From The Church Times-
A PROPOSAL to separate the Episcopal Church in the United States from the Anglican Communion was rejected by the Communion’s Standing Committee (SCAC) when it met in London over last weekend.
The suggestion, from Dato’ Stanley Isaacs (Church of the Province of South East Asia), led to a discussion, and acknowledgement by committee members of “anxieties felt in parts of the Communion about sexuality issues”, the ACNS reported. But “the overwhelming opinion was that separation would inhibit dialogue on this and other issues”, and would therefore be “unhelpful”.
The Committee also heard the rationale behind the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Pente cost letter, which proposed excluding from certain ecumenical dialogues provinces that had breached moratoria. Dr Williams and the Communion’s secretary general, Canon Kenneth Kearon, said that the Archbishop “had not acted unilaterally but with the support of the secretary general”, and that they had acted within their powers. The action “had not been punitive in intention”, but had followed “the breaking of the agreed moratoria — in response to the needs of the Communion in respect to ecumenical dialogues and faith and order bodies”.
In his report, Canon Kearon said that the credibility of the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) “was being openly questioned by some and this criticism was increasingly focused on the Standing Committee itself”.
Responding, the Bishop of Southern Malawi, Dr James Tengatenga, emphasised that ACC members were elected and sent by their own provinces and synods, and represented a very wide spectrum of views.
Dr Williams questioned whether the ACC’s committee structure was still appropriate, and asked whether revised Instrument structures were required to improve the relationship-building parts of the Communion’s life.
More here-
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=98333
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