During the week of January 30, Anglican Church in North America leaders from across the continent descended on Tallahassee, Fla., for meetings involving the Executive Committee and the Archbishop’s Cabinet. The Anglican Relief and Development Fund also held board meetings on site. St. Peter’s Anglican Church served as the gracious host parish for the events.
The Executive Committee is comprised of clergy and laity and serves as the Board of Directors for the Anglican Church in its capacity as a non-profit corporation. It provides temporal oversight for the Church and ongoing governance between Provincial Council meetings. The Archbishop’s Cabinet includes bishops, priests and laypeople who serve as advisers on issues within the province and the wider Anglican Communion.
Among the highlights from the meetings, Bishop Bill Thompson of the Diocese of Western Anglicans reported on the great progress being made on the Liturgy and Common Worship Task Force. The goal is to have the liturgies that are being developed ready for use in our worship together at Assembly 2012 in Ridgecrest, N.C.
The Anglican Relief and Development Fund also made a report to the Executive Committee and Cabinet on the funding needs for new and pending projects. ARDF’s Executive Director, Canon Nancy Norton, noted that if each Anglican Church in North America parish donated $500 each year, that would provide half a million dollars each year to invest in relief and development throughout the Communion.
Numerous other items also were covered at the meetings, including major events such as Provincial Assembly this summer and the GAFCON leadership conference in London in April. Reports were delivered on other Provincial initiatives as well, including: Anglican 1000, the Catechesis Task Force, the Ecumenical Relations Task Force, and the Islam Task Force.
Those in attendance also heard from our Ministry Partners at the American Anglican Council, the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas and Forward in Faith North America, as well as reports from administrative committees dealing with items ranging from finances and development to personnel and governance.
Despite the full agenda, the meetings were punctuated throughout the day with times of prayer for those in leadership and for all the faithful in the Anglican Church in North America.
Attendees, members of St. Peter’s, and guests from the local community were also able to participate in a special evening worship service on Tuesday, January 31. During the service, Archbishop Duncan delivered a powerful address titled “Our Experience, Our Proclamation, and Our Mission” that is relevant to the whole Province.
Click play below to view the video:
For more information on the meetings, and access to additional media including photos and a local NPR radio interview with Archbishop Duncan and Bishop Neil Lebhar of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese, click here.
Photo Captions: Website Home Page – Executive Committee gathers in Tallahassee. Story body (top to bottom): Bishop Charlie Masters of the Anglican Network in Canada, Archbishop Robert Duncan, Father Eric Dudley, Rector of St. Peter’s; Tina Campbell, Director of Parish Life Ministries/Communications at St. Peter’s, leader of the volunteer team for the Provincial meetings; Archbishop Duncan, Bishop Neil Lebhar and Father Eric Dudley following a blessing of the land for the new location of St. Peter’s.
Photo Credit: John Schmidt, photographer for St. Peter’s.
