Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Sudan bishops hold first retreat in 25 years


The Episcopal Church of the Sudan held its first Bishops’ retreat in a quarter century last week, with the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey and other guests leading workshops to strengthen the church’s episcopal ministries.

From Feb 11-16 the bishops met in the South Sudan city of Yei, close to the border with the Congo and participated in a series of Bible studies, prayer meetings and classes. Retired Assistant Bishop of Virginia the Rt Rev Frank Gray spoke of the need for forgiveness and reconciliation in the wake of 24-year civil war and on-going conflicts in Darfur and with the Lord’s Resistance Army along the border with the Congo.

Taking as his text, Acts chapter 20, Lord Carey lectured on the principles of episcopal ministry, while Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda addressed issues of the acculturation of Anglicanism in an African context.

While physically devastated by the war between the Muslim north and Christian south, the Episcopal Church of the Sudan has seen tremendous growth in recent years and has an estimated 4 million members spread across 25 dioceses.

Archbishop Daniel Deng of Juba welcomed the opportunity of gathering the church’s bishops to learn from Lord Carey and the other foreign guests, saying closer links with the Church of England and Church of Uganda would benefit all Christians in the Sudan.

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=4038

1 comment:

John B. Chilton said...

The "other foreign guests" included the Rt. Rev. David Jones, bishop suffragan of Virginia.

For more see,

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/anglican_communion/tec_expanding_relationship_wit.html