Confidence begins to slip?
The Global South Steering Committee has issued a statement at its meeting in London which ended on July 18th. The statement consists of 12 points, many of which speak to the concerns of the Steering Committee vis-a-viz the response of the Episcopal Church to the Dar es Salaam Communiqué issued by the most recent Primate's meeting.
The statement gives evidence of some concern that the Primate's Steering Committee, apparently the body that will make the final decision regarding the Dar es Salaam's Communiqué's requests, may decide not to act to expel the Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion:
"7. We are aware of the anticipated visit by the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the ACC to the September meeting of the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church USA. Sadly we are convinced that this decision, made jointly by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chair of the ACC, undermines the integrity of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué. We believe that the Primates Meeting, which initiated the request to the TEC House of Bishops, must make any determination as to the adequacy of their response. We strongly urge the scheduling of a Primates’ Meeting for this purpose at the earliest possible moment."
Read the rest here: This is a critical time - A Statement from the Global South Steering Committee
The Episcopal News Service's take on the statement can be found here. Their headline is "Global South Primates vow to continue violating Episcopal Church boundaries."
UPDATE: On July 24th the steering committee admitted that some of its more moderate members were not at the meeting,
Abp Malango, Abp Venable[s] and Abp Gomez were not present at attend this meeting with apologies.
"Sadly we are convinced that this decision, made jointly by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chair of the ACC, undermines the integrity of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué."
Now why am I not surprised? And they accuse *us* of not playing in good faith. How many years now have we been playing against a stacked deck & dishonest shills? I can't think of a single bona fides promise they've offered & actually kept. :( Maybe we should give *them* a deadline & then renege before they have a fair chance to meet it. Anybody here know what the Latin is for "Sauce for the goose...."?
Bill
Bill
Posted by bill nichols![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 20, 2007 6:43 PM
Episcopal Life Online has a great overview here,
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_88302_ENG_HTM.htm
Posted by John B. Chilton![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 20, 2007 7:56 PM
It is, of course, no surprise that these primates and bishops, who have scrambled to assert an authority for the Primates' Meeting that no province nor any other "Instrument of Communion" has acepted or confirmed, should decry the decision of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chair of the ACC to respond to the request of the Episcopal House of Bishops. They have not been able to sieze the day by haste. They have not been able to convince Episcopal bishops, or any others, to preempt their constitutional processes to accept the Draft Anglican Covenant. They have failed to move the Communion, or Canterbury, or Lambeth to their terms, or to isolate the Episcopal Church as a pariah. They have based much of this on narrow, sometimes idiosyncratic interpretations of Windsor, Dromantine, and Dar es Salaam, and their efforts can bear no other interpretation.
I do find it interesting that those who work so hard for a future Anglican Covenant that will meaningfully commit member provinces, are so appalled at the Episcopal Church's efforts to act on existing meaningful commitments, reached through its consitutional processes. Apparently holding members to the rules is only important when ours are the members, and theirs are the rules.
Marshall Scott
Posted by mscottsail![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 21, 2007 4:51 PM