Anglican Communion News Service

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

What a great joy it is for me finally to stand before you after being in office for almost two years. What a great privilege it is to meet the appointed members of the Anglican Consultative Council from around the Anglican Communion. I have been waiting a long time for this day and I am thrilled it has finally come.

I am ready, willing and eager to stand with you as we explore together the significant ministry and witness of the ACC as one of the four Instruments of Unity in the Anglican Communion. Already I have had in my first two years as your Secretary General the special privilege to get to know and work with two of the Instruments of Unity of the Communion quite well.

One, the Primates. The Primates had a very successful and encouraging meeting in England this last year. The theme of that meeting was leadership and in the context of prayer and bible study, led by the Revd Canon Kenneth Bailey, the Primates discussed different forms of leadership in the Church today. In addition, time was given by the Primates to the International Debt, Islam, and the continuing crisis in Rwanda.

The second Instrument of Unity with whom I have had the great privilege of working is the Archbishop of Canterbury. As some of you who are old timers know, the relationship between the Anglican Communion Office and Lambeth Palace has not always been smooth. Let me tell you today, that has dramatically changed. I am always greatly appreciative of His Grace's ability to bring our combined efforts together for the good of every single Province in the Communion. I give thanks for the time which he so generously gives to me and to the other members of my staff. The visits I have made with him, and the experiences I have shared with him in our regular meetings, tell me that our Communion is well represented and served in the person of the Archbishop of Canterbury in his ministry of presence and proclamation.

One Instrument of Unity I will not encounter until 1998 is the Lambeth Conference when the Bishops of the Anglican Communion, along with the laity and clergy of the Anglican Consultative Council, gather in Canterbury for the 1998 Lambeth Conference. The planning for the Lambeth Conference is well under way. I am becoming more and more familiar with the working of the Conference, thanks to the help of David Long who is the Lambeth Conference Manager. I might also add that it has been David who has been instrumental in the planning and the implementation of this meeting here in Panama.

The fourth Instrument of Unity I have the great privilege to address today. You cannot imagine how much I am looking forward to working with you. This Instrument of Unity is the only instrument in the Anglican Communion which represents all four orders in the Church, laity, bishops, priests and deacons. You have a unique role in the life of this Communion, one which has been greatly appreciated by the report we will be given by the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission. In this meeting you are going to be called upon to set the priorities for the work of our Communion in the next Millennium.

It also gives me pleasure to greet the Bishop of Panama, Clarence Hayes, and on behalf of the Secretariat I want to thank Biron Daniels and his entire team for the enormous amount of work they have done to make this meeting of the ACC possible here in Panama. It is not an easy task to host people from all over the world. There are visas, there are dietary requirements, there are all sorts of things which make preparations rather difficult, so for all that you have done, Biron, and for the outstanding support of Bishop Hayes, I thank you. You will be experiencing and hearing more about the arrangements that Panama have made for us in the days ahead.

The Secretary General is only as good as his staff. I am thankful for those on the staff who are supportive and who are eager to see the Communion respond to the needs of the Provinces throughout the world. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Donald Anderson who at the end of this meeting is retiring as the Director of Ecumenical Relations and Studies of the Anglican Communion. Don, for your work over the years I want to say a special word of thanks for all that you have done so that we might share and participate more fully and intelligently with our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ who represent many different denominations and traditions in the Body of Christ. It is also important to know that one of our staff, Mrs. Deirdre Martin, who unfortunately cannot be with us in Panama due to health problems, has reached a milestone in her work at the ACC by celebrating her twentieth year a couple of months ago.

However, practical problems haunt us. The Secretariat Office faces some serious physical challenges. We have outgrown our space at Partnership House. We have no storage space, no closets, two people have to share office space and sometimes three people are at one desk. Our present existence is very difficult and we must find a new facility and we need to find it soon. We have been blessed over the last couple of years by the presence of volunteers who give substantial help to our overburdened staff. The least we can give to these volunteers is a desk. To be honest, with the Lambeth Conference approaching, I do not know what we are going to do if we do not find a new home soon.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome two new staff members who will be joining the Anglican Communion team at the end of this year. They are: the Revd Dr. Joan Butler Ford of the Diocese of California who will be the new Director of Telecommunications for the Anglican Communion. Joan will help to expand telecommunications within our Communion, something that is a growing need. Although Joan has been involved with telecommunications for nearly two decades, recently she has been involved in developing an online theological education program for the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, in Berkeley, California.

