More news is trickling out of Canterbury. I’ll update this post as it appears.

From Kevin Kallsen who is in Canterbury:

14 Jan 2016

The CofE communications director is denying that cell phones were confiscated:

From VOL:

Newspaper reports that bullying is going on is simply untrue. VOL was told that it has been a dignified, orderly process — obviously being guided, but always stopping to consider all the perspectives.

A report by John Bingham of The Telegraph that the Primates were being treated like children was described as “nonsense”.

What is happening is vigorous conversation, using the Delphi technique and indaba processes to move the conversation forward. The days of patronizing the Africans and making them look like simpletons is over, if it was ever true.

Furthermore reports that cell/mobile phones of GAFCON primates have been taken from them is totally untrue. I have been told that no cell phone has been relinquished to anyone. The last and only time that happened was when John Peterson was running the Anglican Communion Office and he confiscated cell phones when the primates met at Kanuga in the US. No one has ever attempted that again.

In fact the opposite is true. Here the primates have been given iPads to work from which are hooked up to the Internet, so if they wanted to send a message they could easily do so. Apparently with the blanket shutdown of nearly all communication very little is being leaked. The one person who has gotten closer to the primates, and that means Archbishop Foley Beach is the Rev. Peter Ould and he has been acting in the role of prayer warrior to Beach.

[…]

Rumors that it was all over on Monday, then Tuesday and then Wednesday have all turned out to be wrong. Today Thursday the primates will take up the person and role of ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach. That will be decisive and whatever is said and one we will not know officially till tomorrow.

There will be a full court press Friday at about noon in the lodge of Canterbury cathedral when we will be told fully what happened. Until then be careful what you read because it will probably not be true or at the mostly speculative.

From here:

Archbishop Stanley Ntagali’s Update on the Primates Gathering in Canterbury

13th January 2016

Dear Bishops, Clergy, and Lay Leaders in the Church of Uganda,

Praise the Lord! Thank you so much for your prayers for me as I traveled to Canterbury, England, for the gathering of Primates called by the Archbishop of Canterbury to address the events that caused the fabric of the Anglican Communion to be torn at its deepest level. We traveled well, and I’m writing to give you a brief update.

On the second day of the gathering, I moved a resolution that asked the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada to voluntarily withdraw from the meeting and other Anglican Communion activities until they repented of their decisions that have torn the fabric of the Anglican Communion at its deepest level. They would not agree to this request nor did it appear that the Archbishop of Canterbury and his facilitators would ensure that this matter be substantively addressed in a timely manner.

Sadly, after two long days of discussions, I was concerned that the process set up for this meeting would not permit us to address the unfinished business from the 2007 Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam.

In accordance with the resolution of our Provincial Assembly, it was, therefore, necessary for me to withdraw from the meeting, which I did at the end of the second day. It seemed that I was being manipulated into participating in a long meeting with the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada without the necessary discipline being upheld.  My conscience is at peace.

I have left the meeting in Canterbury, but I want to make it clear that we are not leaving the Anglican Communion. Together with our fellow GAFCON Provinces and others in the Global South, we are the Anglican Communion; the future is bright. The door is open for all those who seek communion on the basis of a common confession of our historic, Biblical faith for which the Ugandan Martyrs, Archbishop James Hannington, Archbishop Janani Luwum and many others around the world have died. We are part of a global movement of Anglicans who follow the God who “so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

I will share more with you in due course, but I wanted you to know directly from me what is happening in Canterbury. I have never been more happy and proud to be part of the Church of Uganda.

Yours, in Christ,

The Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali

NPR interviewed a number of people, including Charlie Masters who is in Canterbury, on the Primates’ gathering:

There is a transcript here.

In further news, Anglican Ink is reporting that there is a call for TEC and, presumably the ACoC to be sanctioned.

It now seems that the ACoC is not to be included in the sanctions and the sanctions themselves may not amount to much; just what I feared:

According to VOL, while one Primate has already left Canterbury, Foley Beach is still part of the proceedings and the Primates intend to continue in the gathering until the bitter end.

I also understand from another source that, contrary to a previous report, some think that the longer the meeting drags on, the more favourable it is to Welby’s reconciliation machinations:

It should have ended by lunchtime today with nine or so GAFCON primates walking out.

