THE PRESIDENT-BISHOP of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Most Revd Mouneer Anis, will not be taking up his invitation to the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), the conservative meeting in Jordan and Jerusalem set up to precede the Lambeth Conference.
He has written a letter saying that, while he “shares the frustration” of his fellow conservative bishops, and voices his disappointment with the direction taken by the Churches in the United States and Canada over sexual ethics, he is concerned for the unity of the Global South. He urges those attending Gafcon “to be careful not to make binding decisions which may result in dividing Anglicans in the Global South and elsewhere”.
“The Global South must not be driven by an exclusively Northern agenda or Northern personalities,” he says, and urges all the bishops to consider participating in the Lambeth Conference. “The absence of any of your voices will be a great loss.”
Bishop Anis has frequently found himself torn between the Archbishop of Canterbury and his fellow conservatives. He described Dr Williams’s message to the Communion in June 2006 as “what we needed to hear and learn”.
In an impassioned statement to the United States’ House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans last year, he emphasised the “exciting and challenging” context of the Anglican Church in the Middle East. “We live among the Oriental Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox, the Catholics, the Jews, and the Muslims. . . Sitting round one table requires humility from all of us.”
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