The 13th triennial meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is due to be convened next week in Nottingham, England, and delegations from the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church of the USA (ECUSA) are preparing their presentations on same-sex issues in response to specific requests of the Anglican Communion's Windsor Report (paragraph 135) published in October 2004.
In the meeting of 38 Anglican primates worldwide in Ireland in February, the ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada were recommended to withdrawn from the ACC until the next Lambeth Conference in 2008, yet they have been encouraged to give presentations to clarify the theology behind their attitudes toward homosexuality.
As a result, three delegates from each nation will attend as observers to the ACC. In addition, six presenters will be sent from the ECUSA and four presenters from the Anglican Church of Canada. Their presence is considered as a very good opportunity for Anglicans worldwide to listen to each other in an attempt to find a way to heal the current rift in the warring Church. The American and Canadian churches are expected to address the meeting separately on 21st June.
According to a press release from the ECUSA dated 10th June, listening is a priority as delegates and observers prepare for the upcoming ACC.
"What I hope will evolve from the ACC is a greater respectfulness, a greater willingness to listen and honour the different ways in which the Gospel is articulated in different places," said the US Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold.
"It is only through listening - listening deeply with an undefended heart - that we can hear the richness of God's truth.... In spite of differences, in spite of tensions, the overwhelming reality of the church is people engaged in mission for the sake of the world. It is through listening that I hope we can become better partners across the Communion," he continued.
The Anglican Journal has interviewed Dean Peter Elliott, prolocutor of General Synod and dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, who is part of the 4-member Canadian contingent. Dean Elliott said that the group had just a month to prepare the presentation, but he noted "the Canadian church has been reflecting on the place of lesbian and gay people since the 1970s."
