Anglican Churches in the Americas meet to talk about mission

From the Aglican Journal in Canada-

Delegates from the Anglican Church of Canada recently met with their counterparts from other Anglican Communion provinces for the first Conference of the Anglican Churches in the Americas in Mutual Responsibility and Mission in San José, Costa Rica.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said, “It was just a wonderful opportunity for all of the provinces in the Americas to come together and talk about mission.” Primates from the provinces of the Anglican Church of Brazil, the Anglican Church of the Central Region of America (IARCA), The Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Church of Mexico were all in attendance along with other clergy and lay representatives. The primates of the West Indies and the Southern Cone of America did not come to the conference but gave their permission for individual dioceses to attend, and the dioceses of Uruguay, Peru and Cuba sent delegates. The province of the West Indies is in the process of electing a new primate and did not send its acting primate or other delegates. Archbishop Gregory Venables has accepted clergy and congregations leaving the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church – largely over the controversy surrounding the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of a gay bishop – into his jurisdiction in the Southern Cone and has been accused of cross-border interventions in other provinces.

But the Canadian delegation reported that controversy was not given much attention. “The fact that we met – and the focus was mission – sends a really wonderful signal to the rest of the Anglican Communion that the churches in all of the Americas are really wanting to focus their energy on mission,” said Archbishop Hiltz. “I just think that, given the tensions in the communion and particularly the way that The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada are sometimes viewed by other folks in the communion, it just sends all kinds of good signals that mission is our top priority.”

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/world/central-south-america/026/article/anglican-churches-in-the-americas-meet-to-talk-about-mission/?cHash=da3a40838e