Meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
February 15-19, 2007

The Primates' Meeting was established in 1978 by Archbishop Donald Coggan (101st Archbishop of Canterbury) as an opportunity for “leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation” for the leaders of the 38 member churches of the Anglican Communion and has met regularly since. In recent years, the Primate's meeting has been identified as one of the four "instruments of communion" in the Anglican Communion, the others being the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Lambeth Conference (the gathering every ten years of the bishops of the communion). The home page for the Primates' Meeting is here.

The February 2007 Primates' Meeting was the first for Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the first at which a woman participated as head of one of the communion's provinces. The meeting devoted considerable time to assessing the response by The Episcopal Church to the Windsor Report. An index to items on this site related to the Windsor Report and the Lambeth Commission on Communion is here. An index to items related to the Proposed Anglican Covenant is here.

Documents from the Primates' Meeting
Communion Sub-group report on the response of General Convention to the Windsor Report
Communiqué from the Primates, February 19, 2007, or download a pdf file (228kb)
Report of the Covenant Design Group with a draft of a proposed Anglican Covenant (January 2007), or download a pdf file (220kb)

Below are links to items both on this site and other sites related to the Dar es Salaam meeting (Most recent items appear first).

Bishop Gene Robinson on the September 2007 House of Bishops Meeting

Bennington Banner article: Vt. Bishop voices support for same-sex unions

Bishop Ely's reflections on the House of Bishops Response (September 29, 2007)

Episcopal Life Online article: Bishops provide 'clarity' in response to Primates' communiqué (September 25, 2007)

Video of House of Bishops closing news conference (Bishop Thomas Ely was a participant).

Episcopal Church House of Bishops: "A Response to Questions and Concerns Raised by Our Communion Partners"
September 25, 2007 (link to Episcopal Life Online posting of statement released at the conclusion of the House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans, LA)

Bishop Thomas Ely's report of September 2, 2007, to the Theology Committee of the House of Bishops on the six conversations he held in the diocese to elicit response to Communion Matters [see below].

House of Bishops Theology Committee Communion Matters, a study document for considering the primates' communiqué; Download Color pdf file (620kb); B&W pdf file (356kb)

ENS report of June 14, 2007 Executive Council response to House of Bishops' resolution

Response to the Proposed Anglican Covenant by members of the Diocese of Vermont, June 2007. (Based on the Executive Council Study Guide. Note that the time frame for obtaining signatures was short, and others who would have signed this document were not able to respond in time.) pdf, 68kb

"Communion in Christ," a liturgical/theological reflection on the January 2007 proposed Anglican Covenant by the Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission (APLM), May 2007.

Executive Council of The Episcopal Church's Study Guide for the Proposed Anglican Covenant, April 13, 2007 (pdf, 220kb)

Vermont General Convention Deputation responds to Communiqué and proposed Anglican Covenant, March 23, 2007

House of Bishops' Mind of the House Resolutions in response to the Primates' Meeting, approved March 20, 2007

Bishop Thomas Ely's March 4 letter to the Diocese of Vermont on the Primates' Meeting

"Interpreting the Proposed Anglican Covenant through the Communiqué, by the Rev. Dr. Katherine Grieb; a paper given to the House of Bishops at its March 2007 meeting by a member of the Covenant Design Group (also professor of New Testament at Virginia Seminary)

Diocese of Utah statement by the bishop, General Convention deputies and other leaders in response to the Primate's Meeting, March 13, 2007.

Letter from the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church following their meeting of March 2-4, 2007, in Portland, Oregon

Report on March Executive Council Meeting for Province of New England by Lee Alison Crawford

Anglican women reaffirm commitment to church's mission, unity ENS March 4, 2007, article on the Anglican delegation to the UN Commission on the Status of Women

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's opening remarks for a February 28 live Webcast from Trinity Church, Wall Street, on the Primates' Meeting

House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson responds to communiqué, ENS February 23, 2007

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's "A Season of Fasting: Reflections on the Primates' Meeting"

Bishop Gene Robinson's response to "A Season of Fasting: Reflections on the Primates' Meeting"

"The 'Other' issue…or is it the primary issue?" by the Rt. Rev. Douglas Theuner, March 4, 2007

Letter to the presiding bishop, the president of the House of Deputies and members of Executive Council from the Steering Committee of the Consultation regarding the primates' communiqué, February 28, 2007

Links to stories by Episcopal News Service (click on the "Recent News" tab to scroll through stories by date)

ENS story, "Episcopal Groups Respond to Primates' Communiqué," includes links to many responses.

Go to Anglican Communion Index Page (this site)
Go to Proposed Covenants for the Anglican Communion Index (this site)