Schism Tomorrow but Never Today
Rev. Caroline Hall in Dar es Salaam
I watched fourteen young Tanzanian security guards march proudly across the front of the hotel this afternoon before beginning their long lurking evening dedicated to making sure that no-one invades the inner sanctum where the Primates live, eat, move and have their being. It’s reasonable that a meeting of world leaders should have security concerns but it also seemed a curious symbol of where the Anglican Communion is today - attempting to defend its boundaries against marauders of uncertain origin.
In a recent interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Archbishop Akinola of Nigeria was quoted as saying that God always looks to Africa to save His Church. Well, here we are in Africa, but salvation seems to be delayed. The Primates Meeting was originally slated for February 14-18 with a possible pre-meeting on Tuesday 13th. Now the meeting proper starts on Thursday. But tonight we heard that the ‘pre-meeting’ with additional American bishops in attendance won’t be until then – so does that mean Thursday’s agenda will happen on Wednesday, or is everything being postponed until Friday?
And why the change? Bishop Duncan’s laptop has apparently been stolen… was there vital information on it? and if so, why didn’t he back it up? Or is it an attempt to controvert the carefully laid plans of the conservative coalition who met here for two days before the rest of the Primates arrived? Is it a careful liberal plot to prevent anything ‘really important’ being discussed and so putting off the ‘Day of the Lord’ until Lambeth next year? And why did conservatives bundle Archbishop Akinola into their car and speed off together? Was it really a dire need for Chinese food, or something even more sinister?
Here in Dar es Salaam there is a severe absence of any hard news and so little incidents become much more important than they really are – which perhaps also says something about the Anglican Communion. In the absence of a galvanizing mission based on the gospel of God’s unconditional love, are we just sitting around trading gossip while we wait for the schism which will surely come tomorrow… or the day after?
Rev. Caroline Hall in Dar es Salaam
I watched fourteen young Tanzanian security guards march proudly across the front of the hotel this afternoon before beginning their long lurking evening dedicated to making sure that no-one invades the inner sanctum where the Primates live, eat, move and have their being. It’s reasonable that a meeting of world leaders should have security concerns but it also seemed a curious symbol of where the Anglican Communion is today - attempting to defend its boundaries against marauders of uncertain origin.
In a recent interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Archbishop Akinola of Nigeria was quoted as saying that God always looks to Africa to save His Church. Well, here we are in Africa, but salvation seems to be delayed. The Primates Meeting was originally slated for February 14-18 with a possible pre-meeting on Tuesday 13th. Now the meeting proper starts on Thursday. But tonight we heard that the ‘pre-meeting’ with additional American bishops in attendance won’t be until then – so does that mean Thursday’s agenda will happen on Wednesday, or is everything being postponed until Friday?
And why the change? Bishop Duncan’s laptop has apparently been stolen… was there vital information on it? and if so, why didn’t he back it up? Or is it an attempt to controvert the carefully laid plans of the conservative coalition who met here for two days before the rest of the Primates arrived? Is it a careful liberal plot to prevent anything ‘really important’ being discussed and so putting off the ‘Day of the Lord’ until Lambeth next year? And why did conservatives bundle Archbishop Akinola into their car and speed off together? Was it really a dire need for Chinese food, or something even more sinister?
Here in Dar es Salaam there is a severe absence of any hard news and so little incidents become much more important than they really are – which perhaps also says something about the Anglican Communion. In the absence of a galvanizing mission based on the gospel of God’s unconditional love, are we just sitting around trading gossip while we wait for the schism which will surely come tomorrow… or the day after?
posted by Caroline Hall at
11:36 PM
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