(ACNS) The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations (IASCER) held its last meeting in Kyoto, Japan, under the chairmanship of the Most Revd Drexel Gomez, Primate of the Church in the Province of the West Indies. The Commission is charged with reviewing current international ecumenical dialogues involving Anglicans, and provincial and regional initiatives towards unity with other Christians. IASCER consists of representatives from each international dialogue involving Anglicans, including the multilateral dialogue of Faith and Order, and of certain other commissions and networks, and consultants who bring particular regional or theological expertise.
Reports were received of all current bilateral and multilateral theological dialogues of the Anglican Communion, as well as of developments from particular regions of the globe. In the course of reflections on the current life of the Anglican Communion, the Commission also reflected further on aspects of the interface between ecumenical and Anglican Communion matters. This work is reflected in the documentation and resolutions produced at this meeting. These pieces of work will be published when available through the Anglican Communion website. IASCER also gave some considerable attention to reviewing the breadth of their work in the period since their formation and first meeting in 2000. It is the intention to produce a comprehensive report and review of their work (The Vision Before Us) which can be presented to the fourteenth meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, which will meet in Jamaica in May 2009.
“Reports were received of all current bilateral and multilateral theological dialogues of the Anglican Communion, as well as of developments from particular regions of the globe. In the course of reflections on the current life of the Anglican Communion, the Commission also reflected further on aspects of the interface between ecumenical and Anglican Communion matters. This work is reflected in the documentation and resolutions produced at this meeting. These pieces of work will be published when available through the Anglican Communion website. IASCER also gave some considerable attention to reviewing the breadth of their work in the period since their formation and first meeting in 2000. It is the intention to produce a comprehensive report and review of their work (The Vision Before Us) which can be presented to the fourteenth meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, which will meet in Jamaica in May 2009.”
The reports should be interesting. There appears to be a discontinuity between the full communion as a move toward church union approach taken by the American and Canadian churches and the unity as a requirement for full communion approach which has contributed to ecumenical stalemate in England and the churches which adopt that pattern. The Porvoo Agreement for full communion is between national churches only. The slow progress of the CofE – Methodist and CofE – Moravian discussions suggests to me that the English might learn something from the cousins across the water. But then the approach taken by the leaders of General Convention toward those who have withdrawn from GC also suggests that we have something to learn from England.
Sounds like nothing much is happening, which is certainly the impression that reading +Epting’s blog gives over the past year. Of course, he counts relations with Methodists as ecumenical, so … .
No mention of whose out of ecumenical relations either… so … . In short, there was nothing of significance to report except that there was a meeting that should have had something to report….