Our new Director of Ecumenical Relations and Studies, the Revd Canon David Hamid, comes to us from the Church of Canada. For the last nine and a half years he has been the Mission Coordinator for the Caribbean and Latin America Region for the Church of Canada. He brings many new talents to his new ministry including an understanding of mission and local praxis. He also brings to his office a keen interest and sensitivity for interfaith issues.

I also want to thank the Revd Canon Andrew Deuchar for all he does for the Anglican Communion Office in his capacity as the Archbishop of Canterbury's Secretary for Anglican Communion Affairs. His is an awesome task. He is an excellent colleague and I thank him for his patience and his expertise which he so freely gives to us.

Where does all this lead us as a Communion?

My vision for our work stems from what we are commanded to do by our Lord Jesus Christ. That work centres around the call to be disciples of the One who came among us as the Prince of Peace. But in saying that I also realise that if we take this call seriously, we are going to have to face the reality that all of us will be called upon to "turn around", to repent, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to a radical discipleship. For the Prince of Peace did not wear a crown of gold or silver, adorned by diamonds and rubies; instead He wore a crown of thorns. Jesus turns our values upside down. I call this the divine reversal. All the things we hold so dear are turned upside down when we are confronted with the compelling gospel of Jesus Christ. For Jesus commands not only a change of life, but a change of attitude. Jesus challenges us to change the way in which we live. Jesus calls us to learn a new respect and honour of God's creation. Christ is in us. We are God's instruments. In 1 Corinthians, St. Paul talks about the Church being one body with many members. Today we are God's hands, we are God's feet, we are God's eyes. Whatever we do here at ACC-10 we must centre our deliberations in prayer, asking for God's guidance so we will always reflect the radical vision of the Kingdom of God. "On earth as it is in heaven".

So on earth we must ask the question, "What will Anglicanism look like in the next Millennium?" First of all, I believe Anglicanism will be alive and well in the next Millennium. I believe that because of people like you who are dedicated to represent your Province on the Anglican Consultative Council and show concern for our future. But as we prepare for the new Millennium are we ready as a Communion to be God's hands, feet and eyes in our global family to help others? Are we willing to take those risks? Are we prepared to pay that price? Are we willing to wear that crown of thorns?

I know each Anglican Province is an autonomous unit. We like being independent and, of course, there are serious theological and historical reasons for that independence. But the Scriptures call us to be a part of a whole body. St. Paul's beautiful analogy again comes to mind.

"Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." Then he says "if one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it".

Without a doubt we are entering into an age when our sense of interdependence and our sense of co-operation has never been needed more. We need each other. It may sound trite, it may sound simple, but it is a fact that we need a strong base to enable the work that supports the Provinces which we represent. This must be the primary work of the Secretariat.

The Communion faces challenges, joys, sorrows and many opportunities day by day. I am gratified, yet often perplexed, by the number of requests which we receive from Provinces for help. Help on every level, help with ecclesiological problems, help with Bishops, help with disciplinary problems, help with government problems, help with practical needs as food and supplies, help with educational materials, help with providing expertise in various areas such as ecumenical affairs or communication. Help in every possible way.

The challenges which we face as an Anglican Communion are at all levels. This often makes things more difficult because if one aspect of the life in the Communion is intact, then it is easy to concentrate on another one. However, we are finding right now that there is a state of flux in almost every aspect of our work. This makes life more challenging, but we also have to remember that we are not the only denomination feeling this kind of crunch. But we must be honest about it and face the realities of the situation.

