US Episcopal & Canadian Anglican Church Prepare for ACC Presentation on Human Sexuality

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38 Anglican primates worldwide in Ireland in February, the ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada were recommended to withdrawn from the ACC until the next Lambeth Conference in 2008, yet they have been encouraged to give presentations to clarify the theology behind their attitudes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."

Moreover, he stressed that the committee's job is "distilling our experience of many years, to be faithful to the church and set out the thinking behind some of the recent actions."

Dean Elliott said to the Anglican Journal, the Canadians are not of one mind on issues of human sexuality. "There is a variety of views within our presentation and within the Episcopal Church presenters. Everyone (on the committee) wants each person to present out of the integrity of their own views and the community from which they come. The Canadian church has found ways to walk together even when we differ on important matters," he said.

The ACC meets every three years in various part of the world. It consists of lay, clergy and Episcopal members and is a forum where all Anglican Provinces can share and exchange information and coordinate common actions. In 2002, it was held in Hong Kong. The upcoming ACC meeting will last for 10 days and will be held at the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England, 19th-28th June.

This year's meeting is one of the most open since the formation of ACC in 1968, according to Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. The worship sessions will be open to the public and all council members will be eating together at the university dining hall. The council meeting will be held in a lecture theatre and there will be a visitors' section there.

Delegates and Presenters from the Episcopal Church of the USA:

Delegates
- Bishop Suffragan Catherine Roskam of New York
- Josephine Hicks of North Carolina
- Rev. Robert Sessum of Lexington

Presenters
- Bishop Neil Alexander of Atlanta
- Bishop Charles Jenkins of Louisiana
- Bishop Suffragan Catherine Roskam of New York
- Rev. Michael Battle, academic vice president of Virginia Theological Seminary
- Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity and an assisting priest at All Saints' Church in Pasadena, California
- Jane Tully, founder of CFLAG (Clergy Families of Lesbians and Gays) and a parishioner of St. Bartholomew's Church in New York City

Delegates and Presenters from the Anglican Church of Canada:

Delegates
- Bishop Susan Moxley, suffragan of the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
- Canon Allen Box, a priest in the Diocese of Ottawa
- Suzanne Lawson, a layperson in the Diocese of Toronto and former member of national staff

Presenters
-The Very Rev. Peter Elliott, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver and prolocutor of General Synod
- Canon Robert Falby, Chancellor and lay canon of the Diocese of Toronto and a member of General Synod
- The Rev. Dr. Stephen Andrews, President and Vice-Chancellor of Thorneloe University, member of General Synod for the Diocese of Algoma and a member of the Primate's Theological Commission
- Ms. Maria Jane Highway, a member of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous partner to General Synod from the Diocese of Brandon and a member of the Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee of General Synod