Friday, April 27, 2018

Clergy and laity doubt accuracy of letter to the States

From The Church Times-

THE accuracy of a letter sent by the secretary general of the Archbishops’ Council, William Nye, to the Episcopal Church in the United States, and the lack of consultation and transparency accompanying it, have been criticised.

In a response to a consultation by the Episcopal Church on same-sex marriage (News, 20 April), Mr Nye said that there had not been time to consult the wider Church, and that it “reflects discussions among staff of the Church’s Archbishops’ Council only”. This raises questions of governance, says a letter to the Church Times, signed by more than 110 members of the clergy and laity, who say that they wish to “dissociate” themselves from Mr Nye’s response.

“Unless the content of the letter is tested synodically, he surely cannot claim to speak for the Church of England as a whole,” they write. “Mr Nye’s letter, written on Archbishops’ Council stationery, gives the impression that he was acting as an agent of the Council and its trustees and writing with its authority. But, as he acknowledges, his response is simply the fruit of conversations held among a small cadre of professional staff. As a governance matter, this will not, we think, do.”


More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/27-april/news/uk/clergy-and-laity-doubt-accuracy-of-letter-to-the-states

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