Called The Continuing Indaba and Mutual Listening Project, the listening process is a commitment to "a real seeking of a common mind upon the issues which threaten to divide us".
"Indaba" is a Zulu word for the process of decision making by consensus common in many African cultures. It seeks to have all the parties involved come together to dialogue and tackle the root controversies in the Anglican Communion, including the authority of Scripture, faithfulness to tradition and the respect for the dignity of all.
The Rev Canon Phil Groves announced the continuation of the indaba process at the 14th Anglican Consultative Council meeting this week. The process aims to escape the western top-down "adversarial democratic processes" and ground itself on "biblical models" of mutual listening.
"We are committed to developing trust and ensuring transparency," said Groves, according to the Episcopal News Service. "It was something that I had to work very hard on. People didn't actually trust that they were going to be quoted in the right way."
He noted that trust must be based on the belief that "we're not going to amend or betray the Gospel, either in its open word of welcome to all people or in its call to obedience to all people", as reported by ENS.
Groves recognised that the listening process is not the answer to their problems but indicated that it is part of their journey toward reconciliation and is worth trying.
"We expect hard questions to be asked of one another," he said. "We do expect some very difficult times."
On Friday, delegates decided against sending out a draft convenant aimed at unity to member churches for consideration. They instead asked that the Archbishop of Canterbury appoint a small working group to “consider and consult with the provinces” on a controversial section of the Ridley-Cambridge draft dealing with dispute resolution and the definition of entities able to sign on to the covenant, according to Anglican Journal.
The Continuing Indaba project is a renewal of a listening process that began in 1998 in response to divisions over homosexuality.
