Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

An Article by Archbishop Njongo Ndungane

The State of the Nation is not just how the economy is doing, or how strong the Rand is. The State of the Nation is about how well the people of South Africa are doing. Are they able to live with dignity, able to feed their children, able to meet their basic needs, able to access employment, education, health care? According to the views expressed during the poverty hearings, the State of the Nation is dire. Communities are crippled by poverty. It is a state of emergency.

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The Diocese of Egypt together with PROCMURA convened the African Interfaith Conference from 8th-13th October 2008. Danmission also partnered in this conference.

The objective of the conference was to affirm and promote the global values of Dialogue, especially in Africa which is in need of stability, security, and development. 

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A recent uprising of rebel activity in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo has caused Bishop Henri Isingoma and 150 delegates of the Province de L'Eglise Anglicane du Congo to be stranded in Boga following their September 30-October 5 diocesan synod.

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Theme: God Our Refuge

Dear Sisters and Brothers

I am still under shock as I write this Pastoral letter. A young mother and her son about 10 years old appeared at the doorstep of our flat recently asking for food. After more than 40 years as a priest I know the difference between a professional street beggar and a hungry person genuinely asking for food. She was no street beggar at all. Going by her appearance she had not seen water to bathe for a long time. This young mother represents many others in our community today in Zimbabwe.

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IT involves much more than just providing a wheelchair ramp into your church.

Our attitude towards people who have disabilities has changed over the past few decades - but there is still some way to go. That’s the view of the Diocese of Portsmouth’s disability working group.

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Canon John L Peterson, Washington Cathedral

The Rt Revd David Beetge

When we received word last Friday in Jerusalem that Bishop David Beetge had died, there was total disbelief. Kirsten and I had spent a wonderful evening with Carol and David at the Lambeth Conference and although David was under treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, he looked great and was "vintage" David. It was a night of lots of laughter and recollection of the "good old days."

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Churches around the world mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity traditionally from 18-25 January between the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Each year, a different country is invited to write the initial worship material, which can be adapted for local use. In 2009, the Churches of Korea have written the material and the CTBI Writers Group has adapted it.

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Proponents, opponents move immediately towards reorganization

Deputies to the 143rd diocesan convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh October 4 voted 240-102 to leave the Episcopal Church. Minutes later, in voice votes on three resolutions (Resolutions One, Two, and Three here) the deputies realigned the diocese with the Argentine-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and set up some initial procedures for accomplishing that maneuver. The vote was the culmination of the diocese's continuing theological disputes with the Episcopal Church and many diocesan leaders later said the decision put the diocese in what they called "the Anglican mainstream."

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The Journey of a New Monastic Community by Paul R. Dekar

For over a millennium, if Christians wanted to read theology, practice Christian spirituality, or study the Bible, they went to the monastery to do so. There, people who inhabited the tradition and prayed the prayers of the church, copied manuscripts and offered fresh reflections about living the gospel in a new era. Two thousand years after the birth of the church, a new monastic movement is stirring.

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Christians and secular groups in India have commemorated the October 2 anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, but attacks against Christians continued on a day that marks the Indian independence campaigner's message of non-violence.

More than 100 Christian houses were torched in the troubled city of Kandhamal and nearby district of Boudh in the Orissa district as the nation prepared to celebrate the 139th anniversary of Gandhi's birth.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has sent his greetings to Muslim communities for the festival of Eid ul Fitr, marking the end of Ramadhan. The Archbishop’s greeting celebrates the many positive examples of Christian Muslim encounter and engagement with the wider common good in the past year. He looks forward in the year ahead to further opportunities for ”opening doors into a renewed future which is the constant task for all people of faith".

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"Bless the ideas that get floated in your congregation"

Weaving themes of shepherding, tending to flocks and the critical nature of the ecosystem, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori addressed the importance of pastoral responsibility at the September 30 Hobart lecture.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, sent a greeting to Jewish leaders and communities for the festival of Rosh Hashanah, marking the start of the Jewish New Year. In his greeting the Archbishop spoke of the "mutual and public support for the Millennium Development Goals" at the Lambeth Conference, and also paid tribute to "the way in which all the religions and their leaders can act together for the common good of humanity". 

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It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Bishop David Beetge, Bishop of the diocese of the Highveld and Dean of the Province. Bishop David died on Saturday 27th September 2008. Our love and prayers go to his wife Carol and family, and the family of the Diocese of the Highveld.

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Statement by Bishop of London

For the last 10 days, many of us – of all religions - have been praying for a breakthrough at the meeting of government heads today at the UN High Level Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs set out to halve global poverty by 2015. The UN Secretary General has warned that, on present performance, the goals will not be met by the majority of countries who signed up to them. It is up to those meeting in New York to live up to their promises to the world's poorest people, whose lives will be directly affected by the outcome. We are praying for all the leaders, including our own Prime Minister,that they will find the courage and unity needed to get achievement of the MDGs back on track. We encourage Gordon Brown in his work at the UN today, and assure him of our support.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermon at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes at the International Mass of 24 September 2008 (the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham).

The sermon text in full:

‘The babe in my womb leaped for joy.’ (Luke 1.44)

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Thursday, September 25, 6 p.m.

Press: Media welcome. Free, no advance reservations

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Dr Hellen Wangusa, Anglican Observer at the United Nations, cordially invite you to attend An Interfaith Service of Recommitment and Witness to the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

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September 25th - A Day for Recommitment and Witness to the Achievement of the MDGs

"The Provinces of the Communion call for a day of prayer and fasting and witness on 25th September 2008 when there is a special session of the United Nations to discuss the Millennium Development Goals." (2008 Lambeth Conference Reflections Document)

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The Bishop of London used the ‘Time for God’s Creation’ service in St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday 14 September to launch Think:Fast, a ten day period of prayer and fasting aimed at raising awareness around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the fight against global poverty.

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Deadline for Prayer Submissions for Lifting Women’s Voices Extended to October 15.

On September 25, the world-wide Anglican Communion will observe a day of “prayer, fasting and witness” as the United Nations meets to discuss progress towards the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Anglicans will be praying with special intention for the world’s extreme poor and for a renewed commitment, from national governments to every individual, to achieving the MDGs by 2015.

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