Accreditation issues

The news item with the most coverage online in the first three days of the ACC meeting (just check Anglican Mainstream, VirtueOnline and Stand Firm) seemed to be the story about the Revd Philip Ashey. David Virtue has the story as his lead article at the moment and calls it a major brouhaha. Philip Ashey was nominated by Archbishop Henry Orombi as the Ugandan clerical delegate and initially his nomination was accepted. It came to light that he had previously applied for press accreditation from an address in Georgia, USA. He is therefore a priest in the Ugandan church as a result of cross-border intervention, contrary to the Windsor Report etc. After taking legal advice the Joint Standing Committee deemed him not to be a duly qualified representative of the Ugandan Province and his nomination was declined. You can read the story at length on the aforementioned web sites.

What concerns me is that the decision not to recognise Philip Ashey becomes such a big issue for some. Canon Kenneth Kearon attended yesterday’s press briefing and spent 30 minutes being quizzed about how the decision was made, who has authority to reject delegates and why Philip Ashey was refused when American and Canadian delegates were approved - from churches which have failed to observe the moratoria, it was claimed.

As I watch the American and UK conservative groups reporting developments in the Communion, I observe how obsessive attention is give to events such as this. Questions are asked – who made the decision, by what authority, is it fair? The implication in the questions asked at yesterday’s press briefing was, no, it isn’t fair and there is no proper authority given in the constitution or standing orders of the Joint Standing Committee for them to have excluded Mr Ashey.

Those who believe the Communion is irretrievably broken and that an alternative Communion re-formed around GAFCON and ACNA will replace the present Communion focussed around Canterbury and the Instruments of Unity read what happened as another sign that the Anglican Communion colludes with the ‘revisionist’ North Americans and is a lost cause. The Instruments are not trusted to make impartial decisions. On the contrary, they are suspected of making decisions hostile to GAFCON/ACNA.

Having attended the Lambeth Conference last year, the Alexandria Primates meeting and now the ACC meeting here, the Communion seems to be in excellent health with warm Christian relationships restored between the majority of Primates, bishops and Provinces. The Instruments of Communion are not trusted by those who portray the North American Provinces as no longer Christian and as having evolved a new religion, a pernicious claim.

This morning, thanks to my Facebook membership of the Anglican TV group, I learnt that Kevin Kallesen is trying to raise money to fly here urgently because the Lambeth press office had refused to accredit his nominated volunteer because of ‘political turmoil’. The person in question is none other than the Revd Canon Julian Dobbs, Canon Missioner of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America who was in discrete attendance at the Primates meeting in Alexandria.

Canon Dobbs was declined accreditation because Anglican TV is a video outlet and he doesn’t have a video camera. Canon Dobbs is nevertheless here in Kingston, even more discretely than he was in Alexandria, resourcing the Ugandan representatives.

Inappropriate people have been nominated - one to the ACC, the other as a media person - and then refused accreditation. Their refusal become a news story. Conservative hubris dominates conservative web sites – read the threads. Those reading online reports for news of the ACC meeting get the false impression that a major drama is unfolding here.

The story that is unfolding here, at least so far, is that this Instrument of Communion has evolved dramatically since the ACC last met in Nottingham in 2006. The developmental process in the Communion which has taken place over the last six plus years has already achieved a great deal. Relationships have been tested and broken and (the majority) recreated and restored.

Peace and Justice Commission will keep homosexuality on the agenda until justice prevails

The press briefing this afternoon was attended by Jenny Te Paa from New Zealand, a member of the Peace and Justice Network, and George Browning, retired bishop of Canberra and convenor of the Environmental Network.

Jenny outlined the history of the Peace and Justice Network. Peacemaking was the prominent sentiment of the Network, the first to be formed, working on racism, sexism and fundamentalism. The group has visited many sites of struggle and conflict

The group evaluated its own life in 1995, recognising that it was composed primarily of bishops, and if not bishops, then their wives. It encouraged membership of lay people young people and women.

