Meeting could have lasting impact

Meeting could have lasting impact @ The Birmingham News

When the Anglican Mission in America met in Birmingham last week, nine Anglican archbishops from Africa and Asia arrived in Alabama to show their support.

Anglicans in America say the conference could have a long-term impact for their movement, which has drawn many conservatives who left the Episcopal Church.

"It gives us a great deal of assurance how Anglican we are,"said the Rev. John Richardson, one of the host priests and rector of St. Peter's Anglican Church in Mountain Brook. St. Peter's formed after a split from St. Luke's Episcopal Church in 2002.

The participation of the archbishops, who oversee a combined 15 million Anglicans worldwide, helped give credence to the movement, said the Rev. Jay Greener, a priest and spokesman for the Anglican Mission in America.

"It makes a pretty strong statement for their desire to pray for and support what they see happening," Greener said. "They were very comfortable with how things are moving forward. There was no focus at all on the controversy swirling around the Anglican Communion. We were worshipping together, praying together, spending time with these archbishops. It was an unusual opportunity."

Conservative Anglicans who have left the Episcopal Church say the centrality of scripture, evangelism, and the church's traditional view of sin are among the most important issues. It's not just anger at the Episcopal Church approving an openly gay bishop.

"The issues are more about authority of scripture and being mission-minded," Richardson said.

The archbishops who came from Africa have plenty of weighty issues to worry about on their own continents.

Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda has witnessed civil war in Congo, genocide in Rwanda and lived in a refugee camp in Uganda.

Archbishop Fidele Dirokpa of Congo talked about the situation following a civil war that killed more than three million people.

"They have no telephones, no school systems, no church buildings," Richardson said. "He said, `My church is under a tree. If it rains, there's no church.' Yet, he's over here encouraging what we're doing.

"Given all that they face in their countries, it's a testimony to their convictions that they came to support us. They are servant leaders. They are willing to suffer for the gospel."

Richardson said that's an important lesson for American Christians.

"We're blessed with wealth and freedom that they don't have," he said. "We're recovering a sense of what it means to suffer for the gospel."

About 850 people registered for the Anglican Mission in America conference.

"It gave them a greater confidence in the authority under which they operate," Richardson said. "It's always good to have encouragement."

Although the main topics of discussion were church growth and evangelism, talk occasionally turned to the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Chuck Murphy, chairman of the Anglican Mission in America, expressed continued concern about the direction of the Episcopal Church. Archbishop Datuk Yong Ping Chung of Southeast Asia said that Anglicans in the rest of the world insist on an apology this summer from the U.S. Episcopal Church General Convention for approving openly gay New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson.

If it's not forthcoming, schism appears imminent, he said.

"If the Episcopal Church refuses to apologize and continues to walk apart, we will not follow," Chung said.

More than half of the Anglican Mission in America parishes are now congregations started new, rather than as results of splits with the Episcopal Church, Richardson said.

"Those who have come out of the Episcopal Church recently may have grief and loss over a church," Richardson said. "The vast majority have moved on and are finding great joy in being part of a missionary movement. They're forward-looking, not backward-looking."

Some of the Anglican leaders who took part in the Birmingham meeting are influential leaders in the Christian world. Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda represents 8 million Anglicans, one of the largest provinces in the 77-million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, which is affiliated with the Church of England. The U.S. Episcopal Church has about 2.4 million members.

Orombi led one of the Bible studies at the Anglican Mission conference.

"It's a significant thing to have his blessing," Richardson said.

The conference was held in Birmingham because of its convention facilities and the presence of St. Peter's and St. Matthew's Anglican churches, the two congregations that helped host the event. Murphy grew up in Alabama and other leaders have ties to the region.

"They've always hoped that Birmingham would be a hub of ministry," Richardson said.

"We're so much better informed now about why we're connected to Rwanda and Southeast Asia," he said. "There's a greater connectedness to the global Anglican Communion."