The Millennium also challenges us in direct and indirect ways. Firstly, it calls us to get our house in order, to move forward with confidence and to look to the future with great expectations. Indirectly, we can assist in various projects and programmes that will be introduced at this unique moment in time. At this meeting I will be asking you to give your full support, prayerful and financial, to what we are calling Bethlehem 2000, a project which will be done by Anglicans for the people of Bethlehem. We, as Anglicans, will have a chance to make a difference at this great holy place of our Christian faith.

Our commitment needs to be considered in light of our mission. The question we must ask is what is our mission today as we look forward to the new Millennium. What is the mission that only the ACC can do for the Church, that the local Church, the Diocese or the Province cannot do for itself. Today we have to face the reality that 12 of the Provinces of the Communion do not pay their full share to the Anglican Communion budget. We are living definitely by faith, but the reality is that our faith is being tested.

At ACC-10 there are going to be two major funding initiatives brought before you, and a third opportunity which is still on the drawing boards. This project will generate and provide development funds for Dioceses and Provinces of the Communion. The development funds will help Provinces and Dioceses to be more self-sufficient and at the same time to have outreach programmes in local communities. They will also help meet crisis situations.

The two programmes we hope to launch at ACC-10 will have a significant potential for non-core items in the Anglican Communion budget. Both programmes have been set in motion by lay members of the Communion, and for that I am particularly grateful.

The Anglican Investment Agency, which is already well underway with the backing of our Standing Committee, and the proposed Anglican Communion Friends programme, again already in its first stages of development in the United States, are two major fund-raising programmes which are important for ACC-10 to support. We will want to look at these programmes in detail as our days together unfold.

It might still be fashionable in some circles to talk about the provisionality of Anglicanism. I believe our need for a confident Anglicanism is essential. Indeed, I am firmly committed to the ecumenical movement. Why? I am committed to it because it is the command of our Lord himself that we all may be one. I am also committed to the ecumenical movement because we as Anglicans or Episcopalians have something significant to offer to the ecumenical process. Thus, all the money and energy that we spend on ecumenical endeavours helps us to realise and appreciate the great tradition which we have. Ours is an inclusive tradition. Ours is a gospel tradition. Ours is a liturgical tradition. Ours is a Christ centred tradition which allows Christians to think, pray and work in an atmosphere of discovering what our minds and hearts tell us as we listen for God's word in our age. Scripture, tradition, reason and experience prove to be excellent guides for us as a faith community.

Our ecumenical work has its ups and downs but we all rejoice with the recent exciting developments with our sisters and brothers of the Lutheran confession in several parts of the Communion, most notably, in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the USA. The Anglican/Roman Catholic work (ARCIC) continues following an excellent celebration in Belgium where the 75th anniversary of the Anglican/Roman Catholic Malines Conversations were observed in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Cardinal Archbishop of Malines. There was a spirit of co-operation and friendship evident that was most encouraging. Throughout ACC-10 we are going to be welcoming many ecumenical observers who will be coming to join us.

I believe the Anglican Communion has a vocation and ministry in the Body of Christ. I not only believe it, I know it from what I have seen in the Provinces that I have visited. Indeed, I have been in almost 20 Provinces in my first two years as Secretary General. I must say, it is a bit physically exhausting, but I also have to say, it is rewarding and refreshing spiritually to see even under the most dire circumstances what our Communion has done and is able to do.

Is there more we can do? Of course, there is always more and we need to have more support and a better way of approaching the challenges which confront us. I ask you therefore, as members of the ACC, to take seriously your role, because your role is fundamental in the Anglican Communion structures. I would ask you to look deeply into your hearts and minds to see what it is that you can offer to the Communion over these next few days. For what is decided here, and the commitment you make to those decisions, will determine the effectiveness of the ACC as we look to the new Millennium. ACC meetings, Primates meetings or Lambeth Conferences are not meant to be one time events. They are meant to be the source from which the energy and work flows for the years ahead.

