THE Archbishop of Canterbury has urged Anglicans not to give up
on each other despite "deeply painful conflicts".
Preaching to guests from around the Communion at a eucharist at
Lambeth Palace on Thursday of last week, Dr Williams spoke of "the
alarming hint that if God can't give us up, we can't give each
other up - as Anglicans and Anglicans together, but as Christians
and Christians together, too.
"How very nice it would be if we could simply say: we're giving
up now on fellowship: that's enough peace; that's enough attempts
to be together. . . And in those moments - which are frequent
enough, God knows - we ought to hear God saying: 'But I'm God. I'm
not you. You can give up on each other, but I can't.' And maybe
with that before us, we can think of what it is that God goes on
asking of us, in terms of making and keeping peace.
"I'm not just talking about how we live through the deeply
painful conflicts in our Communion, though that's important enough.
I'm talking about those attitudes to one another that shape our
lives and our policies . . . And I believe that, in our global
Anglican family, in spite of all our tensions and divisions, we
have learned a great deal more in recent decades about being there
for one another, locally and internationally."
On the same day, the Anglican Communion Office (ACO) published
its first annual review. The ACO is the secretariat for the
Instruments of Communion: the Lambeth Conference, the Primates'
Meeting, and the Anglican Consultative Council.
In a foreword, its secretary-general, Canon Kenneth Kearon,
writes that, during 2011, staff "worked closely with Provinces on a
range of issues, including responding to [the] spring's triple
disaster in Japan; the earthquake in New Zealand; the persecution
of Anglicans in Zimbabwe; and the proposed aid cuts to Burundi to
name but a few".
The review states that the ACO's total income in 2011 was £2.42
million. Total expenditure was £2.45 million, on functions
including the Instruments of Communion, mission, and Continuing
Indaba.
http://issuu.com/anglicancommunion/docs/annual_review2012
Leader
comment