Primates and other leaders from the Global South coalition of Anglican provinces said the time had come to begin creating “a separate ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the U.S.A.” The statement was part of a communiqué released at the conclusion of a Sept. 19-22 meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.

The communiqué stopped short of a formal break with The Episcopal Church as advocated by some leaders of the Global South prior to the start of the meeting, and the final statement suggested significant differences of opinion over The Episcopal Church’s status and continued relations within the Communion.

The statement asked the “Global South Steering Committee,” led by the primates of Nigeria and South East Asia, and the Bishop of Egypt, to develop a plan for a parallel church in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the primates’ meeting, the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council.

While not underestimating the “serious implications” of their request, the Kigali communiqué said not to act would be a “failing in our apostolic witness if we do not make this provision for those who hold firmly to a commitment to historic Anglican faith.”

The 75th General Convention “gave no clear embrace of the minimal recommendations of the Windsor Report,” they said, further noting Bishop Schori held views “in direct contradiction of Lambeth 1.10 and the historic teaching of the Church.”

A common response to Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori eluded the Global South. Some would “not be able to recognize Katharine Jefferts Schori as a Primate at the table with us,” while “others will be in impaired communion with her as a representative of The Episcopal Church.”

A further group, unidentified in the communiqué, but believed to center around Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Southern Africa, recognized Bishop Schori and remained in communion with The Episcopal Church.

The Kigali communiqué asked Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to resolve this tension by inviting to the February primates’ meeting in Tanzania “another bishop” chosen by the dioceses of The Episcopal Church which have requested alternative primatial oversight “so that we might listen to their voices during our deliberations.”

Archbishop Williams’ proposal for an Anglican Covenant received the backing of the Kigali group. An Anglican Covenant could provide order and discipline for the Communion, demonstrating “to the world that it is possible to be a truly global communion where differences are not affirmed at the expense of faith and truth but within the framework of a common confession of faith and mutual accountability,” they said.

Present at the meeting were archbishops Bernard Ntahoturi, Burundi; Bernard Malango, Central Africa; Fidèle Dirokpa, Congo; Ian Ernest, Indian Ocean; Clive Handford, Jerusalem and the Middle East; Benjamin Nzimbi, Kenya; Samuel San Si Htay, Myanmar (Burma); Peter Akinola, Nigeria; Emmanuel Kolini, Rwanda; Njongonkulu Ndungane, Southern Africa; John Chew, South East Asia; Joseph Marona, Sudan; Donald Mtetemela, Tanzania; Henry Orombi, Uganda; Justice Akrofi, West Africa; Drexel Gomez, West Indies; Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone, and Moderator of the Church of South India Bishop Peter Sughandar.

Representatives of the Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and the Presiding Bishop of the Philippines were also present, as was the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, rector of Truro Parish, Fairfax, Va., and Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America under the Church of Nigeria.

While presenting a united front in Kigali, the leadership of the Global South is not as one over the issue of homosexuality. Present for the first part of the meeting, the Primate of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, Archbishop Ndungane left on Sept. 21 to address a controversy arising from the publication of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s official biography.

In a statement released Friday, Archbishop Ndungane responded to revelations that the Nobel Peace Prize winner was “ashamed” to be an Anglican following the 1998 Lambeth Conference’s statement that homosexual practice was incompatible with scripture.

The Anglican Church in Southern Africa had moved on from that point, Archbishop Ndungane said in a statement released Friday, noting "As Anglicans we continue to value the rich diversity of our people and to strive towards unity.”

(The Rev.) George Conger

To find more news, feature articles, and commentary about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion not available online, we invite you to subscribe to The Living Church magazine. To learn more, click here.