There are problems. The confusion about the ACC networks, the confusion about the role of ACC in the structures, are things that need to be discussed. There is no one who has worked harder or more diligently to help define the role of the ACC in the Anglican Communion than our Chair, Colin Craston. As you will see in the different papers you receive, Colin has been instrumental in developing how the ACC can be a more effective instrument for the Anglican Communion. The greatest tribute we will be able to pay Colin for his fifteen years of service to the ACC is that when ACC-10 is over, we will have a fresh vision. When ACC-10 is over we will have a new way of working together.

As you well know from letters and articles which I have written, I believe communication deserves our greatest attention.

I marvel at the work that has been done in communications with the limited resources which we have had over the years. When I became Secretary General I was confronted with the fact that our excellent publication, Anglican World, reached only a very few people and indeed, received almost no support. When I arrived, there were only 250 paid subscribers out of the thousands distributed. I rejoice that the paid subscribers have now reached into the thousands and we receive more paid subscriptions every day. I firmly believe that the printed word is still the most important way of communication in a Communion as global as ours.

I continue to pledge my support to Canon Jim Rosenthal and those who assist him to make their job more feasible as they continue their excellent work. Everything costs money and we have to remember that a good two thirds of our Communion cannot afford to pay for Anglican World. Indeed, in Provinces like Zaire, one year's subscription to Anglican World would be the equivalent of a month's salary. So therefore, I call upon those who can, to do all in their power to enlist subscriptions so that every time we receive a paid subscription we can send a free subscription to someone in a part of the world who cannot afford it.

Let me share with you what an impact this can have. The Parish of St. Mary's-in-the-Highland, Birmingham AL, ordered 400 copies of Anglican World for every member in their parish. They then designated 400 copies to be given to the Province of Brazil. Christ Cathedral in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, just ordered 43 subscriptions of Anglican World for the leadership in the Cathedral and they designated 43 copies to be sent to Myanmar. Hopefully, more parishes and Dioceses will do this around the world. I challenge you to participate in this programme.

Communication is a two-way street. We must receive information from the Provinces and from every Diocese. Every news-letter we receive in the Secretariat is read by someone on the communications team. So, therefore, please make sure that we are informed of what is happening in your Province. There is so much good news happening in the Anglican Communion that Jim predicts we could double the size of Anglican World. Well, we cannot do that financially, but praise God there is a reality, that we could, if we were able.

I see the goal with regard to Evangelism, while building on what has been achieved so far in the Decade of Evangelism, is to see evangelism integrated increasingly into all the aspects of total Mission - all that Christ sends his Church into the world to do as his hands, eyes and feet. It is when Mission is seen and pursued as a whole that true converts and conversion come, thus the report, edited by Cyril Okorocha, The Cutting Edge of Mission, must be carefully examined and studied and I encourage you to do that.

Indeed the proclamation of the Good News in Christ - in Burundi, Korea, Papua New Guinea, South East Asia, and not least the First World - must have priorities of witness and action for justice, relief of oppression and suffering. Without these priorities, proclamation of "spiritual" benefits of salvation will lack credibility.

I trust that a new video that will premier during this meeting, "The Many Faces of Anglicanism", will be a vehicle to bring before your eyes the realities of our Communion and help in our outreach.

As I have already mentioned, finances are a major problem and seem to control our hopes and dreams for the work set before us. Or do they?

The situation I faced when I was appointed to this office spoke for the need for extensive fund-raising to make programmes possible. I have committed myself to that task. There has been some success, for which I thank God. However the challenge for this year, the 1996 budget, has met some obstacles, even just as recent as last week when a promised large gift I learned was going to be "held over" to a future date. However, on the same day I learned of a potential donor who was interested in our work. So there are disappointments as well as successes and indeed we learn from both.

However, I do need your help in identifying possible sources of financial support in your Province. Our budget can not meet the demands which we are called upon to do in this 1996 world in which we live. Because of the shortfalls we experience from some of the Provinces, I will have a strategy in place by the Meeting of the Joint Standing Commitees in early 1997, but I cannot do it alone. When a Province does not meet its asking, that poses difficulties for all the other Provinces. Therefore, we need to look to foundations and individuals who can be brought on board with our communion-wide vision. Please share with me your ideas over the next few days.

