More news is trickling out of Canterbury. I’ll update this post as it appears.
From Kevin Kallsen who is in Canterbury:
Partial sanctions for TEC
Update from Kevin 1:30 Canterbury Time. Several sources have told me and/or confirmed the following. Please know this is the fog of war and that first reports are usually not precise and subject to change.
My Primate sources tell me their cell phones were confiscated before each session.
TEC will be sanctioned for three years. I don’t have any information about what those sanctions are.
Canada is not going to be sanctioned.
The sanctions expire after period of three years and TEC does not need to do anything to be unsanctioned.
The sanctions are not discipline. What?
Based on statements going into this meeting this would be a huge loss for GAFCON.
Based on reaction from TEC loyalist this is a huge loss for them.
In reality this is a huge loss for the un-repaired communion.I will task George with another full report tonight.
The CofE communications director is denying that cell phones were confiscated:
From VOL:
Newspaper reports that bullying is going on is simply untrue. VOL was told that it has been a dignified, orderly process — obviously being guided, but always stopping to consider all the perspectives.
A report by John Bingham of The Telegraph that the Primates were being treated like children was described as “nonsense”.
What is happening is vigorous conversation, using the Delphi technique and indaba processes to move the conversation forward. The days of patronizing the Africans and making them look like simpletons is over, if it was ever true.
Furthermore reports that cell/mobile phones of GAFCON primates have been taken from them is totally untrue. I have been told that no cell phone has been relinquished to anyone. The last and only time that happened was when John Peterson was running the Anglican Communion Office and he confiscated cell phones when the primates met at Kanuga in the US. No one has ever attempted that again.
In fact the opposite is true. Here the primates have been given iPads to work from which are hooked up to the Internet, so if they wanted to send a message they could easily do so. Apparently with the blanket shutdown of nearly all communication very little is being leaked. The one person who has gotten closer to the primates, and that means Archbishop Foley Beach is the Rev. Peter Ould and he has been acting in the role of prayer warrior to Beach.
[…]
Rumors that it was all over on Monday, then Tuesday and then Wednesday have all turned out to be wrong. Today Thursday the primates will take up the person and role of ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach. That will be decisive and whatever is said and one we will not know officially till tomorrow.
There will be a full court press Friday at about noon in the lodge of Canterbury cathedral when we will be told fully what happened. Until then be careful what you read because it will probably not be true or at the mostly speculative.
