Anglican Communion called to repent as primates affirm commitment to walk together

20 January 2020 • Persistent link: iarccum.org/?p=3558

A new Communion-wide Eucharistic liturgy prepared by the Task Group was used for the first time during a service for Primates on the shores of the River Jordan (Jan. 2020). Photo: Alex Baker/ACNS

The Archbishop of Canterbury blesses the primates with water taken from the Jordan river (Jan. 2020). Photo: ACNS

The Anglican Primates gathered on the banks of the Jordan River to celebrate the Eucharist (Jan. 2020). Photo: ACNS

The Anglican Primates gathered on the banks of the Jordan River to celebrate the Eucharist (Jan. 2020). Photo: ACNS

Anglican Primates meeting in Amman, Jordan (Jan. 2020). Photo: ACNS

The work of the Task Group which was established by the Archbishop of Canterbury after the January 2016 Primates’ Meeting has been commended by the Primates. The Task Group has called for a Season of Repentance, focused around the fifth Sunday in Lent this year (29 March), and has prepared a common Anglican Communion eucharistic liturgy and papers on Anglican identity.

In their communiqué, released at the end of last week’s Primates’ Meeting, the Primates explained that the Task Group was established “to look at how we might walk together despite the complexities we face.”

They added: “at this meeting we affirmed our continued commitment to walk together; we received the work of the Task Group and commended it to the other Instruments of Communion – the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council.”

They also recommended that a new group be established “to continue the work of the Task Group to explore how we live and work together in the light of the Lambeth Conference.

“We invite the Churches of the Anglican Communion to set apart the Fifth Sunday of Lent (29 March 2020) as a day to focus on the Prayers of Repentance produced by the Task Group.”

Last week’s meeting in Jordan was the third Primates’ Meeting since Justin Welby became Archbishop of Canterbury. His first, in January 2016, was called in part to address disagreements and division within the Anglican Communion. At that meeting, the Primates agreed to “walk together, however painful this is, and despite our differences, as a deep expression of our unity in the body of Christ.”

At the next meeting, in October 2017, the Primates reviewed the previous discussion and agreement to walk together, and said: “we endorsed this approach, which we will continue with renewed commitment”.

In 2018 and 2019 a series of six regional Primates’ Meetings were held at which the Anglican leaders discussed plans for the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, taking place in July and August this year. Those plans formed part of the Primates’ discussions last week in Jordan.