Bishop Suheil Dawani, the Anglican bishop, hosted an ecumenical reception for local church leaders, and the Commission was addressed by His Beatitude Theophilos III, the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Commission spent one of its sessions with Bishop Dawani and Bishop Younan. At both this session and at the reception, members of the Commission heard of the struggles of Christians in Jerusalem and Palestine: of the strain of living a restricted life, of the lack of jobs and opportunities particularly for young people, and of lacking peace with justice for all in society, all of which lead many Christians to leave the holy land and diminish the witness of Christianity in the very places of its birth. At the same time, they heard of the dedication of the local churches to be the hands and feet of Christ: to advocate for a just peace among all, to seek good relations among all the faith communities, and to offer high quality education and health care to the whole society.
1. I thought that TEC members could not for the moment serve on Anglican ecumenical bodies since they could not represent the views of the Communion. I note that the TEC member of this body who was asked to stand down in June 2010 is now listed as “present”.
2. For a Communion that has said it values its diversity, it looks as though North America and the UK still get the most places at the table:
3 United Kingdom
2 North Americans
1 Australia
1 Africa
1 Asia
They are the jet set crowd who can afford this exciting lifestyle.
driver8, good point. It is hilarious when you actually look at the numbers.