[The following is an excerpt from David Virtue's weekly newsletter. To read the remainder of this week's newsletter, go to http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3318.]
By David W. Virtue
http://www.virtueonline.org
November 29, 2005
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The heat got turned up a notch on Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola this week when a third Primate, Archbishop Drexel Gomez (West Indies) the Primate of the West Indies, described the letter sent out by the African leader as "an act of impatience and a disrespect for process. Unfortunately we never had a discussion of the letter. It was just circulated along with other documents - we only had 40 minutes to meet and were only told about the background to it."
Are we seeing a break in the ranks among orthodox primates over Akinola's impetuosity? No. What we are seeing is the growing pains of Global South orthodox primates emerging out of the shadow of Western liberal captivity, flexing their muscles and bumping into one another as they do so. One should not read more into than that.
That Archbishop Akinola is a little mad at the West is now all too predictable, that he wants to disassociate himself from western revisionism is understandable, but clearly he has emerged as the leader of the Global South primates. Less well known is the fact that while he has become the front man for orthodoxy in the Anglican Communion, behind the scene is another leader.
Archbishop Gomez is a careful, thoughtful, reflective and articulate Anglo-Catholic who understands evangelicals and knows which way the wind is blowing. He knows Frank Griswold and how he thinks and can articulate his heresies better than most bishops.
At the recent Anglican Hope conference in Pittsburgh, it was Gomez along with archbishops Yong Ping Chung (Southeast Asia) and Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda) who were sent to answer questions from the media at a press conference. Akinola was notably absent. Akinola's blast, "you are either in the ECUSA or the Network" had sent the media into a headline frenzy about how the communion was going to split and more. But the idea of two communions is not going to happen. What is being called schism is much more complicated than that. It was Gomez who said in answer to a question about the possibility of schism that Dr. Williams had no legal authority to throw the Canadians or the Americans out of the Communion; his (Williams') power was not that of the pope. Without committing himself or the future of Anglicanism to anything more, Gomez carefully deflected the question. Such is the man's brilliance. He is shrewd, careful and should never be underestimated. He, along with Archbishop Greg Venables orchestrated the new regional body CAPAC - the Council of Anglican Provinces of the Americas and Caribbean which, modeling itself on CAPA - the African equivalent, and together they now form an orthodox pincer movement around The Episcopal Church.
Nor should one underestimate the Archbishop of Canterbury. A story from the Church Times ran a headline, "Dr Williams hopes for 'Lambeth-lite'. A group of eight Primates, bishops, and lay people from across the Communion that make up the Lambeth design group along with Dr Williams, will consider radical changes to the 2008th Lambeth conference which could lower the chances of conflict.
Dr Williams is already on record as saying that he wants a "Lambeth-lite", with fewer resolutions, Sue Parks, manager of the conference, said this week. Commentators suggested that Dr Williams had to hold his ground concerning the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Communion. Global South leaders last week argued that the American and Canadian provinces should not be invited unless they "truly repent".
Canon Andrew Deuchar, Rector of All Saints', Nottingham, and a former secretary for Anglican affairs at Lambeth, said this week that leaders across the Communion were not reflecting what their people thought.
"I think the Archbishop has got to stand firm. Of course there will be people who will walk away; but, from my knowledge of the Anglican Communion, most will want to stay part of it. People certainly don't want a pope. They still believe in a worldwide Communion, with the Archbishop of Canterbury in an iconic role."
There you have it. And the fact that Dr. Williams was graciously received in Cairo at the recent South to South Encounter III by orthodox Anglican leaders demonstrates a deep affection for the man even though their subsequent communiqué made it clear that they wanted him not to separate his private views on homosexuality from his stated public views that he sides with the majority of the communion. There's enough ambiguity in all this to keep journalists on edge wondering when and where the next shoe will drop.
The URL for this story is:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3318
Maintainer: Ted McMichael
Send Comments or Questions to:
theword@starpower.com