It did not happen. By midday it was clear the GAFCON Primates were not ready to leave; powerful forces were at work to keep them all at the table led by the reconciling voice of Canon David Porter, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Director of Reconciliation. No one has been ejected, but no one ever thought that would happen, but it is incorrect to say that no one has left. (I am not permitted to say which Primate).

[…..]

Deep concerns have been expressed that Archbishop Welby has substituted a management style for ecclesial leadership but not the spiritual leadership needed to navigate these perilous spiritual waters.

Clearly unity has not been achieved. The conservatives have neither caved in nor achieved their goals, but there is enormous pressure being put on them to accommodate to Welby. There is enormous frustration all round.

Archbishop Beach is clearly visible and was present in the quire tonight at Evensong, but that proves nothing. Not all the primates attend Evensong so that also proves nothing. He has been participating fully, according to my source.

Tomorrow, Thursday and the subject will be the ACNA and Foley Beach. What will they do to him or for him is the question. What leverage does Welby have to include him with revisionist archbishops like Canadian Primate Fred Hiltz wanting him gone?

This I know, Archbishop beach will not accommodate anything to appease the liberal revisionist western primates. He will concede nothing like a federation or commonwealth or two integrities living side by side like a divorced couple still living in the same house. He has been abundantly clear on that score and he has the total support of Primates like Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria, Eliud Wabukala of Kenya and Stanley Ntagali of Uganda. Perhaps others. After all he got brutalized by TEC so what is in it for him to cave into anything TEC or the ACoC would offer even coming from the “reconciling” hand of Justin Welby.

I have been told that the primates will go the full course that is, we won’t truly know anything till Friday when all will be made known. Stay tuned.

Another report from the Telegraph, has the Primates complaining of being “treated like children”, of being separated from one another to prevent collusion and of being made to hand over their mobile phones. I never thought I’d see the day, but it would appear that Anglicanism is being transformed into a cult under the auspices of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The facilitators have been accused of “manipulation“, the process as being “rigged” and the talks as being a “weasel process“. In other words, just like a typical ACoC or TEC synod. The facilitating sounds like one typically employed by large corporations to create an illusion of activity, line the pockets of the consultant facilitators and nudge participants to the predefined conclusion. Having worked for large companies for almost 50 years and being compelled to participate in many of these activities, I made my peace with the exercise by learning to doze with my eyes open while consoling myself that I was being paid to perfect the technique:

The Archbishop of Canterbury was last night accused treating African archbishops “like children” in an attempt to avoid a full public walkout during make-or-break talks on the future of the worldwide Anglican church.

Sources close to the behind-closed-doors negotiations in Canterbury claimed a handful of clerics had already temporarily taken “time out” from the negotiations but returned to the discussions to avoid splitting the traditionalist camp.

Up to 15 of the 38 prelates taking part in the talks are also understood to have withdrawn from joint prayer services in Canterbury Cathedral in a sign of the depth of the divisions over issues such as homosexuality.

But sources claimed that fears of a dramatic public walkout on the first few days of the talks had been avoided by negotiation tactics involving separating people into small groups, unable even to communicate with each other for most of the time.

Clerics are understood to have been asked to hand in mobile phones for much of the time during the talks, overseen by two trained “facilitators” specialising in “reconciliation” tactics.

One said that the traditionalists had been so effectively segregated that some had even resorted to holding snatched meetings in each other’s rooms in their accommodation at night.

“They have been treated like children,” the source added.

“The whole process has been rigged from the start.”

He branded the talks a “weasel” process which could not ultimately prevent a permanent schism in Anglicanism.

Another added: “There has been a combination of deference and manipulation.

“They have not been allowed to speak to each other

“They are honourable men and if you are part of the process you have to stay in the process.”

[…..]

one source close to the traditionalists said: “There is a 90 per cent chance that the schism that took place with the consecration of Gene Robinson will now be full articulated by Friday teatime – with or without people walking out of the gate.

“By the end of the week there will be some who say that the version of Christianity practised by the Episcopal Church and the Church of England is not something we can be part of.”