Just recently I represented the Anglican Communion at a meeting of the Seventh-Day Adventists with 30,000 in attendance. Each person paid their own expenses and huge amounts of monies were raised by the people there who are strong believers in what their church represents. Can we show such strength as the millennium approaches? I pray the answer is yes.

Our commitment must be to each other and our world-wide Church must be strengthened. There is an old saying that goes, "life is a banquet and the world is starving". Indeed that is true and our banquet symbolised in the Holy Eucharist is a banquet for the starving world. The time has come for us to be a Church that welcomes people from all walks of life, people who can share with us their experience, and we can broaden our horizons and live a fuller life. The banquet is ready, the scripture tells us and we must be open to receiving our guests as we would receive Christ himself. The world is starving, some places have literally no food, no medicine, no nothing. But the world is also starving spiritually and we all know this from what we read and hear happening around us. You know that New Age religions and fundamentalism of many kinds are staking their claims in many societies today. I saw it in Accra, I saw it in Sydney, I saw it in Cape Town, I saw it in New York, I see it in London. In his address to the Malines Conference, Professor John A. Dick argued:

"In an age when more men and women look for signs of transcendence in fossils from Mars, mysteriously unexplained geometric problems in wheat fields or in neo-pagan feminist rituals, more than they do in traditional Word and Sacrament, the credibility problem for the Church is real. Our Christian dreams and visions must lead to transformative action -- action which helps people better see God. Action which helps a secularized culture re-discover signs of Incarnation. Action which flows from and forms Gospel values. Action which builds -- not disrupts -- the Reign of God".

But I want to say New Age advocates and fundamentalists do not have anything over us as Anglican Christians. Ours is a timely and vibrant faith, ours is a living God, ours is a powerful testimony, ours is a global family. We have something to offer to a starving world. We have hands of compassion, we have feet of action, we have eyes of love, we have the banquet feast of the Eucharist which binds us all together. Wherever we go around the Anglican Communion the Eucharist is faithfully celebrated in parish after parish, day by day, week by week. Today more than ever before, the Eucharist is being celebrated in our own languages in our own national prayer books. Wonderful examples of that are the Prayer Books of Australia, Kenya and Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

Now all we have to do is learn how to bring more people to this great banquet table. To welcome more people to baptism, to incorporate them into the family of Christ where one receives freedom, liberation and salvation. People are bound by fears, distrust and compromise, what we have to share is a faith that broadens the horizons, opens the heart and mends the wounded soul. The world struggles with the reality of AIDS, famine, natural disasters, marriage breakdown and the horrors of violence.

I know that many of you face persecution for your faith in Jesus Christ. The stories that the Archbishop of Canterbury has told of his visits to Sudan are compelling. The horror which we have seen on our televisions these last two weeks as the peace process fails in Israel/Palestine brings back to mind the courageous ministry of President Bishop Samir Kafity and the Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East during the Intifada. The renewed bombings in London and in Northern Ireland brings to our attention the extreme pressures under which Archbishop Robin Eames works for his people so that a true peace can be established. All of us know the outstanding work that Bishop Dinis Singulane has done in Mozambique, South Africa and Burundi.

One of the most significant opportunities that we have as Anglicans is our presence at the United Nations. We are all grateful for the work that Bishop James Ottley does in this regard and I know that the Diocese of Panama rejoices with us that he is in this position, after serving this Diocese so well. Like many of the important programmes of the Anglican Communion, the needs surrounding the UN Office are multitudinous. You will hear much about the UN Office later, but I hold it up as a programme that is of primary importance if we are to have influence in the Councils of the World.

All I can say to you is thanks be to God for your witness, your ability to stand firmly in your faith. I also know in some places in our Communion where there is persecution, trial and tribulations, it is also there that the Church is growing the fastest. Nigeria immediately comes to mind. Here in a country where basic human rights are being denied daily, the Church is growing at an incredible speed. This has something to teach all of us. Therefore, all of us are called to a firm commitment and love of our Christian faith. We have nothing about which to be ashamed. In the Churches and Province of Southern Africa they have little posters that go like this: "I love being an Anglican" and in the Episcopal Church in the United States they have posters saying "I am proud to be Episcopalian". May this be so for all of us. If we are not proud, and if there are things within the Church that inhibit our sense of will to proclaim the Gospel message, let us seek ways within our structures to open up new dialogue.

