Monday, May 4, 2009

In Jamaica, thousands attend Anglican Consultative Council Opening Eucharist


From Episcopal Life Online-

The Anglican Church must challenge itself and challenge its neighbors to respond to the material and spiritual needs of the world, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams told more than 6,000 people May 3 who attended the Caribbean-flavored opening Eucharist of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting here.

Williams' message reiterated remarks he made to ACC the day before when he called for a "proper focus on theology and our mission" and called mission "one of the elements that most securely and profoundly binds us together as a communion, not just an assembly of local enterprises."

The Anglican Communion is made up of around 77 million members in 44 regional and national member churches around the globe in 164 countries. The 14th meeting of the 40-year-old council is being held in Kingston from May 2-12.

The ACC is the Anglican Communion's most representative decision-making body and includes bishops, clergy and laity. While it has no jurisdiction over the members of the communion, it makes policy, approves the Anglican Communion Office's budget and encourages the communion's members to engage together in mission and ministry.

The opening Eucharist May 3 was hosted at the National Arena in Kingston by the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and the Province of the West Indies and featured Jamaican drummers and dancers, and combined reggae music with incense-laced Anglican high-church liturgy. Deacon Garfield Campbell chanted the gospel and the congregation sang Jamaica reggae legend Bob Marley's "One Love" during the passing of the peace.

The rest is here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_107264_ENG_HTM.htm

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