November 22, 2010

Last week the bishops of Ho in Ghana, Mbeere in Kenya and Saldanha Bay in South Africa gathered at St Julian's in Limuru, Kenya, to discuss their and their dioceses' involvement in the Anglican Communion's Continuing Indaba project. After a dynamic and vibrant three days the bishops issued the following agreement:

"AFRICAN CONVERSATION PROCESS
ST JULIAN'S CONFERENCE CENTRE, LIMURU
16 – 18 NOVEMBER 2010

1. Bishops' Agreement

We the Bishops of the Dioceses of HO (Ghana), Saldanha Bay (South Africa) and Mbeere (Kenya) meeting at St Julian's Centre, Limuru – Kenya between 16 – 18 November 2010, have generously committed ourselves to one another in the Indaba process by intensifying relationships across the communion, energising local and global mission and enabling genuine conversation across differences.

In our conversations concerning the Indaba process, we discovered that we have unique contextual interpretations of the concept of Indaba. For example, in the Diocese of HO, indaba has a strong element of an end in sight, conversation does not go on forever (The old lady must come in- The old lady is a Ghanaian tradition of seeking wisdom)

In the Diocese of Mbeere, Indaba takes place when the time is right, it focuses on the end while acknowledging a relevant appropriate process.

In the Diocese of Saldanha Bay Indaba means keeping on talking without necessarily focussing on an outcome. Focus is on the value of the actual process.

With this commitment, the Bishops return to their Dioceses with excitement and hope for the future of the communion.

Philippians 4: 8-9: "Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things" (TNIV).

Details of our future meetings will be sent out in the next letter.

2. Covenant

We further desire to develop a covenant relationship, like those existing in the partnerships between Dioceses.

Signed:
Bishop Moses of Mbeere
Bishop Mathias of HO
Bishop Raphael of Saldanha Bay"

The bishops had been asked to participate in the initial planning Pilot Conversation as part of the Continuing Indaba project that was launched in 2009 following a request by the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-14) in Jamaica and the call of the 2009 Primates meeting for mutual listening.

Pilot Conversations will involve typically a mix of eight lay and ordained participants from three dioceses all visiting the other dioceses to learn first-hand the challenges and opportunities of those contexts. They will also engage in facilitated conversations on a whole range of topics that have the potential to cause disunity in the body of Christ.

The ultimate aim of these visits is to enrich local and global mission in all three participating dioceses.

This follows meetings of bishops from the other four Pilot Conversations announced in July:

• Hong Kong, Jamaica and Toronto;

• Delhi, Mumbai, New York and Derby;

• Western Tanganyika, Gloucester and El Camino Real; and

• Peru, Mexico and Southeast Florida.

Anglican Communion News Service, London