article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080620/ts_nm/anglican_conference_dc_2 begins
PARIS (Reuters) - Conservative bishops debating the future of the worldwide Anglican Communion have issued dramatic warnings about a looming parting of the ways with liberal churches, but stopped short of outlining steps toward a schism.
A bit of websearching took me to the booklet mentioned in the final paragraph:
The 94-page guidebook entitled "The Way, The Truth and The Life" defined the issues Anglicanism faces as struggles over authority, scripture, theological pluralism, mission work and "post-colonial power relationships."
Link: gafcon_way_truth_life.pdf (application/pdf Object).
It runs to 102 pages. A search on the word poverty finds its only two appearances on page 56. Here's what it has to say on the subject:
The principles we have looked at so far must be applied also to poverty, and some of the problems associated with it. If Christ is Lord, we must remember that he is lord of the economic sphere as well as everything else. But some groups and races – for example indigenous South Americans and some Aboriginal groups in Australia – remain effectively untouched by aid programmes. Defiance of Christ’s laws in this sphere is no less serious than it would be in other areas of life, and just as we would speak against adultery, whoever did it, so too we should speak against exploitation and corruption. In the economic sphere, perhaps especially, the duty of being a good neighbour, in a way that is both loving and responsible, must be recognized. Both elements matter here: there is a pressing need to love one’s neighbour, true, but there are ways of providing support and showing concern that are ultimately irresponsible, even if well-intentioned. We think, for instance, of the way that support to the poverty-stricken, both within individual nations and between nations, has sometimes helped create a demeaning culture of dependency, and perpetuated problems of vulnerability and indignity rather than solving them. Neighbourliness that is genuinely loving, moreover, may well display a different attitude in matters of development, exercising patience and looking less to self-interest.
In its mission to bring complete wholeness to society, the Church needs to encourage members to gain financial independence. For this reason various Churches are trying to initiate economic empowerment programmes, which enable Christians to get involved in productive economic ventures, without being worldly in implementation.
Shall we talk about more aid programs, or shall we talk about creating economic justice, or shall we go on arguing that some of our fellow human beings aren't, for some reason, created in God's image, and therefore subject to treatment as inferior? Patience is not going to solve problems of world poverty. Neither are programs. Economic justice, starting with land tenure, will.
Will this arm of the church concern itself with eradicating poverty, or permit its perpetuation?
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