The Tribune

The Anglican Consultative Council which recently met in Hong Kong for its 17th meeting set the Anglican Communion’s mission and ministry agenda for the coming years.

Here are some of the resolutions it passed:

• Affirming support of the International Anglican Women’s Network and women’s ministries

• Affirming that gender justice and equality are an inherent part of intentional discipleship embedded in the Gospel and rooted in the Christian values of human dignity, justice, and love; commending for use “God’s Justice: Just Relationships between Women and Men, Girls and Boys”; and requesting member churches to involve men, boys, women and girls in building mutually just and equitable relationships in families, churches and other communities and encourage shared decision-making and leadership.

• Recognising that there is a global climate emergency, encouraging member churches to make the Fifth Mark of Mission (To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth) “a living testament to our faith,” and encouraging the Lambeth Conference 2020 to be as environmentally sustainable as possible.

• Calling for work to develop an Anglican Health Network.

• Noting with concern the pattern of invitations to the Lambeth Conference 2020, requesting the archbishop of Canterbury ensure that a listening process is put in place with supportive and independent facilitation in order to hear the concerns and voices of people especially those who have felt themselves mariginalised with regard to sexuality, as well as compiling all the work done in this area across the communion since Lambeth 1998, and requesting the archbishop of Canterbury look at all issues of discrimination across the communion to make recommendations to the Standing Committee and to report to ACC18.

• Encouraging member churches and communion agencies to continue and extend their work to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, requesting that the secretary general reports to the Standing Committee, no later than its first meeting in 2020, on a 10-year strategy on communion engagement with the goals.

• Approving a new Anglican Communion process for receiving ecumenical texts developed out of its dialogues with other Christian traditions 

• Recognising the failures of the past and the determination that every church in the Anglican Communion is a safe place for everyone, especially children, young people and vulnerable adults; approving the “Guidelines to enhance the safety of all persons – especially children, young people and vulnerable adults – within the provinces of the Anglican Communion”; requesting member churches and extra-provincial churches under the direct metro-political jurisdiction of the archbishop of Canterbury to take specific steps (outlined in resolution’s text) toward this end; and requesting the secretary general to reconstitute the Anglican Communion Safe Church Commission.