wfn.org | Lambeth draft report calls for extra powers for Primates Meeting

["Lambeth98" <storm@indigo.ie>]

ACNS LC081 - 2 August 1998

Lambeth draft report calls for extra powers for Primates Meeting

By Katie Sherrod
Lambeth Conference Communications

The powers of international Anglican church leaders may be
strengthened if a draft resolution to be debated this week at the
Lambeth Conference is approved. Under the draft proposal, the
biennial meeting of Anglican primates (provincial church leaders)
could be asked to intervene with local churches in the case of
"exceptional emergency."

Resolution III.6, submitted by the conference's Section Three,
which has been considering the topic "Called to be a Faithful
Church in a Plural World," seeks to expand the responsibilities
of the Primates Meeting "under the presidency of the Archbishop
of Canterbury." The new duties would include "intervention in
cases of exceptional emergency which are incapable of internal
resolution within provinces, and giving of guidelines on the
limits of Anglican diversity in submission to the sovereign
authority of Holy Scripture and in loyalty to our Anglican
tradition and formularies." 

It calls for this to happen in "sensitive consultation with the
relevant provinces and with the Anglican Consultative Council
(ACC) or in cases of emergency with the Executive of the ACC and
that, while not interfering with the juridical authority of the
provinces, the exercises of these responsibilities by the
Primates Meeting should carry moral authority calling for ready
acceptance through the Communion." 

The resolution goes on to recommend that each province be
represented on the ACC by its primate as well as by sending one
presbyter or deacon and one lay person to the triennial ACC
gathering. It requests a name change to the Anglican Communion
Council. It affirms the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury and
the Lambeth Conference, "together with inter-provincial
gatherings and cross-provincial diocesan partnerships, as
collegial and communal signs of the unity of our Communion."

Resolution addresses women's ordination

A second resolution (III.2) revisits a subject that dominated the
last Lambeth Conference. It calls for provinces of the Communion
to "uphold the principle of 'Open Reception' as it relates to the
ordination of women to the priesthood." 

The resolution also would affirm "that those who dissent from, as
well as those who assent to, the ordination of women are not
disloyal Anglicans, and that there will be no coercion,
penalization, or canonical disability for those supporting or
objecting to the ordination of women to the priesthood and that
no bishop will be obliged to ordain, license or institute a woman
priest in that bishop's diocese."

Both these resolutions were erroneously included in the list of
"resolutions for assent," or resolutions to be accepted without
debate, Philip Mawer, secretary of the resolutions committee,
said in the Monday morning press briefing on the resolutions. But
bishops receiving the list of proposed resolutions on Monday
morning did not get this word. By 2 p.m. on Monday, 50 bishops
had signed a request that III.2 on the ordination of women be
taken off the "assent" list and be opened to debate. Any
resolution can be moved from the assent list to the debate list
before a plenary session begins at the request of 50 bishops.
Once the plenary session starts, it will take a request by 100
bishops to move a resolution.

Resolution III.22, meanwhile, which affirms baptism as the
foundation for all ministries, was inaccurately listed "for
debate." While "recognizing the significance of ordained
ministry," it notes that "all persons are made full disciples and
equally members of the Body of Christ and the people or laos of
God, by their baptism."

Report stresses need for unity

According to the draft report of the section, the impact of
"fragmentation and globalization" on the world's minority groups
means the unifying message of the church must be heard with fresh
urgency. 

Both fragmentation and globalization have positive and negative
effects the report asserts. Fragmentation awakens liberating
self-awareness in indigenous and other minority groups but also
can cause tragic and violent separatist conflicts between
cultural minorities. Globalism, driven by the world market and
communications technology, brings dreams of inclusion for "all"
but too often at the expense of "each," according to the report.

The report holds up special concerns of women, youth, and the
poor. It lays out areas of common ground, among them the
affirmation of baptism as the foundation of all Christian
ministry; the necessity of the orders of bishops, priests and
deacons to the well-being of God's Church; and the importance of
a broadly interpreted lay ministry. 

It also laid out the five commitments directly related to all
ministries: worship, proclamation/evangelization, forgiveness or
reconciliation, service, and working for justice. It rejects lay
presidency and affirms the diaconate as a distinct order. 

Scripture central

It upholds the centrality of scripture while acknowledging and
honoring differing approaches to scriptural interpretation. It
affirms that it is possible to be a faithful church while
encompassing these differences: "The gospel is one, though the
Church hears and responds to it in multiple forms." Worship is
held to be so central that liturgy is addressed with a statement
appended to the report.

As participants in the Church's story, the report says, "we
cannot expect those who have gone before us to bear the witness
that only we can make." It affirms the reality of mutual
interdependence and the importance of consultation and
conversation in finding the middle way prized by Anglicans.

The report affirms a standard of loving faithfulness in marriage,
family and sexual relations; urges that men be supported in
renewing their parental and family commitments; and calls for the
gifts of girls and women to be upheld in family, work and
ministry. It calls Christians to an "appropriate simplicity" of
living that enables responsible stewardship of resources;
encourages them to engage in dialogue with at least one other
faith; and to urges them to affirm the principle and practice of
religious freedom. As Christians enter the new millennium, the
report urges that "our unity in faith in the Lord Jesus and our
diversity be a source of blessing to the whole world."

For further information, contact:

   Lambeth Conference Communications
   Canterbury Business School
   University of Kent at Canterbury
   Telephone: 01227 827348/9
   Fax: 01227 828085
   Mobile: 0374 800212

   http://www.lambethconference.org