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Anglican Pan American Conference Affirms Common Ministry
Biblically Orthodox Anglicans from the Americas and Caribbean meet to promote their common ministry in the Western Hemisphere
Nassau, Bahamas--(July 10, 2005)--The Pan American Conference of orthodox Communion-committed Anglicans met in Nassau, Bahamas, from July 6-8 under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. The meetings were chaired by Archbishop Drexel Gomez and Archbishop Gregory Venables.
The group met for prayer and bible study and to find ways to promote and support our unity and common ministry in the Western Hemisphere. Submitting to one another and to our Lord Jesus Christ, we were greatly blessed by our time together and by the relationships we have established and strengthened.
Those present have committed to furthering the common ministry of the Americas and the Caribbean and to assist the global Communion with finding solutions to the crisis currently afflicting the Anglican churches in the Western Hemisphere which hinders our gospel witness in this region. We look forward to building on the work of the Conference and working with our constituencies to strengthen our ties and promote our traditional Anglican heritage in submission to the Primates and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Given the enthusiasm for this preliminary meeting, we are confident of future participation from a broader representation of Communion-committed Anglicans in this hemisphere.
The conference was attended by representatives from the following biblically orthodox and Communion committed groups:
The Province of the West Indies
The Province of the Southern Cone
The Anglican Communion Network (ACN)
The Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC)
The American Anglican Council (AAC)
The Anglican Communion in Canada (ACiC)
The Anglican Communion in New Westminster (ACiNW)
Anglican Essentials Canada (AEC)
The Anglican Mission in America (AMiA)
The Anglican Province of America (APA)
Anglicans United (AU)
Christian Formation Ministries (CFM)
The Diocese of Recife
Forward in Faith America (FIFNA)
The Foundation for Christian Theology
The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC)
Sharing of Ministries Abroad (SOMA)
Ekklesia
The conference also made a further statement which follows:
Resolution on Recife
The Anglican Pan American Conference, meeting in Nassau, Bahamas July 6-8, 2005, notes with profound concern and regret the lack of restraint by the Primate of Brazil, Orlando Santos de Oliveira, and the Province of Brazil in the precipitous actions taken against The Rt. Revd. Robinson Cavalcanti, by not allowing the Panel of Reference an opportunity to mediate the conflict.
In this way, the Province of Brazil has failed in its fiduciary and pastoral duty towards the diocese of Recife. The rush to judgment being both unwarranted and untimely has caused a fundamental lack of confidence in the findings of the court. Therefore we are constrained to maintain our relationship with Bishop Cavalcanti and the clergy and lay people who continue to recognize him as their bishop.
Further, we implore the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Communion to call for a halt to the legal process in Brazil regarding this issue and to conduct a fair and impartial inquiry into the conflict.
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