The opening session of the triennial Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) contained some legislative surprises, including the presence of two resolutions not yet seen by the delegates. They have the potential to reshape a meeting whose focus since the February primates’ meeting has been the place of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada within the Anglican Communion.

After housekeeping announcements and roll call, the ACC chairman, the Rt. Rev. John C. Paterson of New Zealand, announced that the standing committee had received a resolution which contained the required signatures of 10 delegates. The resolution sought an immediate vote, Bishop Paterson said, but as time was short, he would postpone discussion of it until the topic was scheduled to be addressed in the agenda. Bishop Patterson’s cryptic remarks were the only public acknowledgement.

Following the close of the first council session and lunch, most delegates and visitors attended the opening Eucharist at St. Peter’s, Nottingham where Bishop Paterson formally inducted Canon Kearon as ACC secretary general. The service in the medieval church blended contemporary gospel music with choir-led traditional hymns. The Rev. Joel Edwards, a Pentecostal minister and president of England’s evangelical alliance delivered the sermon.

Shortly afterward, a resolutions committee (introduced during housekeeping announcements in the morning) met in special session. The resolution committee had issued no statement by 7 p.m. Nottingham time on June 19; TLC has received confirmation that a second resolution, commending the opposite course of action from the one the ACC chairman acknowledged publicly, has already been ruled out of order earlier under legal advice.

Though the atmosphere at ACC-13 is charged, the ambiance of the meeting is different from ACC-12 in Hong Kong and ACC-11 in Dundee, Scotland where official information was difficult to obtain. Organizers have placed a premium on transparency and hospitality. Likewise, where Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey was carefully escorted from place to place according to script, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams has found his own way. His considerable charm and diplomatic skills were evident as he mixed easily among delegates and visitors.

(The Rev.) George Conger is in Nottingham, England reporting for The Living Church from the triennial meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council.

See the latest Anglican Communion News Service announcement here

For an account by the Episcopal News Service, click here

Full Coverage From the ACC Triennial:

· Council Somber After Vote to Exclude North Americans

· ACC Suspends North American Churches

· Vote on Resolution to Expel North Americans Scheduled

· Communion's Spotlight is on Presentation Panels

· Archbishop Says Common Ground Still Exists

· Status Quo at ACC Holds on Second Day

· Withdrawn Status of North Americans Noted

· ACC Opening Session Surprise

· ACC Meeting Opens with Dinner and Orientation

· Bishop Roskam to Serve in Two Capacities at Nottingham

Photos from Nottingham

· U.S., Canadian representatives seated apart

· The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, ACC secretary general

· The Rev. Canon Michael Burrows of Ireland

· New Zealand Bishop John C. Paterson, chairman of the ACC

· Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

· Bishops Moxley and Roskam

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