Relationships between the Episcopal Church and Anglican provinces in Africa have strengthened in recent weeks as church leaders from Burundi, Southern Africa, Tanzania and Uganda during visits to the United States upheld the importance of unity in the Anglican Communion and acknowledged that dialogue is crucial to its future well-being.
All four visits came after release of the Windsor Report from a Lambeth Commission that calls upon member churches of the communion to take active steps to reduce the division caused by the consecration of a gay bishop and the blessing of same-gender unions.
“We do not want separation,” said the Burundian primate, Archbishop Samuel Ndayisenga, during a visit to New York “We are urging the [churches in the] Anglican Communion to remain together.”
Accompanied by the Rev. Pascal Bigirimana, provincial secretary of the Episcopal Church of Burundi, Ndayisenga explained that he is “heartened” by many conversations he had during his visit, “because it is by talking, by dialogue, by listening with all our heart that we can feel that we are supported.”
Noting that he never would expect the communion to be similar everywhere, Bigirimana cited characteristics that he considers essential to belonging to a global community.
“We want unity and diversity,” he said. “We want to see a communion of people from different backgrounds but focusing on Christ and seeking the Kingdom of God, and a community which is characterized by Christian love: a community that is not -- shall we say -- judging each other, a community which is committed to praying for each other and to minding the needs of one another.”
In his New York visit, the provincial secretary of the Anglican Church of Tanzania extended his gratitude to the Episcopal Church for the continuing relationship between the two bodies. “Our church has been privileged to welcome people from the Episcopal Church and benefit from the variety of generosities,” said the Rev. Canon Dr. R. Mwita Akiri.
Emphasize mission priorities
Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Southern Africa interrupted his retreat in Washington, D.C., to speak at the annual Hobart lecture at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. Concurrently, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda was visiting as a guest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Ndungane and Orombi find themselves in very different places when asked about biblical interpretation on certain issues, but they appear to be of one mind when speaking about the mission priorities of the Anglican Communion.
At the Hobart lecture, Ndungane said that the strains that always have been present in God’s church should not deter Anglicans from focusing on its main concerns. “The church exists for mission, and that’s our priority,” he said. “We should keep on reminding people that, yes, it’s good for us to put our house in order, but that is not the primary cause of why we are here.
“Anglican leaders must get serious, grow up, and focus on the real life-and-death issues of our world,” Ndungane said. At the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s convention, Orombi urged the Anglican Communion to stop dwelling on issues that cause destruction.
“We need to be a healing power to a broken world,” he said. “As a church we have this responsibility.”
