Anglican Communion Environmental Network

At the Lambeth Conference in 1998, the bishops expressed a variety of concerns about the ethical implications of new technologies as well as global environmental problems. In 1999, the Anglican Consultative Council authorized a new area of work to be carried out from the Anglican Communion Office. The first Anglican Congress on the Stewardship of Creation was held in Johannesburg in 2002, to help representatives of our churches prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. In 2002 as well, the network was recognized by ACC-12 (Hong Kong). This network works closely with the Anglican UN Observer’s Office. The last meeting was held April 17-22 in Canberra, Australia, with delegates representing 13 provinces.

The Episcopal Church is represented by Ms. Martha Gardner, consultant for environmental ministries at the Episcopal Church Center. Also participating are the Rev. Sally Bingham and the Rev. Canon Jeff Golliher.

Anglican Peace and Justice Network (AJPN)

APJN celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and is generally considered the strongest of the official Anglican networks. Five Anglican provinces took the initiative to create it (USA, UK, Brazil, Southern Africa, and Jerusalem and the Middle East), and on average, 22 provinces participate. The network meets every 2-3 years (the first gathering occurred in Jerusalem in 1987, as did the most recent in 2004). The next meeting will be in Africa. It has raised and helped shape the Communion’s response to issues and situations such as debt and globalization, conflict and war, HIV/AIDS, poverty and trade, environmental degradation, and problems faced by women and youth.

The Episcopal Church is represented by the Rev. Canon Brian Grieves, director of Peace and Justice Ministries. The Rev. Carmen Guerrero, officer of Jubilee Ministries; Thomas Hart, former director of the Office of Government Relations; and Ethan Flad, editor of the Witness, also have participated in international APJN meetings over the years. There was broad Episcopal participation when APJN met in the USA.

International Anglican Youth Network (IAYN)

Defined as a network of “persons involved in ministry among young people at the provincial level uniting young people within the Anglican Communion,” the IAYN aims to raise the profile of (and support for) youth ministry in the Anglican Communion, to encourage and strengthen young people generally, and to encourage the inclusion of young people at all levels of decision-making in the Church. The IAYN produced a young adult gathering in 1997 with more than 300 participants from nearly every member church in the Communion, and envisions another such global gathering near Lambeth in 2008. Youth officers from 19 provinces met in August 2003 in the USA; a steering committee formed of representatives from six regions met in February 2005.

The Episcopal Church is represented by Douglas Fenton, staff officer for Young Adult and Higher Education Ministry); he is co-administrator of the IAYN.

International Anglican Women’s Network (IAWN)

This network was founded in 1996, with Gini Peterson (Diocese of Atlanta) as a founding member. Its purpose is to enable women throughout the Communion to consult with each other and to highlight specific issues which they face wherever they are.

The Episcopal Church supports IAWN’s work through participation by Church Center staff and representatives of various women’s constituencies.

International Anglican Family Network (IAFN)

Established in 1987, this network has published newsletters regularly for 12 years. These highly useful publications tend to focus on issues and situations that affect women and children (war, uprootedness, poverty, disease, violence). They are incorporated into the quarterly magazine Anglican World.

Input from the Episcopal Church is sought regularly.

Anglican Francophone Network

Recognized by ACC-12 (Hong Kong, 2002) as an official network, the Executive Council of the French Speaking Anglicans around the World grew out of efforts begun in Paris in 1985 by a priest from the American Cathedral in Paris, France. The Rev. Canon Dr. Jacques Bossière understood the need to gather the French-speaking leaders of the Anglican Communion in an association called Rencontres-International. The purpose was to share experience, learn from one another, and work together in some areas such as leadership training (lay and ordained leaders). The first international conference took place in Limuru, Kenya, with the logistic support of ANITEPAM (the African Network of Institutions of Theological Education Preparing Anglicans for Ministry) in 1995. The second was in Canterbury in 1998, the third in Paris in 2001; and the fourth in Mauritius in 2003.

The next gathering of the Network will be in Montreal, Canada, July 12–19, 2005. The objective is to help Francophone leaders develop a better and deeper understanding of the partnership with North American Episcopalians/Anglicans.

Rencontres-International, which supports initiatives of the Executive Council, is an NGO with consultative status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The executive director of Rencontres-International is the Rev. Canon Ogé Beauvoir (DFMS missionary in Haiti); the Episcopal Church also is represented by the Rev. Mary Ellen Dolan and the Rev. Nigel Massey.

