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.