The Lead

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion have announced the membership of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission for Unity, Faith and Order [IASCUFO]. The remarkably clergy-heavy commission is, according the ACNS release, charged with overseeing the ecumenical life of the communion. But earlier mentions of the commission had pointed to perhaps its underlying purpose: to define the instruments of communion in order to facilitate greater discipline and the make Anglican Communion more of a church with a magisterium. And Rowan Williams has said that in his view ecumenical work has been hampered because the Anglican Communion has been unable to give assurances of what it is and what it stands for.

The news release, in full:

Inter-Anglican Standing Commission for Unity, Faith and Order - IASCUFO
Posted On : July 1, 2009 4:13 PM | Posted By : Webmaster
ACNS: ACNS4638
Related Categories: ACO ACO - Ecumenical

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion have announced the membership of an important new commission, following extensive consultation with the Provinces of the Communion around the world. The Chair is the Most Revd Bernard Ntahoturi, Primate of the Anglican Church of Burundi.

IASCUFO will oversee the ecumenical life of the Anglican Communion, and will:

* promote the deepening of Communion between the Anglican Communion and other Christian Churches and traditions;
* advise the Provinces, the Primates, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, on all questions of ecumenical engagement, as well as on questions of Anglican Faith and Order;
* review developments in the areas of Faith, Order and Unity in the Anglican Communion and among ecumenical partners, and give advice upon them to the Churches of the Anglican Communion and to the Instruments of Communion;
* assist any Province with the assessment of new proposals in the areas of Unity, Faith and Order as requested.

The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission for Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) will start its work in December 2009 in Canterbury, England.

IASCUFO will take forward the work of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations (IASCER), and the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission (IATDC).

Members of the Commission

The Most Revd Bernard Ntahoturi, Burundi (Chair)
The Rt Revd Dr George Titre Ande, Congo
The Ven Professor Dapo Asaju, Lagos State University, Nigeria
The Revd Canon Dr Paul Avis, England
The Rt Revd Philip D Baji, Bishop of Tanga, Tanzania
The Revd Canon Dr Alyson Barnett-Cowan, Canada
The Revd Canon Dr John Gibaut, WCC Commission on Faith and Order
The Rt Revd Howard Gregory, Bishop of Montego Bay, West Indies
The Revd Dr Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, The Episcopal Church
The Revd Canon Clement Janda, Sudan
The Revd Dr Edison Muhindo Kalengyo, Uganda Christian University, Uganda
The Rt Revd Victoria Matthews, Bishop of Christchurch, Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia
The Revd Canon Dr Charlotte Methuen, Oxford University, England
The Revd Dr Simon Oliver, University of Nottingham, England
The Rt Revd Professor Stephen Pickard, Assistant Bishop of Adelaide, Australia
Dr Andrew Pierce, Irish School of Ecumenics, Ireland
The Revd Canon Dr Michael Nai Chiu Poon, Trinity Theological College, Singapore, South East Asia
The Revd Sarah Rowland Jones, Southern Africa
The Revd Dr Jeremiah Yang, Sheng Gong Hui (Anglican) University, Korea
The Rt Revd Tito Zavala, Bishop of Chile, Southern Cone

The Secretary to the Commission will be the Director for Unity, Faith and Order, Anglican Communion Office.

See this previous The Lead post on the IASCUFO purpose in addressing the "ecclesial deficit" and creating a magisterium for the communion.

Whether a committee this large and diverse can accomplish much (or do much damage) is another question.

As Mathew Davies notes, the 20-member group includes five women and one, count'em (or, rather count him) one lay person.

Comments (6)

PECUSA, TEC, ACC, GAFCON, CACE, IERE, AMiA, CANA, ACNA, IARCA, and now IASCUFO?

They should explore the incessant use of acronyms as an Anglican Instrument of Unity.

Posted by Matthew Buterbaugh+ | July 2, 2009 1:01 PM

I don't see anybody from the "Global Center." Nobody from Mexico, nobody from Central America, nobody from Brazil...

The only Latin-American there is a bishop of the Southern Cone (curiously, in a committee supposedly about "unity").

It is, as usual, the same anglo-centered group, where "diversity" means lots of people from Africa.

Posted by Luiz Coelho | July 2, 2009 1:09 PM

There are more Anglicans living in Africa than anywhere else, except Heaven. Any lack of diversity is not due to their presence. I know you were not quite saying that Luiz: there are too many white folks.

John Sandeman (Who is half Japanese - Luiz and I could have fixed the diversity prblem ourselves!)

Posted by Obadiah Slope | July 2, 2009 11:02 PM

Luiz is right, after the usual white suspects, one adds a few Africans and one has achieved the diversity of the AC. Many of us remain far too invisible. From a quick perusal, the only white churches missing are Wales and Scotland and the only African church missing is Central Africa.

At least Revdmo Zavala is not one of the white bishops in del Cono Sur!

Posted by David Allen |dah • veed| | July 3, 2009 12:04 PM

The affirmation "extensive consultation" does not seem true. Brazil did not receive any formal consultation on that. Unfortunately, one more inter-anglican commission with only one latin-american face. And, in a context of cross border actions, one representative from Southern Cone. Secondly, the comission itself is not respectful with ACC's resolution on gender equality!

Francisco Silva

Posted by xicoassis | July 3, 2009 12:19 PM

JB Chilton writes, "...Rowan Williams has said that in his view ecumenical work has been hampered because the Anglican Communion has been unable to give assurances of what it is and what it stands for."

Finally! we have it from the horse´s mouth that the real reason for the Covenant is the (to me) idiocy of Anglican ecumenists, ready to bend over backwards to please Rome´s insistence that we ought to be more like them.

British Anglican ecumenists tweaked by Cardinal Kasper began capitulating way before +Gene Robinson was elected. Their hand-wringing did NOT begin with the ordination of +Gene Robinson, but right after the episcopal ordination of the first woman, +Barbara Harris. By then the Vatican had become much more hard-line about ecumenical relations.

The real obstacles to better ecumenical relations with Rome have been the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. We are so far from the ecumenical halcyon days of Paul VI!

Remember: The Covenant is NOT about Gene Robinson. It´s about becoming an internationally structured church, much more like Rome.

Posted by Juan Oliver | July 7, 2009 1:54 PM

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