American Episcopalians meet up for a five-day soirée in Costa Rica to build coalition; Global South provinces and Cuba no-shows

Right "Global South" Anglican provinces of the Southern Cone and The West Indies decline to attend. Guess they could read that writing on the wall. Cuba, unfortunately, has issues and is a no-show as well. Tyranny can be such a pain.

George Conger has the scoop:

Delegates from the Anglican Churches of North and South America are meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, this week for a five-day conference on Mutual Responsibility and Mission. An initiative of The Episcopal Church, the conference seeks to build closer links for mission between the eight provinces in the Americas.

Conference keynote speaker, the Rev John Kafwanka, a staffer on the Mission and Evangelism desk of the Anglican Consultative Council, told the Episcopal News Service "this week we have come to discuss and we have come to consider something that is really not new and yet sounds new at the same time” --- the interdependence of the Communion across the world.

Delegates will also review the “Five Marks of Mission” created by the Anglican Consultative Council in 1990 which: proclaim the good news of the kingdom; to teach, baptize and nurture new believers; to respond to human need by loving service; to seek to transform unjust structures of society and to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

A sixth mark of mission will be proposed by the Anglican Church of Canada at the meeting and for further consideration at the May meeting of the ACC in Jamaica.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz of Canada has proposed that "peace, conflict transformation and reconciliation" be included in the mission programme of the church.

The Episcopal Church invited eight provinces: Brazil, Canada, Central America, Mexico, the West Indies, the Southern Cone, and the Diocese of Cuba to send two clergy and four lay representatives to the meeting.

The West Indies and the Southern Cone have declined to send official provincial delegations, and visa difficulties have prevented the participation of Cuba.

Read the whole thing here.