wfn.org | [ENS] Member of Parliament affirms role of faith in society

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Member of Parliament affirms role of faith in society

ACC changes constitution, receives network reports

By Neva Rae Fox

ENS 062205-5

[ENS, Nottingham] -- Recognizing the key role that faith plays in
society,
Member of Parliament Hilary Benn presented a message of hope June 22 to
the
Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), the principal consultative body of
the
Anglican Communion.

"As I travel around the world and visit communities, I am always struck
that
it is faith that inspires people to do something to help their fellow
human
beings," said Benn, the Labour Party's minister for international
development, on the third day of ACC business in Nottingham.

"In Sub-Sahara Africa," he cited, "churches provide 50 percent of all
schooling and all health care." Upset that "6000 children die every day
because they don't have clean water to drink," Benn said change is
possible.

"We are more interconnected that we have ever been," he stated. "We see
the
lives of our fellow human beings. We can no longer claim that we didn't
know
what was going on. We have the means as a human race to change this --
it's
possible to provide clean water. Building schools and training teachers
is
not an impossible task. Change is possible."

Mentioning the G8 conference about to occur in Gleneagles, Scotland,
Benn
spoke of his belief for hope. "Certainly in Britain and elsewhere, we
live
in an age to question the political process," he said. "Politics is the
process by which we debate. If we don't have hope in that process to
change
things, we are lost."

Benn added: "Our challenge is to use these opportunities to make
change."

ACC Constitution Changes

Earlier in the day, the council approved two measures to alter its
constitution, adding the 37 Anglican primates as ex officio members and
changing the membership of the ACC Standing Committee.

The first resolution recommends that at least three of the seven
Standing
Committee members would be lay. Other members are the president,
chairperson, vice-chairperson, and five primates.

Much debate -- both pro and con -- surrounded the second vote, bringing
the
membership of the ACC from 78 to 115, including the Archbishop of
Canterbury, 39 lay people, 37 primates, and 30 clergy/bishops.

This also marks a change in clerical representation. Formerly, bishops
were
grouped with primates while clergy was a separate category. Now with the
introduction of all the primates, bishops and clergy share a category.

Bishops currently serving on the ACC would remain during the transition
until their terms expire.

Reports on Two Networks

Following a two-hour closed session for ACC members only, the
International
Anglican Women's Network (IAWN) and the International Anglican Youth
Network
(IAYN) presented reports and updates.

IAWN women from throughout the Communion described their worldwide
efforts
on poverty, violence, health, education, women's rights, gender
equality,
infant mortality, and AIDS.

ACC approved a resolution which "affirms the developing work of the
[IAWN]
network and encourages each primate to maintain regular communication
with
the woman or team appointed as a link with the region in which his
province
is located."

The Youth Network was thanked "for its ongoing work to support the
witness
of young people across the Communion."

A report on GAP

The Global Anglicanism Project (GAP), an international research
undertaking,
presented its findings on the pilot phase of "The Vitality and Promise
of
Being Anglican."

Funded and administered by the Episcopal Church Foundation, GAP was
formed
in June 2002 and is currently operating in Brazil, New Zealand, North
India
and Tanzania.

Focusing on what it means to be an Anglican at the grassroots level, GAP
presented seven points of discovery: Anglican churches are growing where
their spirituality and worship is rooted in local cultures; Anglican
churches initiate life-transforming social ministries; lay and clergy
leaders often minister sacrificially in challenging circumstances and
with
limited resources; Anglican churches work to reconcile the legacies of
colonialism with the heritage of local cultures; theological education
and
formation for ministry are pursued amid substantial global and local
disparities in financial and educational resources; Anglicans show a
particular ability to pursue inter-religious engagement and evangelism,
emphases that are often viewed as mutually exclusive; conflict in the
Anglican Communion, which includes conflict within dioceses and
congregations, threatens the capacity of Anglicans to fulfill the
demands
and promise of the gospel.

For more information: www.episcopalfoundation.org

Greetings from the Lutherans

Walter Jagucki, bishop of the Lutheran Churches of Great Britain,
brought
greetings from the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation.
Noting that "we look to each other for mutual comfort and joy," the
greetings noted, "the strongest ties between us are the commitment to
forms
of church communion that Anglicans and Lutheran churches have entered
into
in Europe and North America."

-- Neva Rae Fox is a member of the Episcopal News Service team for
ACC-13.
She is director of communications for the Diocese of New York.

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