Anglican leaders blocked from protesting Mary statement

Southern Cross | 31 July 2005

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by George Conger in Nottingham

Anglican leaders were blocked from protesting against the controversial Anglican-Catholic agreement Mary, Grace and Hope in Christ at the recent Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) in Nottingham, while the document itself received a tepid response.

The Rev Canon Michael Burrows of Ireland, known for his theologically liberal views, questioned its ‘rather singular reading of Scripture’, describing it as ‘medieval scholastic philosophy’.

Bishop Samson Mwaluda of Kenya, an evangelical, said the document says “Saints pray for us, Mary prays for us. Am I hearing correctly? This is a stumbling block for me.”

ACC Deputy Secretary Canon Gregory Cameron responded ‘we are not up to a debate’ and asked the Provinces to mail their responses to London.

Evangelicals have criticised the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission for the document’s pre-Reformation views on Mary, including statements that she intercedes on behalf of Christians and was born without sin.

The crisis over homosexuality in the Communion has deepened after the ACC expelled the US and Canadian delegates from its ranks until 2008 over the consecration of a homosexual bishop and same-sex blessings.

The ACC became the fourth instrument of unity of the Anglican Communion to adopt 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution 1.10 as the Church’s normative teaching on Human Sexuality.

“There has been an underlining of the Primates’ recommendations” at ACC-13, Archbishop Rowan Williams told Southern Cross on June 28. “We have held the line on what the Primates recommended.”

With only the Philippine delegation absent, delegates passed 52 resolutions over ten days of deliberations at the 13th triennial meeting of the ACC held at the University of Nottingham’s Business School. Observers from the United States and Canada were present throughout but denied voice and vote.

Five issues took centre stage at the June 18-28 Conference: the ‘North American question’, Israel, Zimbabwe, the Seattle Statement from ARCIC and structural reform of the ACC.

The place of the US and Canada within the life of the Communion dominated the first half of the meeting. Lay delegate Stanley Isaac of South-East Asia submitted a resolution backed by Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria and delegates from the Congo, Kenya, the Southern Cone, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Pakistan, England and the Sudan that sought to force the withdrawal of the US and Canada.

On June 21 a 7-member US team led by Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and a 6-member Canadian team led by Archbishop Andrew Hutchison each gave hour and half long presentations in response to the Primates’ request to explain their Provinces’ actions.

Debate on the Isaac resolution began the next morning in closed session. After two hours a secret ballot was taken. A resolution endorsing the Primates’ Dromantine Communiqué, adopting the 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution 1.10 on Human Sexuality as its own, and calling for withdrawal of the North American churches from the ACC and its interim bodies until the 2008 Lambeth Conference passed 30 to 28, with 4 abstentions and with one vote marked as ‘dissenting’.

Mr Isaac told Southern Cross his resolution had two principle purposes. “We wanted to reiterate what was decided in Dromantine” and to affirm that the Primates’ call was given “proper meaning and effect,” he explained.

The narrow margin of the vote arose from the way in which the issue had been presented to the ACC he noted. The debate was not whether the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada were in the wrong, but being in the wrong, what should the ACC do.

“A lot of the lay people from the developing world” Dr Williams told media, “don’t want their agenda wholly set by the Primates, and that is not at all because they are soft on the issue of the day, that they are all closet liberals. But it is the case that many of them want to get their energy focused on other things.”

Delegates devoted the remainder of the week to discussions of finances, and reports from the ACC’s Networks and Ecumenical partners. Resolutions condemning the government backed violence in Zimbabwe and lamenting the Israeli Palestinian Conflict received the greatest attention, while resolutions calling the Church’s attention to problems of corruption, drought in Africa, political instability in Korea, refugees, the environment, prevention of child abuse and other social – political issues were addressed.

Delegates adopted a constitutional change, accepting the recommendations of the Windsor Report to make the Primates ex officio members of the ACC. The June 22 vote increases the roster of members from 77 to 114, dropping the proportion of lay members of the council from one half to one third.

Fear the ACC would back the divestment campaign against Israel was relieved on June 24 when delegates commended the Episcopal Church’s Social Responsibility in Investment program, asking the Anglican Observer to the UN to lobby for implementation of UN Resolutions 242 and 338, and welcomed the Anglican Peace and Justice Network’s September 22nd Statement on Israel.

“I said it wasn’t a call for disinvestments because the motion is quite carefully phrased” Dr. Williams told media. “The motion asks for appropriate action. And when we have considered ethical investment issues there’s a range of options from constructive engagement, raising particular questions at AGM’s, quite a lot short of disinvestments.”

Meanwhile the ACC passed a unanimous resolution introduced by Australian lay delegate Robert Fordham of Melbourne to establish a safe ministry taskforce for children.

Mr Fordham explained that the resolution was prompted by the Australian Church’s experience with child abuse. The call comes in light of the Australian General Synod passing major child protection policies last year.

While delegates from the Church of England and New Zealand lauded the proposal, citing their own troubles in this area, delegates from Africa and Asia sought to amend the resolution to include street children and women and children exploited by the sex-trade.

Mr Fordham explained these were worthy goals, but that the purpose of the Australian resolution was to address issues of neglect and abuse within the life of the Church.

The resolution passed unanimously.

George Conger is a conservative minister and journalist from Florida.

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