Venables predicts end of Anglican Communion

ANNE FLETCHER

Anglican Journal

Apr 29, 2008

Delta, B.C.

The South American primate who has welcomed dissenting Canadian Anglican parishes into his province says he sees the beginning of the end of the world-wide Anglican Communion.

³I believe we¹re in the early stages of divorce,² Archbishop Gregory Venables, presiding (national) bishop of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, told a news conference during a meeting of the Anglican Network in Canada from April 25 to 26.

³I think there comes a point when a marriage is no longer a marriage and you have to recognize it,² he said. But Archbishop Venables suggested that Anglican churches could still stay together in some form. ³Maybe we can have an Anglican federation,² he said.

In an interview with the Anglican Journal, Archbishop Venables noted that air travel and the Internet have radically re-structured international networks.

³We¹re no longer living in a world where everything is done locally,² Archbishop Venables said. ³The church is a little late in coming to that.² Instead of insisting on geographical church provinces, ³hopefully, this will be resolved so we can realign or restructure so everyone can follow their concerns.²

Meanwhile, a former Canadian Anglican bishop who is now licensed by the Southern Cone said that the network contacted other foreign primates as possible leaders but aligned itself with the British-born Archbishop Venables because of his background.

³We did talk to a couple of primates of different colours,² said Bishop Donald Harvey, formerly of the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, in an interview. But Archbishop Venables was willing to take on the job, is well respected by other primates, and brings few cultural barriers and no language limitations, he said. (Some Episcopal church parishes in the U.S. have aligned themselves with churches in Africa.)

Bishop Harvey, who is moderator of the network, told the conference that Archbishop Venables¹ offer of primatial oversight meant the network would be ³part of the world-wide Anglican Communion,² and, ³without being under his wing, we would simply be a breakaway group,² he said.

³Thank you, God,² Bishop Harvey added, to loud applause. ³You have freed us from the bondage that has been holding us back SWe are free at last.²

The conference was attended by about 340 delegates. Network membership includes 15 churches, 10 of which have left the Anglican Church of Canada over theological issues, including the blessing of same-sex unions.

The delegates also heard from theologian Rev. James Packer, who focused on the need for deeper Bible understanding; Bishop Albert Vun of Malaysia; youth minister Ken Moser of St. John¹s Shaughnessy church in Vancouver and Bishop Bill Atwood of Kenya.

Mr. Packer called Archbishop Venables¹ presence a ³watershed,² telling delegates the ³principle of geographical exclusiveness has been breached and I think it has been breached in such a way that it cannot be restored.²

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