May 11

It’s Monday again! It is hard to believe that we have been here more than a week and we will soon be going home.

The Eucharist this morning was led by the Rev’d Stephen Andrews from Canada! It is a sign of some healing within the Communion that a Canadian was asked to preside.

Bible Study focused on Mark 14:22-52. The question on which we spent the most time was, “Are there ways in which the Eucharist can empower us for mission? Is there a specifically Anglican contribution that we can make to mission thinking through our understanding of the Eucharist?” The studies have been helpful in getting us to know one another and in raising different kinds of questions about being Anglican and about being in mission. There has been a suggestion that the material may be prepared in a booklet form for general use.

The next hour gave us a chance to share our parish visits with our Bible study group and with some visitors from the parishes in Jamaica where we visited. We were asked to come up with a common theme or common thread that the whole group could share. There were several including: hospitality - to us, within the congregation and with the community around the church; engaging youth – cross generational issues, different taste in music, meeting them outside the church; the Body of Christ – missing parts, call for mature leadership both lay and clergy, everyone playing a part, listening to one another; joy and faithfulness; wanting learn more about the Anglican Communion.

After coffee break we heard from Dr. Helen Wangusa, the Anglican Observer at the United Nations. It was the usual excellent presentation for which she has become known. She pointed out what has been accomplished as well as the gaps and challenges for the Anglican Church responding to United Nations initiatives. She reminded us about the many excellent UN resources for education on a variety of issues.

We did pass a resolution that calls us, among other things, to weigh the environmental costs of all church activities and to provide means for all people to develop competencies in environmental stewardship and theological reflection on the sustainability of creation and the appropriate use of science and technology.

I spent lunch with four other people working on developing a resolution on conflict zones which will reappear tomorrow sometime! Outdoors, it clouded up for part of today and indoors the afternoon seemed quite dreary! But after lunch we had a presentation on Church Growth and Evangelism which sparked renewed conversation!

After Tea we heard about a new focus for Mission in the Communion, and a new way of connecting Mission and Evangelism folks from within the parish to those outside the church who need support.

Our proposal for a sixth mark of mission was endorsed to include peace making, conflict transformation, and reconciliation. It will go now to the Staff at the Anglican Communion Office for specific wording and will return to ACC 15 for final adoption.

After tea we heard about the work of TEAC, the group working on the how’s and why’s of theological education. They pointed out the ways in which our groups like Teens Encounter Christ or Ask & Imagine can continue to mentor, nurture, resource young Christians while they move into their place of leadership in the church. There is a lot of other information on the Anglican Communion web site where you can check it out.

Evening Prayer was followed by an address from the Archbishop of Canterbury. The tone was cautiously hopeful. He spoke about small steps and recognizing failure as either dismal or glorious. I think that he concluded that the Anglican Communion is neither terminally ill nor a dismal failure. Hopefully his message will be posted on the Communion web site today.

At dinner thanks were given to the retiring Chair and the Vice Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, as well as former Anglican Communion office staff member, Gregory Cameron.

Most of us headed to our rooms to begin sorting the paper and the clothes in preparation for packing tomorrow.

+Sue