A conference was convened in New York City by the General Theological Seminary at the Desmond Tutu Center, April 10-12, 2008 and sponsored by the seminaries of the Episcopal Church and the seminaries of the Anglican Church of Canada. The title was An Anglican Covenant: Divisive or Reconciling?
News reports on this:
Church Times Covenant will protect male power, says critic
Episcopal News Service Anglican covenant conference draws international group, elicits varied viewpoints
Photographs are here.
Audio and Full Texts of Conference Papers
PDF files and MP3 files of the sessions can be found in this archive.
Go there for the links, but here is a list of the speakers to whet your appetite:
First Keynote Address:
First Panel:
Second Keynote Address:
Second Panel:
Third Panel:
Fourth Panel:
Third Keynote Address:
Dr. J. Robert Wright's lecture is a real gem. Unfortunately, because of a physical injury, he had someone else deliver it for him. Dr. Wright has more experience ecumenically bar none.
Posted by: John Henry on Friday, 25 April 2008 at 1:16am BSTI don't suppose it will cut any ice with those who are not sympathetic in the first place, but Jenny Plane Te Paa's address is quietly spectacular in its concentration on the really important matters of being Christian. Worth listening to rather than just reading.
Posted by: Robin Drake on Saturday, 26 April 2008 at 4:42am BSTGomez talking about Anglican trust is a fuzzy juicy peach of a contradiction.
Gomez' pre-existing conflicts of interest as a right wing bishop - who is already more wholesome and correct by self-serving definitions than anybody else who is not conservative - preemptively disqualifies him from fostering the trust he says is the point.
Gomez cannot evoke my increased trust by defining my believer's equality and my pilgrimage, ahead of the covenant committee meeting, as nothing but Abomination and anathema.
When I see Gomez taking an active global role to advocate for the human rights of Nigerian queer folks - better yet, lets say, Jamaican queer folks? - just to take one hot button example, then I may reconsider how trustworthy he is as a conservative bishop. Whatever has Gomez ever done for Jamaican human rights in Carribbean queer communities of color? If he cannot comprehend a secular-cultural struggle for basic safety and equal citizenship, what wholesomeness does he bear up, campaigning among us?
This sort of me-best and me-first and church business as usual conservative campaign rhetoric may still fly high in the West Indies, though I wonder if even at home Gomez is never questioned? No, this preachment is not the golden key to trust in our various global Anglican villages.
Posted by: drdanfee on Saturday, 26 April 2008 at 6:22pm BST"If he cannot comprehend a secular-cultural struggle for basic safety and equal citizenship, what wholesomeness does he bear up, campaigning among us" Dr.Danfee
Dead ducks...at least on some Caribbean islands queerfolk are called patos...it works fine for describing the violence against lgbt in Jamaica where +Gomez is suggesting people start being nice to one another...silly queer me, nice seems so mild when people are being victimized, abused and murder helter skelter in the Promise wishing Province of the West Indies...it's time for Drexel Gomez to resign and retire...it doesn't matter what comes first the chicken or the egg on his face.
Posted by: Leonardo Ricardo on Sunday, 27 April 2008 at 6:56am BST"people are being victimized, abused and murder helter skelter"
Now, Leonardo, you know better then that. Our conservative friends are continually reminding us that such violence is rare, that it is not related in any way to rhetoric that calls us subhuman, that we're all just being hysterical suggesting we actually have anything to fear. I mean, after all, we're leading the heathen hoardes that are as we speak poised to bring down good traditional family worshipping Christian culture, we've even infiltrated the Church. Anytime we claim to have been attacked, it's obviously made up, I mean, no-one ever gets attacked for being gay, especially not in good Chriastian places like Jamiaca and Nigeria. What could we possibly have to fear?
Posted by: Ford Elms on Tuesday, 29 April 2008 at 12:46pm BST