The Anglican Communion Office has announced two new members of the Standing Committee, and gives us a glimpse of how the Anglican Communion might operate should the Covenant pass.
The forthcoming Standing Committee meeting will welcome two new members from Asia and Africa: Bp Paul Sarker (Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and Bishop of Dhaka) and Revd Canon Janet Trisk of South Africa (Rector of the Parish of St David, Prestbury in Pietermaritzburg, in the Diocese of Natal).
The two new additions and the existing members face a packed agenda for their July meeting that includes reports on finance, mission, the Anglican Relief and Development Alliance, evangelism and church growth, and unity, faith and order including the progress of consideration of the Anglican Communion Covenant by the Provinces.
They will also be discussing Standing Committee membership issues including electing a successor to Bp Azad Marshall, Bishop of Iran, and noting the resignations of Archbishops Justice Akrofi and Henry Orombi.
The appointments questions:
1) Archbishop Orombi is treated as if he has resigned from the group, when it appears that all he wanted to do was register his displeasure at the presence of Americans by not showing up.
2) The Standing Committee will elect to fill Marshall’s spot, but not the vacancy filled by Archbishop Anis resignation and Orombi’s absence, indicating that they are treating the Anglican Consultative Council member and the members of the Primates group differently. What is the relationship between these two “instruments of communion” and the constitution of the Primates Group? Why are people who are not members of the ACC electing the ACC’s representative to the Standing Committee?
Matthew Davies has filed a story for ENS.