April 21, 2009
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

As the Episcopal Church of Liberia tries to rebuild after years of civil war that ravaged the church and the nation, the Episcopal Church is being asked to continue aiding that work.

The Episcopal Church's Executive Council will on April 22 consider approving a new covenant partnership between the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church in Liberia. The Liberian diocese approved the agreement at its convention earlier this year.

The current agreement may be read at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/AGR_LiberiaConvenant.pdf.

Founded by the U.S.-based Episcopal Church in 1836, the Episcopal Church of Liberia was a diocese in the Episcopal Church until 1980, when it became part of the Anglican Province of West Africa. As part of that change of affiliation, the Episcopal Church and the Liberia diocese signed the current covenant partnership, which pledges each entity to mutual ministry and interdependence and calls for financial subsidies for a certain amount of time.

From 1983 through 2007, the Liberian church received close to $6.6 million from the Episcopal Church.

Liberian Bishop Jonathan B.B. Hart told council on April 21 that the diocese knows the Episcopal Church has many demands on its resources. "Thanks be to God, your hearts were led our way," he said, adding that the partnership "has built a fellowship in Christ you can proudly boast of." Hart told council members that he is "a product of the institutions you have supported and sustained."

Money from the covenant agreement is a "major source of income," Hart told the council's International Concerns Committee (INC) earlier in the day. The proposed covenant calls for an annual step-down in the amount of money coming from the Episcopal Church.

Hart said that the diocese owns real estate that it is trying to develop to expand its sources of income. The diocese is also trying to recover "several hundred thousand dollars" in rental income owed it by the Liberian government.

"If the government would pay at least a third of that, it would ease our burden very much," Hart said.

He reported that Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told him during a recent meeting that the government itself has limited resources, but would try to find a way to pay at least part of the bill.

Hart told INC that the church in Liberia is trying to rebuilding after years of civil war that ravaged the church and the nation. Hart told the whole council that the state of the global economy is affecting the ability of the country and the diocese to recover, as does the fact that many of the people who can aid in the work "are still in the diaspora," that is, among the people who left the country during the unrest.

Much of the country's infrastructure and "many of our churches throughout the length and breadth of Liberia are lying in ruins," he said. "There is a cry and a desire for our work to continue. The crisis in Liberia caused a major setback to our work and now that we have a semblance of peace and stability returned, every institution is going about restoring their facilities. We as a diocese cannot afford to sit back and not do the same."

The diocese-affiliated Cuttington University, the oldest private coeducational four-year degree-granting institution in sub-Saharan Africa, is among those "picking up the pieces and continuing recovering from the war," Hart said.

Committee member Petero Sabune, who grew up in Uganda, called Cuttington "the institution that educated many of the people who became leaders of West Africa [and] Central Africa."

"The Episcopal Church in Liberia ran some of the best institutions of learning – primary and secondary education – through all Liberia," said Hart, who added that "the facilities are broken down and our people are asking us to re-open [those schools] but we don't have the means financially."

The committee also discussed the wider implications of the new agreement. Referring to what he called "strained relationships" between some parts of the Province of West Africa, including Archbishop Justice Akrofi, committee member Ian Douglas asked whether the agreement would put the diocese "in a difficult circumstance in your province."

"I do attend provincial meetings and have a collegial relationship with other bishops in the province," Hart said during his response. "I think they respect who I am as a bishop but they know very well that I have a tie with the USA." He added that the Liberian diocese tries to "work cautiously with our brethren, but they understand from hence we came and where we look to."

Information about the Episcopal Church's four other covenant partnerships with Anglican provinces is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79704_21229_ENG_HTM.htm.

The Executive Council carries out the programs and policies adopted by the General Convention, according to Canon I.4 (1)(a). The Council is composed of 38 members, 20 of whom (four bishops, four priests or deacons and 12 lay people) are elected by General Convention and 18 (one clergy and one lay) by provincial synods, plus the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies.

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media national correspondent.