A Small Gathering of Women

A very few of us met with Nomfundo from South Africa for lunch today. She agreed to discuss with us what happened in Dar es Salaam last week regarding the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Communion. Nomfundo was at this meeting of the Primates as a lay delegate. I, for one, was glad to hear that there were lay delegates present since the make up of the Anglican/Episcopal Church is supposed to be run by the laity. I am going to present what is my understanding so far in "kitchen talk" language so as to make simple sense of the mess. There is more to it than what I am sharing here, and more complications, but I wanted to begin with a post to lay out something easy to grasp. We will be having a longer "conversation" with all the Anglican Women Delegates on Thursday night to listen to one another, something that the current Primates and Bishops seem unable to do.
It is interesting to hear about how the various bishops and Primates handled themselves. Katherine Jefferts Schori, as I have heard and seen myself, remains calm, peaceful, and focused. Others from the US are so angry that it fills the room and "bounces off the walls." There is manipulation, positioning, and definitely money in the mix of negotiations on the side. Akinola, the Nigerian Primate, along with Kenya, Uganda, and a couple of others, is leading the charge to "kick out" the Episcopal Church USA. The Primates (that word continues to make me laugh) in Africa do not necessarily represent the perspectives of the African Bishops. Where is Christ in this?
Nevertheless, some sort of committee has been formed to oversee those in the US who say they cannot commune with or be accountable to our current Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori. While much is being said that this division is over the blessing of same-sex unions, it is becoming more apparent that it is over the issue of the Presiding Bishop being female. There were those at Dar es Salaam that refused to take the Eucharist with her. I am appalled that we have come to this. The egos involved here are taking up too much space. So, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, appointed a committee to oversee these "defectors." I am glad to see that he is making sure that they still have to answer to someone. Although, there is concern that the chair of this committee may not be the greatest choice in having the wisdom to handle Akinola and the departing US Bishops. The US Presiding Bishop pointed out a couple of times that the Canons governing the US Church are different from those governing the Anglican Communion, and no canon law has been broken.
As I have not studied the issues in depth enough to take a charted course through all of this, my main question to Nomfundo was, "If the Anglican Communion no longer recognizes the Episcopal Church USA, then what will happen to this gathering of Anglican women from around the world working on issues such as the trafficking of young girls, violence, poverty, war, immigration, homelessness, etc.? Will we no longer work together but as separate entities? Is not Christ at our center rather than division and hatred?
Nomfundo said she feels confident that the Anglican Women's Group will continue to be together. My prayer is that the women will show the true unity of the church by being about Christ's call even if we don't agree with one another all the time. I am hoping we can lead the way to reconciliation because if the church cannot reconcile and goes to work with itself, how can we ever expect the world to listen to Christ's message of love and peace without laughing at the hypocrisy of it all? We stand to loose so much in this. I hope the Primates remember this is our church and most of us, in America and in Africa, want it to stay together.