Standing Committee decides Episcopal Church's 'separation would inhibit dialogue'

From ELO-

The Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion has agreed that separating the Episcopal Church from the rest of the Anglican Communion "would inhibit dialogue and ... would therefore be unhelpful," according to a July 26 bulletin from the Anglican Communion Office.
The proposal for separation came on July 24 from Dato Stanley Isaacs, a Standing Committee member from the Province of South East Asia, but was not passed "and the group agreed to defer further discussion until progress on Continuing Indaba project had been considered," the release said.

The Continuing Indaba project "brings clergy and laity from dioceses around the Anglican Communion together to have the hard conversations, on a range of issues, that will help them better hear the mind of God," according to the Anglican Communion Office. "The aim is for all involved to be more effective in mission and be more accountable to each other through genuine relationship."

The Standing Committee also confirmed that the next meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, the communion's main policy-making body, will be held at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland, New Zealand. The meeting is due to be held in 2012, but no dates have been announced.

The committee, which is meeting in closed sessions July 23-27 at the Anglican Communion Office in London, also heard reports from Hellen Wangusa, Anglican Observer at the United Nations; Bishop James Tengatenga from Southern Malawi, chair of the ACC; and the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams questioned whether the ACC's committee structure was "appropriate for this new century," according to the release. "He said questions needed asking about whether revised instrument structures were required to better foster the relationship-building parts of the communion's life, 'so when it comes to looking at the complex questions of the communion we have a better foundation upon which to build.'"

The Standing Committee usually meets annually but has met biannually for the past three years. It oversees the day-to-day operations of the Anglican Communion Office and the programs and ministries of the four instruments of communion -- the archbishop of Canterbury, the ACC, the Primates Meeting, and the Lambeth Conference of bishops.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_123674_ENG_HTM.htm