Dynamic Ecclesiology of Communion by Wordle

Just having some fun entering various text into "wordle"...

Here is the image of the most common words from my master's thesis, "Dynamic Ecclesiology of Communion":

Using Wordle at www.wordle.net

Images of Communion - from the Lambeth Conference

Photo credits to go the Lambeth Conference Official Photographers from the Anglican Communion News Service

Mulling it over: Reconciliation in Communion initiative from the good people at "Covenant"

I am currently mulling over the "Word to the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church" written by the good people at "Covenant" Blog. I have posted the executive summary below, but do make sure to click HERE to read the entire piece. On first look, I can affirm the vast majority of the statements, and am interested in some dialogue about some others, but I applaud this effort and hope that good can come from this good work. Kudos to Covenant!!!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

From "Covenant-Communion" blog

Reconciliation in Communion

A Word to the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church

An Executive Summary of “Reconciliation in Communion”

NB: The full text of “Reconciliation in Communion” may be found below and online at http://www.covenant-communion.net

• Evangelism is central to the life of the Church’s mission.
• Our Baptismal Covenant calls us to live lives leading to holiness, justice, and peace.
• The rite of Holy Baptism in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer contains no theology unique to the Episcopal Church.
• Baptism before Communion is the best way to be faithful to our Baptismal Covenant as we engage in evangelism, and reflects an ecumenical consensus we cannot ignore.
• The Episcopal Church’s full communion with the See of Canterbury and its full and active participation in the other Instruments of Communion, as well as in the life of the whole Anglican Communion, are essential elements of our identity.
• The actions already taken by General Convention that demonstrate the Episcopal Church’s good faith intention to remain in full communion with the Anglican Communion are to be affirmed.
• Schism undermines the Gospel; what divides the Church is not of Christ.
• Unilateral actions undermine justice, even when such actions are intended to establish it.
• The Anglican Covenant is the only viable path at present for maintaining communion and should be adopted by the Episcopal Church.
• General Convention should not speak with one voice on public policy or other issues when that voice is merely that of the majority, and not reflective of genuine consensus.
• General Convention needs to keep in mind that schism among Anglicans damages the witness of all involved, and thus should focus on building mutual respect leading to reconciliation.
• Youth and young adults are necessary to the growth of the church and should be a top priority over the next Triennium.
• Bishops and other leaders need to pursue constructive and charitable relationships with those who are currently estranged from the Episcopal Church, particularly since we must be mindful of the legacy we will pass on to the next generation.
• Making a commitment to remaining lovingly engaged in worship and service with all members of this church, even amid our conflicts, is an essential feature of what it means to love each other as Christ loves us.

Read the entire piece (HERE), and post a response on the Covenant blog on your thoughts!

"Include new province," by the Rev. D. Stuart Dunnan

an interesting (challenging/provocative/controversial/humble) opinion on our Anglican Soap Opera...(from Episcopal Life Online)...

Include New Province
By D. Stuart Dunnan, February 17, 2009

Click image for detail

[Episcopal News Service] As I watch the sad saga of our bishops' legalistic and punitive response to 'traditionalist" bishops, dioceses and parishes who are attempting to leave the Episcopal Church in order to form a new North American Anglican province, I am reminded of the defensive and dismissive response of the Church of England bishops to the Methodist Movement in the 18th century. The result, of course, was the founding and development of a separate Methodist Church, which is now much larger than the 'Anglican" Church (at least as we are now constituted) on this continent.

Imagine the strength and witness of Anglicanism today if the Methodists were welcomed as a preaching order within the Church of England. Surely, they would be more 'orthodox" and we would be more 'vibrant," and together we would be much larger and much more effective for the gospel in the world than we are divided. This, by the way, is exactly what Innocent III achieved when he embraced St. Francis and welcomed his friars into the ministry of the Catholic Church at the beginning of the 13th century, despite the fact that they were preaching such a dangerous 'new" doctrine.

Now, what I wonder is this: What would happen if the Presiding Bishop with the support of the House of Bishops were to welcome the formation of a new province for 'traditionalists" within the Episcopal Church, allowing every diocese, parish and church institution to join this province with a two-thirds vote by the appropriate parish meeting, convention or governing body? She could even stipulate an acceptable window of a year during which this vote would be required to happen.

In this way, both 'sides" of our church could continue in dialogue from protected positions of mutual respect without the present feelings of distrust and fear. Both also would be encouraged to grow by teaching the doctrines and practicing the liturgies they believe in, which they could proceed to do with conviction and enthusiasm. We could, for instance, continue to share the Church Pension Fund and Episcopal Relief and Development, and our primates and bishops could continue to meet on a regular basis to look for areas of agreement, common witness, shared costs and joint projects, but in a way that is more representative, more conducive to collegiality and more focused on results than our present General Convention.

I also wonder if it would not be appropriate for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Consultative Council to ask us to do this in one final attempt at unity and civility before they are forced by our actions to actively establish or passively recognize a permanent state of schism between us.

I would hope that the traditionalists would find such an arrangement better than what now is proposed, as it would allow clergy, parishes and dioceses to reorganize without the loss of their properties and the cost of legal action. The risk for the Presiding Bishop, of course, is that too many will want to leave, but at least they will not be completely leaving, and no one will remain because they have been bullied and threatened into submission.

There is also the obvious advantage that such an action on her part and on the part of the rest of the House of Bishops would show true Christian humility and a more genuine openness to the power of the Holy Spirit to build the church and thus to lead the church in his, if not necessarily our own, direction.

-- The Rev. D. Stuart Dunnan is headmaster at Saint James School, St. James, Maryland.

Anglican Primates meet in Alexandria, Egypt

From the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS)

Following a private meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, the Coptic Pope, received the Primates of the Anglican Communion at the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Alexandria on Saturday evening, 31 January. The Primates are meeting in Alexandria in the latest of their series of regular meetings.

In thanking Pope Shenouda for his warm welcome and hospitality the Archbishop of Canterbury drew attention to the significance of meeting together in the city where many of the universal doctrines of the Christian faith were formed and where the seeds of the Christian monastic movement had been sown in the third century.

Pope Shenouda welcomed the Primates. Bishops, he said, had a special responsibility to guide their people in the path of holiness. Engaging with the young was particularly important. The Coptic Church in Cairo alone was providing Sunday school education to between 30 and 40,000 children. He also gave an account of the resurgence of the Coptic monasteries in Egypt. There were more than twenty communities with over 100 monks each.

Bishop Mouneer Anis, Anglican bishop in Egypt and Primate of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East thanked Pope Shenouda for his generosity and paid tribute to his extraordinary teaching ministry based at the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo.