Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

The head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams is in South Africa to be a keynote speaker at an international conference titled ‘Towards Effective Anglican Mission’ (TEAM). The focus of the conference will be the United Nations Millennium Development Goals which include, poverty eradication and the combat of HIV and AIDS and malaria. The conference will bring together key representatives from the worldwide Anglican Communion in a context of prayer and theology; sharing diverse experiences and views on specific social issues; renewing the church's commitment and capabilities to respond to God's call to service in the 21st Century.

Hosted by the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, under the leadership of His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, the conference will follow up on the first Pan-African Anglican Consultation on HIV and AIDS (Boksburg 1), which was held in August 2001.

Priorities for the eight-day conference will be to review the response of the Anglican Communion to the MDGs and analyse the impact of the goals on women and children; assess Boksburg 1 and share the African experience with the Anglican Communion; encourage opportunities for learning and transformation through dialogue among people with diverse experiences and perspectives; and encourage a prophetic articulation for an Anglican theology which supports witness and action for social justice.

The conference will also include an exposition of the Biblical principles and Gospel imperatives on the mission of the Church in society.

‘Our shared faith requires of us to participate in the Missio Dei, God's work in the world. We are required to bear witness to the work of God in partnership with others - both within and outside the Christian Church - to make our communities, our society and our world a place that is closer to God's vision of shalom,’ said Archbishop Ndungane of Cape Town, CPSA Primate and TEAM Convenor.

‘We have a mandate us to bring healing to the sick – a belief that propels us forward to work in the struggle against AIDS. We each have a responsibility to help feed the hungry and heal the sick of our continent and the world. We each are our brother's keeper.’

Archbishop Ndungane was entrusted with the responsibility of moving the Anglican Communion forward by addressing the vital social issues of poverty, trade, debt and HIV and AIDS, at a March 2001 meeting of Anglican Primates.

For more information on the conference, please contact:
Delene Mark: delene@hopeafrica.org.za
Or visit the TEAM conference website at http://www.team2007.org