Delegates to ACC-13 in Nottingham voted to make the primates ex officio members of the Anglican Consultative Council. The June 22 vote increases the roster of members from 77 to 114 and decreases the proportion of lay members of the council from one-half to one-third.

Critics charge the vote clericalizes the Council, and gives the Global South an effective veto on the ACC’s actions, and control of three of the four Instruments of Unity. The Lambeth Conference and the primates’ meeting have traditionalist majorities primarily from the developing world.

The Most Rev. Barry Morgan of Wales disagreed, saying the addition of the primates to the ACC’s deliberations would “strengthen the hand of the ACC.” The primates, he suggested, were “in danger of thinking that they are the Church.”

Moves to alter the structure of the ACC began at the 1998 Lambeth Conference. Resolution III.6 recommended the “bishops representing each province in the Anglican Consultative Council should be the primates of the provinces” and that the present three-tiered structure of the ACC be reformed to give “equal representation in the ACC from each province, one presbyter or deacon and one lay person from each province should join the primates in the triennial ACC gathering.”

ACC-11 in Dundee rejected the Lambeth Conference recommendations. Citing financial considerations, Resolution 8 from the 1999 meeting found that “no change to the present arrangements can be justified at the present time.”

Recommendations from the 2004 Windsor Report prompted the new round of membership reform. ACC-13 took up the issue on June 20, voting to add the primates' standing committee to the ACC’s standing committee. The ACC standing committee controls the ACC between its triennial meetings and holds the power of appointment to the ACC’s various committees and networks.

On June 22 the debate on membership reform began with comments by Welsh lay delegate Sylvia Scarf that the present membership rules were being flouted. She pointed out that “of the first five provinces in the delegate list” entitled to only one delegate “four have sent clergy.” Provinces allotted one delegate are expected to send a layperson under existing ACC rules.

Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria urged passage of the resolution, saying it would improve relations and cooperation among the Instruments of Unity. There was “an amount of suspicion and mistrust” and “we believe with this arrangement, all that will be removed.”

Opponents of the measure were worried a change of structure would dilute the roll of the priests and laypeople in the council. The Very Rev. John Moses, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, said there was a danger the “inferior clergy” would be squeezed out. Irish lay delegate Kate Turner argued that adding more primates to the meeting would have a chilling effect on debate. “Less than one-half of the laity here speak,” she said, and “if their primates were here, they’d be even less-inclined.”

The Rt. Rev. Winston Halapua, the Polynesian Bishop of Auckland, noted the ACC must ensure “‘balanceness’ so that the voice of the laity is heard clearly to advance our mission.” In a reduced house, the ACC accepted the Constitutional change with only eight dissenting votes.

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

More News From the ACC Triennial:

· ACC Opts for Compromise on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

· ACC Lauds Church’s Ethical Investment Program

· 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

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