In Depth:  Charles Raven

letter from Ethiopia

Historically, the Anglican presence in Ethiopia has been tiny, with over half the country’s 110million people owing allegiance to the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Church, while a significant but growing Protestant minority belong overwhelmingly to Pentecostal and Evangelical churches.

But there is a different story in Gambella, a town and region in the westernmost part of Ethiopia bordering South Sudan which I was privileged to visit recently. Here, there are some 150,000 Anglicans, predominantly ethnically Sudanese Ethiopians whose numbers have been swollen in recent years by South Sudanese refugees. The strength of this church has been recognised by the formation of the Diocese of Gambella as one of the four constituent dioceses of the new Anglican Province of Alexandria launched in October 2021.

As the old year drew to a close, so did the life of one of the Anglican Communion’s most celebrated figures, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, known throughout the world for his courageous stand against the apartheid government of South Africa and his leading role in the new South Africa under Nelson Mandela from 1994.

Many had predicted that the end of apartheid would lead to a bloodbath and civil war, but the miracle of a peaceful transition owed much to Archbishop Tutu’s chairmanship of the Peace and Reconciliation Commission, which brought the power of forgiveness to bear on the life of a whole nation.

Ever since the question of homosexual practice came to prominence at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, successive Archbishops of Canterbury have sought to deflect the underlying question of the authority of Scripture by focusing on questions of process.

Archbishop Justin Welby was explicit on this point when he recently laid out his hopes for next year’s Lambeth Conference, writing that ‘It is unlikely that we will have a single common understanding’ but ‘we are called to find ways of continuing together … and where we disagree, disagreeing well’.

24 September 2021 marks the inauguration of the newest province of the Anglican Communion, known as the Igreja Anglicana de Mocambique e Angola (IAMA, or the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola).

To proceed, the project required a minimum of two thirds of the Anglican Primates to vote in favour and this threshold was reached in August.

For decades, DR Congo has suffered from chronic political instability, corruption and underdevelopment, worsened in recent years by the growth of Islamist insurgency. One of the dioceses worst impacted is Boga in Uturi province on the border with Uganda. In August 2019, the Anglican hospital in Boga was destroyed by Islamist insurgents and 200 people were abducted.

The diocese also has a Bible training school which focuses on the essential work of training catechists and evangelists who are on the front line of mission. It functions as a training community of 86 people, 13 married students with their families, and 17 single students. This too was in Boga, but recently the security situation deteriorated to the extent that it became too dangerous to continue.

Public apologies by Anglican archbishops for historic or institutional failings are hardly newsworthy and can all too easily be regarded as a costless way of establishing their progressive credentials with the guardians of secular orthodoxy, but recently an Anglican archbishop has taken responsibility for his own actions in a very personal apology which sets a precedent for profound cultural change.

In January, it came to light that recently-retired Archbishop of Uganda and GAFCON Primate Stanley Ntagali had been conducting an adulterous affair with the wife of one of his own clergy. He issued an apology on Twitter, but then did so more formally before the whole House of Bishops and the national press on 22 April at St Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe; he confessed his sin and sought forgiveness from the families he had damaged, from the Church, and from the nation.

The Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, has released without warning a statement accusing the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), another GAFCON province, of departing from the authority of Scripture.

‘The deadly ‘virus’ of homosexuality has infiltrated the ACNA’ he alleged, and this had ‘serious implications’ for Archbishop Foley Beach’s leadership of GAFCON (the Global Anglican Future Conference, made up of orthodox believers unhappy with Anglicanism’s liberal sexual trajectory).

Lambeth 2022, the worldwide gathering of Anglican bishops held roughly once a decade, but twice delayed due to the pandemic, will actually get under way this year – 2021.

According to an announcement made last October ‘the conference journey’ will begin in 2021 as a virtual phase with a yet to be revealed programme, but we do know that the theological underpinnings for this project are being provided by the St Augustine Seminar, a group of 35 New Testament scholars who ‘have shaped the theological foundations for the Lambeth Conference’. Leading members give brief video introductions to 1 Peter, the Biblical focus for the Conference, at www. lambethconference.org/biblical-focus/

The story of Anglican growth in Africa and decline in the West is very familiar, but this is often spoken of as if it were simply the result of underlying social, economic and cultural forces, without giving sufficient attention to the role that leadership plays, for good or ill.