Anglican Indigenous People’s Network

Discussions about the importance of a network of relationships among the indigenous peoples of the Anglican Communion date back to the 1983 General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver. First practical steps were taken in 1991, when Sir Paul Reeves, then Anglican UN Observer, convened a meeting of indigenous Anglicans and Episcopalians at the General Convention in Phoenix. A steering committee including one representative per country was formed and later that year identified areas of mutual concern which essentially have been the focus of the work ever since: self-determination, indigenous ministry, spirituality, liturgy and worship, church self-examination and transformation, the church’s role in society, and funding and resources.

Within 10 years the Network had expanded from the indigenous people of Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Canada, Hawaii, and the continental United States, to include the Torres Strait Islanders, and Anglican indigenous minorities from Belize, Japan, Mexico and Taiwan. The Network met in Rotorua in 2003 and in Pala, California, in 2005.

The Anglican Indigenous Network relates closely to the offices of the Anglican UN Observer (Archdeacon Taimelalagi Fagamalama Tuatagaloa-Matalavea) and the Native American missioner (Janine Tinsley-Roe) at the Episcopal Church Center. Malcolm Naea Chun of the Diocese of Hawaii has played a lead coordinating role.

The Episcopal Church has been represented over the years by the Rev. Darros Aiona, Dr. Owanah Anderson, the Rev. Dr. Martin Brokenleg, the Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Malcolm Naea Chun, Ginny Doctor, the Rt. Rev. Carol Hampton, the Rev. Charles G.K. Hopkins, Professor Pua Hopkins, the Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, the (late) Rt. Rev. Steven Plummer and Linda Sproat.

Anglican Refugee and Migration Network

This was initiated in the 1990s by George Carey when he was Archbishop of Canterbury. He asked all provinces to designate representatives, and Ian George, the now retired Archbishop of Adelaide, was the convener. A statement on the Anglican Communion’s commitment to refugees and displaced persons was approved by the Primates. However, due to lack of funding and staffing, the network has not been able to realize its original vision.

The Episcopal Church is represented by Richard Parkins, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries.

Anglican Urban Network

Proposals for an Anglican Communion Urban Program were developed following the 1998 Lambeth Conference, and approval for the formation of a network was given in 2000. A chief concern is the ability of humans to flourish in a globalizing, urbanizing world, and the network is collecting information on urban mission and ministry throughout the Communion. Four focus areas are: training for urban ministry, empowerment of the poor, interchange and communication with regions, provinces, and other Anglican networks, and theological reflection and social analysis across boundaries. Members work closely with the Anglican UN Observer’s Office and have participated in the UN Special Session on Human Settlements (New York, 2001) and related summits.

The Episcopal Church is represented on the Steering Group by the Rev. Canon Carmen Guerrero, officer of Jubilee Ministries. The Ven. Michael Kendall is a consultant to the committee.

Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion (CUAC)

Recognized as an official network in 2003, the history of CUAC dates back to 1962, with the creation in New York of the Fund for Episcopal Colleges, subsequently named the Association of Episcopal Colleges (AEC). In addition to the US members listed below, key historic members are Cuttington University College in Liberia and Trinity College of Quezon City in the Philippines. The AEC conceived the notion of developing a worldwide association of Anglican-related institutions and CUAC was launched in 1993. More than 120 institutions -- located on every continent -- are now members of CUAC, and its fifth international conference is in Canterbury and York in June 2005. CUAC has a major survey underway of all Anglican theological institutions and programs worldwide, and is collaborating with TEAC in that regard.

Episcopal Church participants are, typically, the presidents of Bard, Clarkson, Hobart and William Smith, Kenyon, St. Augustine (Chicago), St. Augustine’s (Raleigh), St. Paul’s, University of the South (Sewanee), and Voorhees in the USA, and the Université Episcopal d’Haiti. The CUAC/AEC office is located at the Episcopal Church Center.

Network for Inter Faith Concerns (NIFCON)

The aim of this network is to keep Anglicans informed of events, courses and articles on inter-faith matters, and in particular, at the request of the Lambeth Conference, to monitor Christian-Muslim relations from an Anglican perspective.

Episcopal Church participants have included the Rev. Dr. Lucinda Mosher, Ms. Jolinda Matthews, Dr.Charles B. Jones, and Dr. Yvonne Haddad (particularly the Al Azhar Dialogue).