US laity fear centralisation

From the Church Times (England)

LAY PEOPLE at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States will have some hard questions for the Archbishop of Canterbury when he visits, says the president of the House of Depu ties, Bonnie Anderson.

The triennial convention meets next week in Anaheim, California. Eyes from all around the Anglican Communion will be on its business, notably whether it will vote to re peal Resolution BO33, which in 2006 urged a halt to ordaining any more gay bishops for the time being.
To repeal it would require the consent of both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. Bishops have no collective authority to exercise power in the Church, where laity and clergy have an equal voice, and the former have historically exercised strong influence. They elect bishops in a democratic operation — something that is out of the experience of many pro v-inces in the Anglican Communion, Mrs Anderson says.

The deputies are unhappy with moves towards greater centralisation of authority in bishops and in panels appointed by Lambeth Palace. “We work very well together [with the bishops], but to see that kind of potential disenfranchisement of laity is really adverse to our polity,” Mrs Anderson said on Monday.

The Bishops will have divided loyalties. They are acknowledged to have returned from the Lambeth Conference much influenced by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s appeals for unity, and mindful that newly formed relationships with African bishops could be jeopardised if any steps were taken on this and on same-sex blessings. “The indaba groups enabled bishops to get to know one another,” Mrs Anderson says.

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http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=77477