The Anglican Church of Kenya, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary as an independent Province, is an interesting example. The current Archbishop and Primate, Jackson Ole Sapit, may not yet be as well known outside Kenya as some of his predecessors (such as David Gitari who was a prominent opponent of President Moi’s attempt to entrench one-party rule, and Eliud Wabukala, who was Chairman of GAFCON from 2011 to 2016), but he too is bringing courageous and creative leadership to the Anglican Church of Kenya.

Chris Sugden and Vinay Samuel (June en, ‘Where now for the Anglican Communion’) see the pandemic-enforced postponement of this summer’s GAFCON and Lambeth Conferences as an opportunity to take a fresh approach to Anglican divisions based on the model of the Commonwealth.

It is an interesting proposal. There is a natural affinity as the Communion shares much of the same history and geography. And although generally undervalued, the Commonwealth is a remarkable achievement. There is still a surprising degree of affection for a former colonial power which reflects the fact that, despite undoubted evils, the British Empire was also associated with a strong sense of service and moral purpose, not least in the dismantling of the slave trade. This ethos continues to attract with Rwanda, a former Belgian colony, joining the Commonwealth as recently as 2009.

What are we learning about the Anglican Communion under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic? This crisis has highlighted many unknowns, but some things do become clearer. Reactions to the unexpected are revealing.

Africa is likely to be the region that ends up suffering most. Although the death toll, at the time of writing, is much lower than that in the West, the impact on the region’s economy and food security will put growing millions at risk even if the disease itself is contained, and in East Africa the problem is being compounded by devastating and recurrent locust plagues.

On Sunday 1 March, I was privileged to be present for the installation of The Most Revd Dr Stephen Kaziimba as the 9th Archbishop of the Church of Uganda.

So much was familiar: the warmth, colour and vitality of the worship; the courtesy with which the many guests and dignitaries were recognised; the gospel-centred preaching; and, of course, the length of the service – which at around six hours is normal for such occasions in Africa, but can be quite a shock to international guests!

Nearly four years ago, Chancellor George Osborne claimed that the UK’s exit from the European Union would be ‘a shock to the world economy’. Thus began what became known as ‘Project Fear’, but with Brexit imminent there is no sign of financial panic nor of the other dire consequences foretold.

This is not to say that Remain had a monopoly of misleading claims, but it is a reminder of how politically-driven communication can stretch facts and evidence. Sadly, the Anglican Communion is not exempt. It has its own ‘Project Fear’.

I have been privileged to visit New Zealand twice this year. On my first visit in May, I had time to explore a little of this beautiful land from alpine mountains to the lush forests bordering restless volcanic lakes, but I am still haunted by the sight of the ruined Christchurch Cathedral, its west end still open to the elements after the spire collapsed in the 2011 earthquake.

My second visit, in mid-October, was for the consecration of The Revd Jay Behan as the first bishop of the new Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand (CCAANZ), an extra provincial diocese under the oversight of the GAFCON Primates Council. While Christchurch Cathedral remains a ruin, courageous Anglicans in New Zealand are taking the first steps to restore the grievously damaged spiritual fabric of Anglican life and witness.

What role does money play in the continuing struggle for biblical faithfulness in the Anglican Communion? The sharp warning from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:24) about the impossibility of serving both God and Mammon alerts us to the reality that money can become a spiritual power when it seduces us into materialism. Rather than being used in the service of God, it can become a god.

But this power of money does not normally manifest itself in a simple and unsubtle appeal to greed. I think, for instance, of an African bishop who recently wrote to me declining an invitation to attend a GAFCON event in favour of one sponsored by a wealthy US revisionist parish because he felt the need to ‘protect his diocese’. Or of the English Anglican Evangelical bishop who once accused me of asking an African bishop to ‘cause his people much suffering’ simply because I alerted him to the heterodox views of the bishop who led their English link diocese.

The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) returned to Plano, Texas, 17-19 June to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its formation under the leadership of Archbishop Bob Duncan.

The Assembly theme was ‘Discipleship: Renewing Our Call to the Great Commission’ with cross-cultural mission and church planting very much to the fore. Over 1,100 attended, including ten Anglican Primates, Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi of Jos, Nigeria and General Secretary of GAFCON, and representatives from some 23 countries.

The communique issued by the GAFCON Primates Council following its meeting in Sydney 30 April – 2 May shows what a vital role GAFCON is now playing in the Anglican Communion.

With the addition of a network for the suffering church, GAFCON now has ten networks which are increasingly catalysts for what a global Communion should be doing – equipping its members to fulfil the Great Commission and share one another’s burdens.