Let us find ways to address the often difficult issues of our time. We will talk about some of them at this meeting: Sexuality, Islam, Fundamentalism and many more. Let us not be afraid of them - these are the issues which Jesus challenges us with today. We will hear about the situations that our brothers and sisters face in their own lives. Problems continue to plague our Church and we will hear the continuing struggle of our fellow Anglicans in Rwanda. We will hear about the devastation of AIDS in Uganda, but we will also hear about their excellent AIDS education programme. We will hear about Indian rights in the Southern Cone and then call there for justice for the indigenous peoples. We will hear about the courageous stand that the Church in Japan took last year when they were able to say "We're sorry" and the great healing which takes place when we can ask for forgiveness.

In a way, what I have been saying is in the form of a testimony. I believe in what I have said. I believe our Communion is a wonderful family. I believe it because I have seen it. I believe in the power of the living Christ. As many of you know, I have come to this post nominated by the Province of Jerusalem in the Middle East. Having had the great opportunity to live in Jerusalem for twelve years, I not only saw the faithfulness of the Palestinian Christians, but I saw the faithfulness of the pilgrims who came to that holy city from around the Anglican Communion. I saw their faith being lived out in the living Christ. I saw people experience the wonder, the awe of the Empty Tomb. I know that Christ is living.

I have seen the living Christ in the Philippines
I have seen the living Christ in Mexico
I have seen the living Christ in Wales
I have seen the living Christ in the West Indies

I know that Jesus' message is clear. I know that Christ is calling us to a unique vocation today as Christians. Remember Christians are ordinary people who make extraordinary claims.

I believe that Christ is challenging us as Anglicans to touch the lives of the people to whom we are called to serve. There is no task too big, had there been, Jesus would not have been crucified. Jesus had that option. Instead, Jesus called upon God's strength, "thy will be done". We are challenged to do the same. Jesus calls us to a new unity, a unity that will give an opportunity for laity, bishops, priests and deacons to be part of the process, men and women, young and old, people from all walks of life. I believe once we start isolating and marginalising people for whatever reasons, once we humanly choose to separate people one from another, then we have lost the essence of the message which Jesus proclaims.

We all have a gift to bring to our Lord's Table. We all have something to present at the altar. I do not want anyone to leave this ACC-10 meeting feeling that they have not had a chance to be heard. I do not want anyone to leave this ACC-10 meeting feeling intimidated, that what I might say might not be as articulate as someone else. Everyone's voice must be heard and the ACC-10 Design Group under the leadership of Dr. Diane Maybee and Archbishop Brian Davis has worked hard to make sure that this would happen especially in our small groups and in our regional work. We must be sensitive to each others needs over the next few days. We are here to learn from each other and to share what we say as a family. Let us listen to each other.

Let us address these issues and ask, "Can the Anglican Communion make a difference?" All the issues are important, but let us resolve that nothing should separate us from the message that a child was born of Mary, that this child was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and on the third day, broke the chains of death for our salvation. Might we worship Him as Saviour and Lord.

Once again, I appreciate your presence here, your taking time from your work and from your Church to be part of the important deliberations of ACC-10. I trust that the days ahead will enlighten and enliven us all. It is my prayer that as a result of these meetings we will be more fit and more able to fulfil our own ministries as individuals, as congregations, as Dioceses, and as Provinces. It is my prayer that you will join me and work for the openness which will allow us to speak freely, lovingly and carefully. Might we always remember the reason why we are here, why we have been called together, and why we accept the challenge of the Gospel that was given to all of us at our baptism. Therefore, I would like to close my testimony today by asking you to join with me in affirming our faith - may this be our communal testimony as we proclaim the mystery of our faith together. Therefore let us proclaim the mystery of our faith in the familiar words used at the Eucharist so often:

(Together) - Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.