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99-161

Australian diocese endorses lay administration of Eucharist

by James Solheim

     (ENS) For the first time in the history of the Anglican 
Communion, a diocese has voted to allow lay people to preside at 
the Eucharist.

     In a two-to-one secret vote on October 19 the Diocese of 
Sydney (Australia) approved a five-year trial period which will 
allow trained lay people to preside at Holy Communion, with the 
permission of the archbishop and the local parish. An amendment 
will require that candidates for lay presidency be approved by 
parish vestry meetings.

     After discussing the freedom of laity to preach and lead 
services, the author of the bill, the Rev. John Woodhouse of St. 
Ives, stressed the importance of consistency in dealing with lay 
ministry. He said that, with increased lay involvement in the 
life of the church, "there is no sound reason" to prohibit them 
from presiding at the Eucharist because that "obscures the Gospel 
we preach." He emphasized that "there are times when forms must 
change."

     Archbishop Harry Goodhew of Sydney issued a statement, 
pointing out that he has a month "to signify assent" to the 
action. While acknowledging that he "cannot ignore the strength 
of support for the matter in the synod, at the same time I must 
keep in mind my constitutional responsibilities for this move for 
the Anglican Communion throughout the world, and the strain which 
this might place upon our relationships with other parts of the 
Anglican Communion. It may also have implications for our 
ecumenical relationships." He suggested that the practice, if 
implemented, could "open the parishes of the diocese to actions 
against them in the courts."

     The Anglican Church of Australia's canon law commission 
ruled in 1995 that the introduction of lay presidency would not 
be possible under the church's national constitution. An attempt 
to appeal to the church's Appellate Tribunal was withdrawn by the 
Diocese of Sydney. 

     Goodhew said that most major changes in the Anglican family 
are the result of "one part of the Communion acting unilaterally 
and then the Communion follows." He offered the ordination of 
women to the priesthood and the consecration of women as bishops 
as examples. He had just returned from a visit to the Episcopal 
Church in the USA (see separate story) to consult with church 
leaders over the Lambeth Conference resolutions against 
homosexuality, especially the ordination of openly gay and 
lesbian priests and the blessing of same-sex unions. "This is 
more of a challenge to order and spiritual continuity than who 
might pray the prayer of Thanksgiving in the service of Holy 
Communion," he said.

Implications for relationships

     During the debate several participants expressed deep 
concern for the implications of the bill. Bishop Paul Barnett of 
North Sydney said that, while he was basically in favor of the 
bill, he worried about the impact it would have on the diocese's 
relationship with other Evangelical dioceses in the Anglican 
Communion. "Lambeth showed that the real strength of Anglicanism 
was in Africa and Asia. But the African and Asian churches derive 
their orthodoxy from the Book of Common Prayer and the basic 
conservatism," he said. "My fear is that, by taking this step, we 
will effectively take ourselves out of the place of influence."

     Justice Keith Mason challenged the right of the diocese to 
take such an action, arguing that the matter belonged on the 
General Synod level. After the trial period the diocese has the 
option of endorsing or rescinding its action.

     The issue has been simmering for several years and met with 
significant opposition. Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has 
dismissed such a development on several occasions. And the House 
of Bishops of the Church of England, in its report on Eucharistic 
Presidency in 1997, affirmed the distinctive ministry of the 
ordained. 

     The bishops said that there is an "essential link" between 
leadership in the community, for which a bishop or priest has 
been chosen, and presiding at the Eucharist. The report concluded 
that there are strong theological arguments for sustaining the 
inherited tradition that the person who presides at the Eucharist 
needs to be an episcopally ordained priest.

     "There is nothing in Scripture, tradition or reason to 
justify such a move," said Dr. William Franklin, a layman who is 
dean of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. "It will obscure the 
important distinction, the distinctive character, of the office. 
It is part of the strength of Anglicanism that we make those 
distinctions," he said. He quickly pointed out, however, that it 
is not a matter of one order being superior but it would 
irreparably harm the polity of Anglicanism to blur the 
distinction." Such a major change would be "without precedence," 
Franklin said, "and would harm our relations with ecumenical 
partners, especially the Roman Catholics." 

--James Solheim is director of News and Information for the 
Episcopal Church.