On the Primates’ Meeting, No. 1

About the Primates’ Meeting in Dar es Salaam
No. 1; February 23, 2007

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

                                                —St. Paul, to the Christians in Ephesus (Eph. 4:1-3).

 Beloved, since they have been published earlier this week, I have been studying the following three documents, which I commend to you in their entirety.  You may find the full texts on-line as noted at the end of this document.

1.      The Communiqué Of the Primates’ Meeting in Dar es Salaam, 19^th February 2007;

2.      The Key Recommendations of the Primates; and,

3.      “An Anglican Covenant:  Draft prepared by the Covenant Design Group”, January, 2007.

There is much in these documents to absorb and prayerfully consider; I’m still coping with it myself.  Let me emphasize, first, that the Primates both affirmed and challenged The Episcopal Church.  About this I will be writing to you soon and more extensively.  But I hasten to express to you my concern that some, from different, even opposite quarters of the Church, have already rushed to judgment.  It is my prayer and hope that in Upper South Carolina we will not leap to conclusions but, rather, commit ourselves to appropriate consideration, reflection, dialogue, and—again—all of it immersed in prayer.

That is not to say that the concerns already expressed through the media and the internet are without merit.  There certainly are legitimate issues about what it means to be the Anglican Communion; what is meant by “bonds of affection”; about authority, autonomy, and interdependence in Anglican polity; about care, justice and peace for all of God’s people.

But let’s step back from whatever precipice tempts us to schism and precipitous judgment, reaffirming our commitment to remain faithful “in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship” within The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion—“with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”.

More anon.

Faithfully in our Lord Jesus Christ,
+Dorsey
USC VII 

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texts

The Communiqué of the Primates’ Meeting in Dar es Salaam, 19th February 2007, is available here. The “Key Recommendations of the Primates” appears at the end of the document.

The text of a proposed Anglican Covenant is available here.