In 1995 in New York it met IMF officials and raised consciousness of third world debt. At the next meeting in Korea reunification was a major issue. In Jerusalem the Middle East and Palestine were the focus and in Rwanda and Burundi the civil war.

Following the 1998 Lambeth Conference the Network addressed human sexuality, raising it as a human rights issue. They focussed on the section of resolution 1.10 which assured homosexual people that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ.

George Browning outlined the development of environmental concerns beginning in the 1950s and 60s which have come to the fore in the last 20 years. It is a major issue, which large sections of the church have difficulty in seeing as a core issue, believing evangelism to be the main activity of the church.

The Environmental Network is dependent on passionate people at a local level who take up the cause. His commitment is driven by his faith. It is a core issue for him, affected by consideration of what the world will be like for his grandchildren. There is a false dichotomy between the priority given to economic issues against ecological issues – both suffer together and need to be transformed together. The network aims to have representatives from every Province and to include business people, bishops and people from the grass roots.

I asked Jenny whether the Network continued to hold this view about homosexuality, which was in conflict with other section of Resolution 1.10 and whether they continued to address it. Yes, said Jenny, the issue of lesbian and gay people will be on the agenda until justice prevails. It is a topic they continue to discuss every year. Jenny said the use of hermeneutics in addressing the issue is being considered, looking at the misuse of scripture to support various positions on this matter.

In the Peace and Justice Network the Anglican Communion seems to have a group widely representative of the majority of Provinces which holds a view on homosexuality at odds with the policy of the Communion as expressed in Lambeth 1.10, a resolution which is deeply compromised and tries to face both ways.

Covenant anxieties expressed in first ACC Plenary

The tensions and anxieties present in the Communion surfaced this morning in response to the presentation by Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the Ridley Cambridge draft of An Anglican Covenant at an Information Plenary session. Asked if there were any questions arising from five minutes of small table discussion following the Archbishop’s 30 minute presentation, there were none.

Five minutes later, after Bishop Phillip Aspinall had presented the Draft Resolution on the Covenant prepared by the Joint Standing Committee last week, questions were voiced. The issue is time scale. The fifth point of the draft resolution “requests ... member Churches to respond to the Secretary General by 2014 on the progress made in the process of adoption and response to the Covenant text.”

Bishop Mouneer Anis from Jerusalem and the Middle East asked why 2014 and not 2012 – why couldn’t churches complete their own process more quickly? He was told by Kenneth Kearon that Provinces had been asked after the St Andrews draft was circulated to say what time scale they needed to follow for the adoption process. Some Provinces indicated the need to hold two meetings of their General Synod, which would take them beyond the next ACC meeting in 2012 to ACC16 in 2014.

Stanley Isaacs from South East Asia pursued the question, asking why there should be a delay of five years. This is a long time scale given the urgency of the Communion’s problems. Why not have an extraordinary meeting of the legislative body to shorten the time scale. His Province is among those ready to adopt the Covenant now.


There are those in the Communion who want closure, not simply on the process of formulating an Anglican Covenant, but on disciplining, censuring or excluding The Episcopal Church and any other Province which decides formally to bless lesbian and gay relationships or ordain non-celibate lesbian or gay bishops (and, I suspect, priests).

The anxiety to adopt the Covenant within a short time scale has to be driven by the determination to foreclose discussion on the inclusion of LGBT people in the Communion.

Archbishop Drexel Gomez had emphasised urgency in unscripted remarks at the end of his presentation. It is now or never, he said it is this Covenant or there will be splits. He asked the ACC not to let this opportunity pass. Bishop Philip Aspinall reinforced this – no matter is more important this week than the Covenant, the focal point of concerns and anxieties dating from 10 years and more. A solemn responsibility falls to us, he said.


The reasons for the anxieties from those who have been arguing for an Anglican Covenant with teeth sharp enough to discipline and exclude ‘wayward’ Provinces became evident in Archbishop Gomez’s presentation. Reaction to the Nassau draft said the Primates had been given too much responsibility and that was changed. The St Andrews draft gave more responsibility to the ACC and added an appendix setting out rules of arbitration and resolution. That was criticised and has gone from the latest Ridley Cambridge draft. In this, the Instruments are not organs of government but consultation. Churches have to be able to be mutually accountable and responsible.

Section 3 says we are a family of equal churches committed to relationship. Nothing in the Covenant can or should change the constitution or canons of any Province.

The Ridley Cambridge Covenant draft, said Archbishop Gomez: “offers to give something to the Communion as a description of what Anglicans care about, un which we can agree a basis for future discussion, and which puts something in place that could really hold us together.”

Changing Attitude and other LGBT advocacy groups in also have anxieties about the Covenant, at the other end of the spectrum. Will it be used to discipline or exclude Provinces which already fully include LGBT people or are working towards full inclusion? Individual lesbian and gay people wonder whether a message will be sent, that their membership of the church and the love God has for them is conditional, dependent on them conforming with a conservative moral code and reading of scripture.

As I write, the ACC delegates have been meeting in smaller discernment groups to begin to formulate a response to the draft Resolution. No doubt some delegates will bring pressure to reduce the time scale. The Windsor Continuation Group is the focus of Tuesday’s sessions. Delegates return to the Covenant on Wednesday and on Friday in two decision making plenaries.

ACC Opening Service in the National Arena

The Anglican Consultative Council 14 began formally yesterday with a welcome Plenary session in the afternoon. It took off this morning at a service in the National Arena in Independence Park, Kingston. Some 8,000 people filled the indoor arena which had been transformed into a liturgical space overnight.

The service was short by Jamaican standards at 2½ hours but in all other respects was filled with the music and culture of Jamaica. The altar platform, altar, reredos, floral and artistic displays were stunning, delineated by white Corinthian columns.


The Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the Rt Revd Alfred Reid presided and the Archbishop of Canterbury preached, without notes, as far as I could tell – but then Rowan can and does. In his sermon Archbishop Rowan had preached about our need for forgiveness, reconciliation, justice, and justice was a theme which ran through the service.

In the intercessions, Sister Phyllis Thomas of the Church Army began by praying for all entrapped in structures of injustice and all who struggle for liberation; for people who hunger for justice and freedom; that justice may be achieved for the oppressed, fears and tensions eased, and exploitation brought to an end; for those who need encouragement and support as they struggle against prejudice and injustice; for ourselves, that despite the cost we will avoid false divisions between personal and social aspects of salvation.

The hymns, songs and music in the service where all Jamaican or Caribbean, perhaps the most unusual to find its place in an Anglican service being Bob Marley’s One Love, sung during the peace, which reduced me to tears. It’s always an emotional experience at services like this to be greeted with such great enthusiasm and warmth.

The first hymn sung during communion had been written for the Antilles Episcopal Conference in Trinidad – Let us enter into covenant with Christ, celebrating the Eucharist of love. The second hymn had been specially commissioned for this ACC meeting and was written by Mervyn Morris and Noel Dexter. It could have been written for a Changing Attitude or Inclusive Church service.

Lord of our diversity,
unite us all, we pray;
welcome us to fellowship
in your inclusive way.

Teach us all to have respect;
to love and not deride.
save us from the challenges
of selfishness and pride.

Sanctify our listening
and help us get the sense
of perplexing arguments
before we take offence.

Teach us that opinions which
at first may seem quite strange
may reflect the glory of
your great creative range.

May the Holy Spirit now
show us the way preferred.
may we follow the commands
of your authentic word.

