Posted Saturday 12 July 2008
Aberdeen was the location on Friday 11 July for several Anglican bishops to meet for a Millennium Development Goals Summit.
Senior clergy representing several areas of the worldwide Anglican Churches attended, including Tamil Nadu, South Africa, the United States (Connecticut and East Tennessee), Colombia, and Australia. They were joined by the Rt Rev Dr.Bob Gillies, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney .
Ahead of the meeting of the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops at Canterbury from 14 July to 3 August the Very Rev Richard Kilgour, Provost of the Episcopal cathedral in Aberdeen convened round-table talks at the Town House in Aberdeen to consider the urgent needs identified in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including health, poverty the environment and development.
The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev Dr Rowan Williams, has said of the response of the church in ministry at this time: "Our ministry takes place in the context of a needy and divided world, in which there is both deep fear and great suffering."
At the summit, case studies were presented for consideration of how effectively churches are addressing the MDGs at the point of need. A contribution was made by a Robert Gordon University overseas postgraduate student studying for Masters in Business Administration, the Reverend Father Jonathan Mwashalindi, an Anglican priest from Tanzania and development officer for the diocese of Southern Highlands. He drew attention to the advantage afforded churches with their extensive infrastructure and network of people for targeting health education and other vital support.
Other participants included the Rev.Canon Duncan McCosh, convener of the Overseas Committee of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Scottish representative of the World Mission organisation USPG, Jonathan Elliott-Jones, and Professor John Anderson of the School of International Relations University of St.Andrew’s,Fife.
The Very Rev Richard Kilgour said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury and all Anglican church leaders are right to seek to agree and act together as far as possible to contribute to the urgent relief of need. It is hoped that a gathering of people like this can reinforce the consensus on the best response for the church to be a key player in sustainable development in the face of world needs on a massive scale"
Category: Dioceses, Aberdeen & Orkney
