From Religious Intelligence-
A communiqué released at the close of the first meeting of the newly constituted Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (UFO) has backed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for the Episcopal Church to reject the election of a partnered lesbian priest as suffragan bishop of Los Angeles.
On Dec 8 the commission said it was their “fervent hope that 'gracious restraint' would be exercised by the Episcopal Church” and the election of Canon Mary Glasspool be rejected.
Meeting in Canterbury from Dec 1-8 the commission set out five “immediate tasks.”
To reflect on the “Instruments of Communion”; to define what an Anglican Church might be; to promote the Anglican Covenant; to study the ‘reception’ process for innovations in the life and witness of the church; and to look at how local ecumenical agreements affected the wider communion.
The brainchild of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the UFO commission builds upon the previous work of Inter-Anglican committees on ecumenical relations and doctrine and the Windsor Continuation Group.
Critics have charged the commission has come rather late in the game to have any meaningful affect on preserving the Communion.
The formal communiqué also makes reference to the “Anglican Communion Office” and the “Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion” two legally non-existent bodies. Under Archbishop George Carey, attempts by the staff of the Anglican Consultative Council to operate under the name of the “Anglican Communion Office” were discouraged.
Under Archbishop Rowan Williams the ACC staff have taken on the working name of “Anglican Communion Office”, but as the review of the finances of Lambeth 2008 noted, this was not its legal identity, but a nickname.
More here-
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=5427
1 comment:
Why is George Conger getting around to writing this story a month after it was news? Wasn’t he paying attention on December 8?
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