Bishop Urges Prayer for Communion Primates

Primates Meeting takes place in Canterbury from January 11-16

Posted January 12, 2016

At the January meeting of Synod Council Bishop Michael Bird spoke about the Primates Meeting that is taking place in Canterbury, England. Such meetings are one of four Instruments of Communion that knit the Anglican Communion together. 

Bishop Michael echoed Archbishop Fred Hiltz's plea for prayers for these meetings throughout the course of the week.

The Bishop also commends this podcast to Anglicans in Niagara in order to gain a better a sense of why prayer is so important for this moment in the life of the Anglican Communion. He notes that it "offers an insightful and sometimes painful summary of what the Primates will be dealing with" over the course of their meeting. 

As part of his own ongoing commitment to the Anglican Communion, Bishop Michael has participated in an annual Consultation of Anglican Bishops in Dialogue. Given the matters before the Primates, the Bishop feels that this gathering continues to be "so important in the life of the Anglican Communion."

Since 2010, a rotating group of African and North American bishops have met annually at locales around the world. Their gatherings facilitate learning about each other’s contexts and finding pathways for healing and reconciliation. This intentional dialogue was developed in response to theological controversies that strained relationships across the Anglican Communion in the early 2000s. These included issues relating to human sexuality and the blessing of same-sex marriages. 

Anglicans in Niagara are encouraged by Bishop Michael "to pray for Archbishop Fred, for the Primates Meeting, for the Anglican Communion and for the next meeting of the Bishops Dialogue, in the wake of all this, to be held in Ghana in May."