The promise of new era in the relationships between the Anglican Church in Africa and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America has emerged with the visit to Cape Town by a team of 11 from the Diocese of Washington. Led by the Bishop of Washington DC, John Chane, they visited to experience first hand the situation in Cape Town and South Africa as well as to begin to form relationships with the members and leaders of the Diocese of Cape Town and the CPSA.

The Diocese of Cape Town and the Diocese of Washington both have a shared history as companion dioceses since the time of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. However on this trip, the newly consecrated Bishop Chane and Archbishop Njongonkulu made it known that the relationship between the Diocese of Cape Town and the Diocese of Washington would be upgraded from a companion relationship to a true partnership.

Bishop Chane expressed his commitment to the partnership with the Diocese of Cape Town in an interview with the Good Hope. “A companion relationship, to my way of thinking is somewhat colonial. A partnership means that we stand together, we walk together, we bleed together, walk the walk together, share resources together – we don’t just do the nice things anymore…. I think that is a big shift from what we used to talk about in terms of companion relationships”.

Chane spoke about the responsibility given to the Diocese of Washington by the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA, Frank Griswold, to be the leader in forming a partnership with the Diocese of Cape Town and the rest of the CPSA. Part of this would involve setting up a foundation for South Africa, with the sole intent being to raise money to make a difference on significant issues that affect the lives of people in this country.

Chane also saw this relationship as a chance to begin working more directly with the other Bishops in Africa in order to build bridges in a divided Anglican Communion. He spoke of the significance of the church in Africa and how its development and growth would impact politics in many countries and continents. “[We must] recognise that what we call the southern church is where the action is going to be in the future. We need to not only understand it but we need to engage in it.”

Chane sees South Africa as a microcosm of world events with the very future of the planet resting on events in South Africa. “It is a great responsibility and, for what ever reason, you have been asked to bare that. You have been asked to be a leader in that. We in convergence would like to be your partners. But you have to call the shots, you have to be the ones who name the names and point the direction and then we will follow”.

The Washington team envisions the possibility of sending technical support to Cape Town as early as February 2003. In the meanwhile the two partnership committees will continue to talk about key issues of common concern such as youth ministry, women’s issues, communication and violence. Bishop Chane believes that it is essential to keep close people-to-people contact to prevent the relationship from being lost in the partnership.

The Revd Matt Esau, chair of the Washington Relationship Committee, said that he was excited by the beginning of this new partnership with the Diocese of Washington. “I look
forward to be working closely with Bishop Chane and the clergy who accompanied him in the next few months,” he said.

The team from Washington Diocese stayed at St Paul’s Bree Street whilst in Cape Town and visited Robben Island, Table Mountain, a wine farm, social development projects in all three regions, the Waterfront and Johannesburg, where they stayed near Soweto. They dined with Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu and spent their last evening at Bishopscourt at a dinner hosted by Archbishop Njongonkulu, which included the Cape Town host committee and Bishop Christopher Gregorowski.

Bishop Christopher, as the liaison Bishop in charge of companion link relationships, commented on the strategic nature of the link, both cities being the legislative capitals of their nations. “We welcomed them, found them open, friendly and keen to see the link grow and flourish. They related to congregations and projects in all 3 regions and so they’ve met with the people at the grassroots level,” he said.

The Diocese of Washington will make a formal proposal of acceptance to enter into the new partnership in January 2003.

READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP CHANE
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