ACC Resolutions
Resolutions of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) are formal agreements that capture the collective discernment of lay, clergy, and episcopal representatives from across the globe. They represent significant moments of shared reflection, shaping the cooperative work and mission priorities of the Anglican Communion. This page provides a comprehensive library of all resolutions agreed since the Council first met, offering essential historical context and direct access to the decisions that have guided the Anglican tradition for over five decades.
What ACC resolutions are
The Anglican Communion is a global family of 42 autonomous Member Churches, also known as Provinces, which maintain a presence in more than 165 countries. You can explore the full directory of these provinces here. Within this expansive network, the Anglican Consultative Council functions as one of the four key Instruments of Communion. It operates alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, and the Primates’ Meeting to foster unity and assist the global mission of the Church.
Further details on its institutional role can be found here.
An ACC resolution is a formally adopted text that outlines a shared position, commends a piece of theological work, or directs the cooperative activities of the Member Churches. Because the Anglican Communion operates without a centralised governing body, these resolutions serve as crucial markers of common purpose. They articulate the consensus of the most representative body of gathered Anglicans, giving voice to the faith and priorities of the Communion at a specific moment in time.
How the ACC agrees a resolution
The Anglican Consultative Council meets approximately every three years, gathering in different global locations to foster a profound sense of shared community and international engagement. Its unique strength lies in its composition. It is the only Instrument of Communion that formally integrates lay people, deacons, priests, and bishops into a single consultative assembly. At ACC-17, this commitment to diverse representation was further strengthened by the inclusion of youth delegates for the first time.
During a meeting, representatives from the Member Churches debate and refine proposed texts before bringing them to a vote. It is important to recognise that the ACC is a consultative, rather than a legislative, assembly. This means that when the representatives agree upon a resolution, they are not passing a binding law across the Communion. Instead, they are arriving at a shared recommendation that carries significant moral and consultative weight. The process is designed to support and enable the Member Churches, respecting their autonomy while encouraging a unified approach to global challenges.
What happens after a resolution is agreed
Once a resolution is agreed, it is officially published and disseminated across the Communion. The Anglican Communion Office (ACO), as official secretariat for the Communion, works alongside the Member Churches to assist the reception of these resolutions, providing resources and facilitating dialogue so that the texts can be understood and applied effectively.
Because the resolutions are not legally binding, the subsequent steps depend entirely on the individual Member Churches. Each Province receives the resolutions into its own context. A Province may choose to implement the recommendations fully, adapt them to suit local cultural and legal requirements, or decline to act upon them based on the discernment of its own synodical processes. This reception process is a hallmark of Anglican polity, balancing the desire for global cohesion with the reality of local self-governance. The goal is not rigid uniformity, but rather a shared foundation that supports cooperative work and mutual understanding.
Resolutions across the 19 meetings (1971 – 2026)
The historical arc of ACC resolutions tells the story of a Communion navigating profound global and theological changes. The Council first met in 1971 in Limuru, Kenya (ACC-1). Even in that inaugural meeting, the resolutions tackled complex and sensitive topics, including early discernment regarding the ordination of women.
Over the subsequent decades, several landmark themes have emerged consistently. Ecumenism has been a dominant focus at almost every meeting, with significant resolutions commending Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue, Anglican-Methodist unity schemes, and formal processes for the reception of ecumenical texts. At ACC-17, for instance, the Council endorsed a specific, multi-stage process for formally receiving agreements from bilateral dialogues. This process mandates that when an ecumenical dialogue concludes an agreed statement, it is studied by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) before the ACC formally welcomes it and commends it to the Member Churches for reflection.
Perhaps the most universally recognised output of the ACC is the formulation of the Five Marks of Mission.
“To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation.”
The original four marks, which focus on evangelism, discipleship, loving service, and transforming unjust structures, were affirmed at ACC-6 in 1984. The fifth mark, which calls Anglicans to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, was added at ACC-8 in 1990. The fourth mark was later refined at ACC-15 in 2012 to explicitly include the pursuit of peace and reconciliation, as quoted above. These marks now act as the primary framework for Anglican mission worldwide.
Other recurring themes reflect the Communion’s deep engagement with pressing global issues. Resolutions have consistently addressed racism, poverty, and development. In more recent years, there has been a pronounced focus on interfaith relations, creation care, and the establishment of Safe Church guidelines to protect the vulnerable within church communities. The Anglican Communion Safe Church Commission, for example, was established directly following a request from the ACC at its meeting in Lusaka in 2016 (ACC-16). Additionally, the Council frequently passes resolutions aimed at reinforcing theological education and capacity development across the Provinces.