Here is some late news sure to set the teeth of Fred Hiltz and Michael Curry on edge – never a bad thing:

What can be reported is Anglican Church in North America primate Foley Beach has become a de facto primate of the communion, at this point in the meeting. He has participated fully in the gathering and contrary to assertions made by Lambeth Palace staffers and some primates in the weeks before the meeting, he has not been asked to withdraw after the first day, nor shunted to one corner to be talked about — AI’s sources are unanimous in saying the ACNA archbishop is a full participant.

And, the momentum of the meeting through Wednesday was favorable towards the GAFCON faction. Several undecided primates are now known to have cast their lot with the conservatives — one writing to his bishops that he had joined the side “fighting the Americans and Canadians”.

Unlike Tuesday, all the Primates have turned up for Evensong today:

Read more at Anglican Ink:

Gathered inside the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral the archbishops and moderators of the Anglican Communion, accompanied by translators, and a few aides, have weathered three days of intense conversation about the shape and future of the church. As of the lunch break on the third day, no one has left and no one has been ejected. The conservatives primates are still at the negotiating table and neither the Episcopal Church nor the Anglican Church in North America’s primates have been shown the door…….

An unscientific headcount would shift the ratio to 30 conservatives, 6 liberals and 8 uncommitted — Archbishop Welby’s support for the GAFCON/Global South position having shortened the odds for the conservatives. One primate in the undecided column a the start of the meeting emailed his bishops on Tuesday night saying that he was on the side now battling against the Americans and Canadians. (What does that tell us — that there is a shift of positions within the meeting as the undecideds choose sides — and that there is a battle underway).

The disquiet that arose at the close of the second day came in part from the conservatives disappointed that Archbishop Welby had withdrawn his support — substituting management culture for ecclesial leadership. Some got off the fence as a result of the archbishop’s intervention — others were angered by what they saw as his lack of resolve.

One insider told AI that the longer the meeting lasted, the stronger would be the final communique in favor of the conservative position. The conservatives did not see the need to leave after the first two days because they momentum of the meeting appeared to them to be in their favor. If they walked out, it was because Archbishop Welby had flatly denied their request to discipline the Americans and Canadians. The Americans and Canadians had not left the meeting because the conservatives had not yet achieved their goal.

The question facing the primates on Wednesday would be whether Archbishop Welby would get out of the way or lead.

What comes to mind in any potential “discipline” against TEC and the ACoC, is another example of “discipline” in 2010 when Rowan Williams asked Katharine Jefferts-Schori to step down from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and to absent herself from the next Primates’ Meeting. Once the placating effects of the ritual humiliation were complete, all was forgotten and forgiven, nothing changed and Jefferts-Schori was attending all meetings as if nothing had happened.

I do hope that no one is deceived by a similar empty gesture from Welby.

More from Peter Ould:

From SF:

Large Number of Conservative Primates Missing from Tuesday Evensong

Our church received a message today from an attendee requesting prayer because “today is  a very critical day”.

More here:

As midnight approaches in Canterbury it’s been a fascinating second day at the Primates 2016 Gathering.

As we reported yesterday, all the GAFCON and some Global South (GS) Primates declined to attend Communion in the morning. We have little details of discussions during the day but the most dramatic moment was evensong at 5.30pm when it very quickly became apparent that a large number of Primates were missing, not even attending as they had done on Monday. Amongst the GS Primates missing was Mouneer Anis, Archbishop of the Middle East, considered by many to be a key influential figure in the Global South. Many commentators have been looking to his actions as a bellwether of how other GS Primates might act.

There was no photograph of evensong tonight, unlike yesterday. Yesterday’s photo has, apparently, caused some upset amongst the Primates. I am told by an informed source that Lambeth Palace had promised that there would be no photographs, but then subsequently published the Monday night photograph. For some this was seen as another blatant attempt to push the unity theme. That, however, appears to have now backfired with the large absence tonight standing in contrast to the attendance yesterday.

Meetings will continue tomorrow (although attendance at Morning Prayer by many is doubtful). A source close to the GAFCON leadership tells me they remain very united and there are a number of GS Primates who are acting in consort. While discussions will carry on, it appears that the “reconciliation” approach of David Porter has failed to persuade GAFCON to compromise their position.

I can also report that all the Primates are still meeting in the same room. I think you could call the discussions “full and frank”. Archbishop Foley Beach of the ACNA has been present all the time.

