The size and composition of the Anglican Consultative Council’s two elected committees will change significantly as a result of related decisions at ACC-13 in Nottingham. On June 20, delegates voted to add the primates standing committee as ex officio members of the ACC standing committee and on June 25 all but one of the seven ACC members elected came from provinces located in the Southern Hemisphere.

The standing committee oversees the ACC between meetings of its triennial council and supervises the work of the secretary general, the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon. The Inter-Anglican Finance and Administration Committee monitors the ACC’s finances and operations.

Delegates to the ACC on June 23 voted to exclude members of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada from serving on these two committees until Lambeth 2008. The vote did not force any resignations because the term of the one North American delegate, the Rev. Robert Sessum from the Diocese of Lexington in the Episcopal Church, expired at the start of the current legislative session.

Mr. Robert Fordham of Australia was elected to both the standing committee and the finance committee. An accountant by profession, Mr. Fordham is a former member of Australia’s Parliament. Also elected was the Rev. Canon Mwiti Akiri, General Secretary of the Church of the Province of Tanzania. They join Mrs. Elizabeth Paver from the Church of England whose term continues. She is a member of the Archbishops’ Council of Advice.

Mrs. Paver was also one of five new members elected to the ACC standing committee. In addition to Mr. Fordham, the others are: Mrs. Philippa Amable, a lawyer from Ghana and chancellor of the diocese of Bo; the Rt. Rev. Kumara Illanasinghe, Bishop of Kurunagala, in the Church of Ceylon; and, Ms. Mfundo Walaza, a clinical psychologist from South Africa specializing in the treatment of survivors of torture.

The standing committee and Inter-Anglican Finance and Administration Committee are the only two elected committees of the ACC. The standing committee appoints the remainder of the ACC’s committees and networks.

At the February primates’ meeting in Northern Ireland, five regional caucuses elected the primates standing committee. They are: the Most Rev. Orlando de Oliveira of Brazil for the Americas, the Most Rev. Bernard Malango of Central Africa for Africa, the Most Rev. Z. James Terom of North India for Central/South Asia, the Most Rev. Peter Kwong of Hong Kong for East Asia/Pacific and the Most Rev. Barry Morgan of Wales for Europe. The Archbishop of Canterbury serves as president of the ACC and primates’ meeting.

(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:

· Primates Included as Ex Officio ACC Members

· 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

To find more news, feature articles, and commentary not available online, we invite you to subscribe to The Living Church magazine. To learn more, click here.