The first of these articles, which appeared about two years ago, dealt with my efforts to think of a novel that would serve as a painless introduction to Anglicanism. Thus this installment deals with the Anglican novels suggested by readers in the first of these articles.
Twenty-two members of the Commission from every corner of the Anglican Communion gathered at the Kempton Park Conference Centre in South Africa for the first meeting of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Mission and Even. The group heard presentations about the reality of AIDS in South Africa and heard that "last year 250,000 South Africans died from AIDS. This number will double in six years". The group published a document entitled "A Call" and invited all dioceses, parishes and local churches, to consider the document and send their responses to the Mission Department of the Anglican Communion Office. [Full text of document reproduced here.]
Also includes an "HIV/AIDS -Factfile" and brief reports from USPG supported health projects in Malawi, South Africa and Zambia.
Issue of IAFN Newsletter included as part of the Anglican World for Advent 2001. An editorial and series of short reports from different agencies and countries about family breakdown. "The articles in this newsletter tell of increased marriage and relationship breakdown, more children on the streets, more despair fuelling alcohol and drug abuse. Many refer to the root causes of poverty, the AIDS pandemic, and, of course, war ... But the picture is not all bleak. An article from Canada points out that a marriage breakdown may, in some cases, represent a new start, free from hidden violence and abuse. Many of the articles tell of vigorous efforts being made by churches and projects from all over the Anglican Communion to help the casualties of family breakdown".
Issue of IAFN Newsletter included as part of the Anglican World for Easter 2000. An editorial and series of short reports from different agencies and countries about the role of fathers in contemporary families and society. The issue describes "patriarchal societies where the position of the man as the head of the family in `non negotiable'," and Western societies where this is not the pattern. "Articles from Africa and India cite Biblical texts to underline the male head-ship of the family. They go on to reveal both the strengths and the weaknesses of such head-ship: when abused it can make the lives of women and children inescapably miserable. .... Throughout the Anglican Communion there is evidence of the dislocation of rapid change, often in part brought about by economic forces which undermine the role of men for example as `breadwinner' of the family."
Article notes that Canada, which is "the most water-rich nation on the Earth, can supply almost 122,000 cubic metres per person per year". "Even in a temperate climate, human beings require a litre of water each day, or 0.35 cubic meters per year, to sustain life".
The Advent 1996 issue of the International Anglican Family Network "tells of just a few of the projects, linked with churches, which are trying to alleviate the suffering and halt the spread of the disease. In this terrible situation there are signs of hope." Article includes reports from 12 different countries.