And here:

And here:

The Archbishop of Canterbury could face a walk out Tuesday of conservative archbishops, whose call for him to honor past agreements of the primates meetings and to restore “godly order” to the Anglican Communion, appears not to have been met. Though no walk out has happened so far, and ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach has been a full participant from the start, the tone of the meeting has changed, and the pace has quickened.

On the second day of the gathering of primates, sources tell Anglican Ink, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was asked by leaders of the GAFCON and Global South Anglican movements to address the divisions within the Communion caused by innovations in doctrine and discipline adopted by the Episcopal Church of the USA and Anglican Church of Canada. Late on Tuesday, it appears he has failed to do so to their satisfaction.

In statements released before the meeting, African, Asian and South American church leaders warned they would leave the meeting — not leave the Anglican Communion — if the two North American provinces were not disciplined for introducing liturgies of same-sex blessings/marriages and consecrating non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy as bishops.

The chairman of GAFCON, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala of Kenya on 17 Dec 2015 said the January gathering “a basic church-defining principle will be at stake: Will Christ rule our life and witness through His word, or will our life and witness be conformed to the global ambitions of a secular culture?”

The capitulation of some Western provinces to the cultural relativism, nihilism and sexual antinomianism of the age was a challenge to the integrity of Anglicanism’s witness to the Gospels of Jesus Christ, he said. The issue was not homosexuality, per se, but the corrosive culture of the West.

“We are praying that the Communion will emerge from its current crisis repentant, renewed and restored for its global mission of proclaiming the gospel which is good news for all people, in all places and at all times. This is the hope and testimony of the GAFCON Primates as they approach this gathering,” he said.

Archbishop Stanley Ntagali spelled out what such repentance would look like in a letter to the clergy of Uganda on 6 January 2016. He noted the Church of Uganda’s synod had adopted a resolution withdrawing the province from participation “any official meetings of the Anglican Communion until godly order is restored.”

It had been eight years since the Primates had unanimously agreed to a plan “to bring discipline and restore order” to the Communion, but Archbishop Rowan William “unilaterally overruled it and did not implement it.”

The GAFCON primates had met with Dr. Williams’ successor, Archbishop Justin Welby, in Nairobi in 2014 and Egypt in 2015 and explained that they could not participate in official meetings where representatives of the American and Canadian churches were present. The January Canterbury assembly was a “gathering” and not a “meeting”, he said, allowing him to attend to discuss the future of the communion.

GAFCON had a “clear vision” for the church, and Archbishop Welby “understands that the first topic of conversation in the ‘gathering’ of Primates is the restoration of godly order in the Anglican Communion. This is the unfinished business from the non-implemented, but unanimously agreed, Communique from the 2007 Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam.”

“If godly order is restored during the “gathering” of Primates, then I will be free to join any subsequent Primates Meeting that may be convened immediately thereafter in Canterbury. If such godly order is not restored, then I will uphold the Provincial Assembly’s resolution and withdraw from the meeting.,” Archbishop Ntagali said.

Details of the deliberations of the second day are unclear, as no press statements or briefings have been given to the media. However, sources tell Anglican Ink that they believe an agenda was set on the first day that set placed discussion of the concerns over the US and Canada for Tuesday.

On Monday evening the GAFCON and Global South primates were upbeat. Archbishop Welby had delivered an address to them that acknowledged the virtues of their position, and outlined how the Church of England was attempting to hold the line against secularist and relativist encroachments in the moral life of England and in the doctrines and discipline of the Episcopal Church.

Sources present at the worship service on Monday evening tell AI there was an “electric” atmosphere in Canterbury Cathedral, where the words of Scripture read in the Evensong service seemed tailor made for the issues before the archbishops.

However, when the question was put to the group on Tuesday, the trajectory of the meeting shifted. Though details remain unconfirmed, it is believed Archbishop Welby attempted to use a technique he brought to the 2011 Dublin primates meeting.

In Dublin, Archbishop Welby — then the Dean of Liverpool — served as a facilitator of conversations amongst the primates using the Delphi Method. Developed by the RAND Corporation in the USA, the Delphi method is structured communication technique, where participants break into small groups and discuss set questions. A facilitator or change agent provides an anonymous summary of the discussions as well as the reasons for the participant’s judgments. Participants are encouraged to revise their earlier answers in light of the replies of other members of their group — during the process the range of answers decreases and the group converges towards a “correct” answer.

