strategy on how to respond to heresy and flagrant disobedience to God on the part of “progressive” Anglicans in the global north. The main thing for any effective leader is to keep the main thing the main thing, and I’m confident that the brilliant, balanced, and godly ++John Chew will be very capable of doing that.
It also helps show the world that Anglicanism is truly a worldwide phenomenon, and not just an African-based one. The selection of ++Chew helps exemplify the encouraging reality of the explosive growth of Anglicanism among ethnic Chinese around the Pacific Rim.
David Handy+