The Diocesan Festival Choir and Massed Choir where conducted with a verve that reminded me of the choir master in the Vicar of Dibley, and I sensed might be a kindred spirit. The choirs were partnered by organs, drummers and steel band, and all played and sang with a verve that made me long for Sunday worship in Devizes Caribbean-style – some hope! The Jamaicans I spoke to who have visited the UK and worshipped in Church of England parishes described their shock at our lack of energy and celebration in worship. I can understand why they perceive our churches to be somewhat moribund, if not dead, a terrible disappointment when they expected to be inspired by their ‘mother church’.

The bishops of the Province concelebrated and were led in by massed ranks of servers dressed in cassock albs. Incense was plentiful with two thurifers circling the altar while the choir sang a Jamaican Te Deum after communion.

I left the service feeling elated. The first 48 hours here have further restored my confidence in the Communion’s ability to recover from the traumas of the past 6 years. The Anglican Consultative Council meeting feels very different from Nottingham 3 years ago.

Archbishop Rowan's sermon at the ACC opening service

The Archbishop of Canterbury preached at a service to mark the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Jamaica at a service in the National Arena in Independence Park, Kingston. Some 8,000 people filled the indoor arena which had been transformed into a liturgical space overnight.


He preached first on the first lesson, Acts 4:23-37 noting that the disciples spoke with such boldness that lives were changed and a new kind of community was born. In the Jerusalem community there was not one needy person – when the Spirit comes and the word is spoken the church is a community where there are no persons in need. He asked if ours is a community in which there are still people in need and answered, of course, yes. We are still on the way to becoming the church God wants us to be. Are we, Archbishop Rowan asked, prepared to be a Christian community where there is no-one in need. Including LGBT people, I thought to myself.

Needs go deeper than the material he continued. We need forgiveness, reconciliation, justice. Those who are hungry and thirsty for justice are blessed. Are we as a Communion meeting one another’s need for a word of hope or reconciliation? Who needs my forgiveness? Who am I hungry to hear a word of hope from? These words felt personal and challenging.


Turning to the gospel, John 10:11-16, Archbishop Rowan said God has met our need by putting himself completely at our service. So that we may live, God holds nothing back, pouring himself out. The hunger and need of the world are met by the gift of ourselves in prayer and love, if we take the great risk of letting go of what feels safe. Sadly, what we tend to do in conflict with others is say that I am right, which makes me feel safe.

In the Eucharist we bring the passionate, devouring hunger of human beings to hear the word of hope. We go out from the Eucharist committed to feed others from the food we have received. We take into our hearts and lives the promise of the Good Shepherd.

I heard a sermon preached to all of us who long for universal justice and love in the world and in our Communion, justice for the poor and hungry as well as justice for the oppressed and marginalised, the excluded and vulnerable, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of our Communion as well as the members of GAFCON, ACNA, Anglican Mainstream and the American Anglican Council.

What do Jamaican Anglicans really think about homosexuality?

I’ve just got drenched in a tropical downpour following a media briefing by Bishop John Patterson, Chair of the ACC and Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. Just seven media people were present. Questions were asked about tensions in the Communion, what weighty matters might arise, the Ridley Cambridge Covenant draft, the Windsor Continuation group and the proposed (or does it now exist in reality?) North American Province. The question about the latter was, will it be part of the agenda? The answer, no, it hasn’t been referred to ACC 14.

After the briefing I bumped into a number of friends attending the meeting in different capacities and on my way out of the hotel, engaged in a final conversation with a number of the (mostly) student volunteers from Jamaica who are giving their time to look after the ACC representatives. I was wearing my press accreditation badge and one of them eventually asked what Changing Attitude does. Taking a calculated risk, I told him and those standing listening.

I needn’t have worried. They were all thoughtful and open to talk and think about homosexuality, though all cautioned me to be totally discrete and exercise great care in public. One had witnessed two men from another Caribbean island kissing in public, and then witnessed the brutal attack inflicted on them.