Use of the Delphi method at the 2008 primates meeting and other pan-Anglican gatherings has been sharply criticized by non-Western clergy, who see it as a paternalistic attempt to manipulate them and achieve a predetermined outcome, by adopting a “divide and conquer” approach. It is believed this method of discussion was resisted by some primates who wished to proceed as a committee of the whole.

Worship on Tuesday evening in Canterbury Cathedral gave witness to the discord amongst the primates. One participant (not a primate) told AI the atmosphere had changed. “Spiritually it was totally different. Last night it was electric with the Scriptures speaking clearly and powerfully, as if God was speaking.”

On Tuesday it “felt spiritually totally different .. it felt blue.”

Coupled with these spiritual observations was the absence of from half to a third of the primates from worship — including all of the GAFCON primates and many of the Global South primates. Among those present, the pleasantries and casual conversation of the first evening were now absent. The Archbishop of York scowled throughout the service, while the Archbishop of Canterbury spent two thirds of the service on his knees in silent prayer. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry appeared to be exhausted, and dragged his leg as he walked up the aisle, while Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz was “stoic” throughout the service.

Unconfirmed reports state some primates met on Tuesday evening to discuss their next move. Speculation centers around several scenarios: leaving at once, leaving in the morning, attending the morning session to see if the situation changes overnight, or staying put and insisting on reform and pushing back against the cultural biases that could derail the gathering.

Questions about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s leadership skills have also arisen amongst the primates, AI has learned, with some privately saying a solution could be found if he stepped to one side, placing less reliance on Western managerial techniques and more on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Officially, nothing has happened. No one has yet left the meeting, and the sun may shine all day Wednesday. However, the day may well end with wounded and embarrassed Justin Welby.

A walk out, sources tell AI, does not mean an end to the Anglican Communion. For the GAFCON primates it has been broken since the 2003 emergency primates meeting at Lambeth Palace when for the first time the archbishops refused to take communion together at the same altar — Eucharistic fellowship has been impaired for over 12 years. Nor will the situation worsen, as a walk out will see no immediate changes in structures or relationships of the 38 Anglican provinces. It will be, however, as Archbishop Welby told the BBC on Monday, a “failure” for him and his attempts to heal a broken church.

Justin Welby’s address to the Primates can be found here.

I’m not sure I share the optimism about the GAFCON friendliness of Welby’s address; it seems like a groping for crumbs of consolation in a familiar sea of clichéd boilerplate to me. Still, there was a hint of scolding in this reference to litigation:

We can also paint a gloomy picture of the moral and spiritual state of Anglicanism. In all Provinces there are forms of corruption, none of us is without sin. There is litigation, the use of civil courts for church matters in some places. Sexual morality divides us over same sex issues, where we are seen as either compromising or homophobic. The list can go on and on. The East African Revival teaches us the need for holiness. We must be renewed as a holy church, defined by our passionate worship and its content, with every Christian knowing scripture, prayerful, humble and evangelistic. In a sentence, we must be those who are, to the outside world, visibly disciples of Jesus Christ.

It would seem that no one has walked out of the Primates’ gathering in Canterbury yet.

Also, according to this report, Foley Beach – and, presumably Charlie Masters – have not been ejected:

Fears the first day would see a walkout did not come to pass — to the chagrin of the crew of a BBC video truck parked outside the cathedral in the rain awaiting the capture on film of the departure of the conservatives. At the close of business the primates attended a public Evensong service in Canterbury Cathedral — with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church of the USA sitting four places down from Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America.

British press speculation and informed sources opined before the meeting that Archbishop Beach would be sent home after the first day. Conservative commentators expected the GAFCON primates to demand the expulsion of Bishop Michael Curry and Archbishop Fred Hiltz as a condition of their continued participation at the opening bell. Neither appears to have occurred — so far.

Fred Hiltz must have been feeling lonely as he processed into Evensong:

only a minority of the Primates dressed in convocation robes and an even smaller minority (described to me by an attendee as “the arch-liberals”, including the Primates of TEC and Canada) processed. The effect was clear, if unintended, in demonstrating how few their number were. Most of the Primates simply sat and waited.