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Society Members met in London, Journeyed to Malawi
Oct. 9, 2009
At the annual meeting of the Compass Rose Society held in London on September 29th and 30th, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams reviewed with members his recent trip to Japan where he preached at the Holy Eucharist to celebrate 150 years of Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Church in Japan. He also explained to members that he had prayed in Nagasaki at the epicentre of the 1945 atomic bomb blast, as well as at the site of the martyrdom of the 26 Christians who were crucified in that city in 1597.
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| Archbishop Rowan Williams with Society members from Hong Kong
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In his remarks, Archbishop Williams gave credit to the Society for its continuing readiness in making cross-cultural encounters within the Communion.
Following the meeting, 15 members of the Society, including President Philip Poole travelled to Blantyre, Malawi with Secretary General Kenneth Kearon to visit the Diocese of Southern Malawi and its bishop, the Right Reverend James Tengatenaga. The Malawi program included visits to parishes, clinics and schools in the diocese and the annual celebrations at Magomero, which mark the 1861 introduction of Christianity into the area by missionaries travelling with David Livingstone. On Sunday, Bishop Poole preached at St. Paul's Cathedral in Blantyre. Seeing the abundant ministry of the church in Malawi in the midst of such scarce resources affected members profoundly.
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| Celebrations at Magomero |
The Bishop of Jerusalem, the Right Reverend Suheil Dawani, was to be the Society's guest speaker during the annual meeting in London, but because his permit application to use the Tel Aviv airport was not granted by the Israeli authorities in time for the meeting, he was unable to attend. Bishop Dawani, a Palestinian, was denied access to the airport after completing the usual and customary protocols required by Israeli authorities.
President Poole expressed his disappointment saying "It is difficult to understand what interest was served by keeping Bishop Suheil from attending this international gathering of Anglicans".
Bishop Dawani's prepared remarks were read to the membership and in them he described a multi-national, multi-cultural, multi-lingual diocese situated in a multi-faith and ecumenical world. He described the diocese's work of pastoral care, improvements in education and health care and furthering relationships between Christians, Muslims and Jews in the land of the Holy One.
The Reverend Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, presented a video of his recent trip to the Congo where he was present for the installation of the Province de L'Eglise Anglicane du Congo's new Primate, the Most Reverend Henry Kahwa Isingoma.
During breakout sessions, members were also able to learn about two other important initiatives that are taking place. The Archbishop of Canterbury's Secretary for Anglican Relations, the Reverend Canon Flora Winfield, made a presentation on the Continuing Indaba project. Mr. Stephen Lyons and Mrs. Clare Amos spoke on the Bible in the Life of the Church initiative.
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