"By 2010 we are talking about 50 million orphans in Sub Saharan Africa as a consequence of war, famine, droughts, and preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. We know that there are more than 800 million people living in poverty in the world ... this is not only immoral, it is a sin, it is evil."

At a March 2001 meeting of Anglican Primates, Ndungane was charged with moving the Anglican Communion forward by addressing issues of poverty, trade, debt and HIV/AIDS. In his presentation in Tanzania. he set forth challenges of how Anglicans can respond "to make the world a better place for all...to ensure that there is sustainable livelihood for everyone so that every human being" has access to clean water, food, and healthcare.

The archbishop's riff on world hunger seemed to be more of an extended infomercial for a global conference, "Towards Effective Anglican Mission" (TEAM), a prophetic witness, social development and HIV/AIDS, set for March 7-14, in Boxburg, South Africa. The conference, Ndungane said, is "seeking to discover strategies of how Anglicans can contribute to make the world a better place for everyone," through advocacy and commitment to the church's vaunted and now much heralded Millennium Development Goals (MDGs.

Archbishop Rowan Williams said that the TEAM conference "represents the best opportunity Anglicans will have in the coming year to put the extraordinary human resources of our Communion at the service of the most vulnerable in our world and our own local communities." He willaddress the conference.

Millennium Development Goals has become the new doctrine of salvation for the Episcopal Church. We may not be able to save ourselves, but we are going to save the world at seven cents on the dollar. Having abandoned The Great Commission in favor of human salvation, the new liberal mantra is saving the world by proclaiming an end to poverty and all manner of ills and ailments.

Never mind that Jesus himself said that eradicating poverty, in a sinful and fallen world, was nigh on impossible,. The Anglican Communion, led by its left wing illuminati, now plans to save the world even though they cannot raise enough money to help the Diocese of Louisiana feed, house, and clothe Katrina victims!

What we have is the Left's impotent outrage at a world more turned on by globalization than MDG's, and where free markets are doing more to lift people out of poverty than grand schemes to save the world. The question must then be asked :why have these utopian schemes invariably failed?

No one decries the need to help the poor and alleviate human suffering; however, Mother Teresa, The Salvation Army, World Vision Int., The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and a whole host of NGO's have been far more powerful and effective in dealing with HIV/AIDS, the need for clean water, and the eradication of diseases than the plaintive cries of limousine liberals and wealthy Episcopalians.

Countries like China and India, once vastly poor, are experiencing an economic renaissance that has nothing to do with MDG's or handouts from the West. African nations like Zimbabwe, the Sudan, Uganda, and the Congo are in economic turmoil because of corrupt governments and civil wars that displace and devastate whole populations.

Why are Anglican leaders not talking about those issues? Some brave Anglican primates like Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), and Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda) have spoken out against the corruption in their countries.

MDG's will not save the world. The Great Commission needs to be center stage, once again, among Western Anglican churches, that have abandoned it, if they expect to see a turnaround in their declining numbers. MDG's will no more help humanity than Anglican polices will bring peace in the Middle East. There is far too much lopsided thinking going on.

Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori faces a crisis in her province that might well see her evicted, or at least reduced in status within the Communion, if she and the majority of the House of Bishops do not face sexual sin square on. If they do not, MDGs will not save her or the American Episcopal Church - not even for a nickel on the dollar.

The newly installed Ugandan- born UN Observer, Hellen Wangusa, said that the contribution Christians can make is to go beyond the targets of other groups because of our biblical basis and commitments. "Our listening involves listening to those issues which are spiritual and moral.

"Those are the areas which we should address because the governments do not have the mandates to address these areas." Mrs. Wangusa has it right; we cannot divorce the Bible and its moral and spiritual claims upon us.

That is something Dr. Jefferts Schori might want to give serious consideration to as she contemplates a very undecided future for herself and The Episcopal Church.

END