(ACNS) The Board of Governors of the Church Commissioners, and the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England have both met within the past few days to discuss an approach from the Lambeth Conference Company* for financial help. The Board met this morning (August 11th) and the Council on Thursday August 7th.
The Company has assured the Board and the Council that it is continuing to make further approaches throughout the Anglican Communion to meet the full cost of this year’s Conference. It cannot, however, be confident that these will generate funds sufficiently quickly for it to meet all of its obligations as they fall due over the coming weeks and months.
The Board of Governors of the Church Commissioners and the Archbishops’ Council have therefore each agreed to make available to the Company up to £600k as required to enable the Company to honour its commitments while fundraising efforts continue. At this stage both bodies regard these amounts as interest free loan facilities.
They will be considering these matters again at their September meetings when they expect a further report from the Company about the progress of its fundraising efforts.
From the AC Official Website: “The Lambeth Conference Company is the body given responsibility for managing the finances and administration of the Lambeth Conference 2008.”
That doesn’t tell us much. WHO gave this special Company that responsibility? It would seem that whoever they are, that group is responsible for holding the Company accountable for this fiasco. And they may be stuck with the bills too.
I find this scandalous debt symptomatic of so much that is wrong about the ACO (Anglican Communion Office). It reflects an attitude of living in unreality, not just financially but in other ways too. Not least, as +Bob Duncan the Lion-Hearted said so eloquently just before the start of GAFCON, the powers that be currently in the AC are still trying to maintain western control over the AC in a rather “colonial” fashion. Colonialism gave way to independence in the political realm in the mid 20th century. But religious colonialism still endures, or attempts to maintain colonial type control by western elites still endure anyway. And that is living in unreality.
The Lambeth Conference 2008 was bankrupt in more ways than one.
David Handy+