On February 19 I read with interest the texts of the draft of a proposed Anglican Covenant and the primates' communiqué following their meeting in Tanzania. I have not read any comments from the participants in that meeting, and I look forward in three weeks to hear from the presiding bishop about what she heard and saw and shared at the meeting. The Episcopal Church's House of Bishops will be meeting in Texas at that time, and it will also give me a chance to hear from some of the more experienced bishops about their take on the proposals and how we might best proceed.
We Anglicans have always said that we best discern the will of God as we gather in community, and any opportunity that people take to sit down and listen to one another and share their stories will be helpful, indeed holy.
One of my disappointments with the communiqué is that the primates gave little attention to issues of hunger and war and poverty, and how the church is called to respond through the eyes of resurrection to a world that suffers from those afflictions. When we take the focus off proclaiming that sort of good news, I think we lose credibility among people both outside and inside the church.
No matter what happens in the larger church's governing councils, we in the diocese of Arkansas will continue to focus on proclaiming resurrection, a proclamation of the good news that nothing is stronger than God's love. We will do so in ways that are needed in this state and appropriate for our people and culture.
Larry R. Benfield
Bishop of Arkansas
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