I asked whether the church taught against homosexuality and if priests preached about it. No, never, they said, it isn’t an issue in our church. Their own opinions seemed to be tolerant. They talked about the abuse and humiliation inflicted on gay people in their schools and their attitude was, why would anybody choose or want to be gay when that’s what happens to you. Why not keep your homosexuality hidden?

I explained that being gay or lesbian is as normal for those who are as being heterosexual is for them, and to imagine not being free to be yourself.

The conversation reinforced what I know to be true. The obsession with homosexuality in the Communion is driven by individuals and interest groups who are obsessed about it. When people around the Communion tell me it isn’t a big issue for them, I know they are speaking the truth. Their bishops and primates are not telling the truth when they say that their whole church of Province is of one mind - against.

If the Listening Process were being implemented in Jamaica with people like those I encountered this afternoon, it might genuinely be possible to open people’s hearts and minds and come to a deeper understanding of the mystery of human sexuality in its infinite, holy variety. I suspect there are many bishops who would be willing to take the risk but don’t because their Primate has issued an edict against it.

The challenge for this meeting is to rise above the narrative of conflict and schism which conservatives are imposing on the Communion. The structure of this meeting has been designed to allow a genuine conversation in smaller groups about the issues brought to them for decision. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, when talking about the Windsor Continuation Group report and the Listening Process, the ACC representatives were able to listen carefully to each other and engage in a conversation as open and free from Primatial assumptions as the one I enjoyed this afternoon.

Anglican Consultative Council 14 – Kingston Jamaica

I’ve just attended the media induction meeting at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. There are slightly more media representatives here than were at the Primates meeting in Alexandria, with some yet to arrive. The mood feels relaxed, positive and confident. Anglican Mainstream is the only other UK group represented here, the others coming from North America.

I was unsure whether I should come, knowing that I need to be very discrete as a gay man visiting Jamaica and anxious that because I am here to blog and report publicly, my security might be compromised. Trust in the Lord, Colin. It is a gift to be here, in a country that feels less safe than the African countries I have visited. The other people staying in my hotel are somewhat edgy. It is also more dramatic, mountains rising steeply behind Kingston (I know Africa has drama but I have yet to visit beyond coastal areas).

Will there be drama here this week? The hope of the ACC is rightly that attention will focus on mission in the Communion.

The main conservative web sites have been focussing on talking up ACNA, their hoped for, new North American Province. The Province is almost certainly never going to be formally approved. I don’t think they want approval, I think they want an excuse to go it alone and set themselves up as the True ‘Orthodox’ ‘Mainstream’ Anglican Communion. It is in their interest to create a narrative about this meeting that questions its legitimacy.

It isn’t easy to stay grounded in Christian witness which seeks to proclaim the generous love and justice of God when we have to defend LGBT people all the time against those who wish to ‘heal’, marginalise or exclude us or ‘welcome’ us on their unacceptable terms.

LGBT people are engaged in mission, whether it be as individuals engaged in mission at home or overseas or in reaching out in the context of Greenbelt or Spring Harvest. Mission is an activity of the whole church and the whole church has lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members, who also need to participate in mission, communicating the love of God to LGBT people.

A representative of the Church of Jamaica was present at this morning’s briefing. She said the one question the Jamaican press have been asking is about homosexuality. The press push it onto the agenda, those opposed to the full inclusion of LGBT people push it onto the agenda, and I am happy to be here to field questions and respond. I feel safe because I know that the Communion is a Christian body which strives to be open and understanding, even when Provinces and bishops claim that homosexuality is unbiblical.

I will be present at tomorrow morning’s Provincial and Diocesan Service in the 8,000 capacity National Arena, and so will many other LGBT Jamaican Anglicans, too frightened to reveal themselves in a country which openly expresses aggressive attitudes against gay people. This is an unwelcome but serious challenge for mission in the worldwide Anglican Communion to which the ‘we can make you a happy heterosexual’ claims of Joseph Nicolosi are no answer at all.