Resolutions

Resolutions of ACC-3

1. The proposed Church of Lanka
2. The Thirty Nine Articles
3. United Churches
4. Report on the Theology of Marriage
5. Anglican-Lutheran Joint Working Group
6. Conference of Secretaries of WCFs
7. Joint Mission and Visible Unity
8. Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission
9. Training for Ministry
10.  The Diaconate
11.  Deaconesses
12.  Self-Supporting Ministry
13.  Team Ministries
14.  Selection and Training for Ministry
15.  Personnel Movement
16.  Indigenous Theological Studies
17.  Partners in Mission
18.  Provincial and Diocesan Organisation
19.  The Lambeth Conference
20.  Amortisation of Lease
21.  Interest on Funds
22.  Standing Committee, Treasurer and Auditors
23.  Membership
24.  Trust Fund
25.  The ACC: Past, Present and Future
26.  ACC and Lambeth Conference
27.  ACC Agenda
28.  Task Force on Communication
29.  “Response” and “Partners in Prayer”
30.  Legal Consultant
31.  Comparative Study of Constitutions
32.  Korea
33.  Proposed Province of Burundi, Rwanda & Zaire
34.  Proposed Province of Nigeria
35.  Proposed Province of Papua New Guinea
36.  Proposed Province of the Sudan
37.  Parallel Jurisdictions in Europe
38.  St George's College, Jerusalem
39.  Mothers' Union
40.  Province of Burma
41.  Christians of China
42.  Rhodesia

Resolution 1: The proposed Church of Lanka

The Council expresses sympathy with and concern for the Dioceses of Colombo and Kurunagala and their partners as they await the result of the legal actions which are hampering the attainment of their plans for union.

Resolution 2: The Thirty Nine Articles

1. The Council is opposed to the re-writing of the Articles either in whole or in part. It sees no reason why any member church should not by resolution of its appropriate authorities issue an explanatory statement of the nature of the Articles and of their status to-day.
2. The Council asks member churches to report to the Secretary General in time for the next Lambeth Conference or ACC-4:
   1. on the present status of the Thirty Nine Articles in their church;
   2. on the current practice regarding subscription or assent by the clergy and other officers of the church;
   3. whether they still print the Articles with the official liturgy of the church (see Resolution 43 of Lambeth 1968).

Resolution 3: United Churches

1. The Council encourages Churches of the Anglican Communion who have not already done so to establish formal relationships with those united Churches which include former Anglicans.
2. The Council is of the opinion that the 'Partners in Mission' programme offers important opportunities for the furtherance of reciprocal relationships with the united Churches.
3. The Council asks Churches of the Anglican Communion to be sensitive to the particular needs of the united Churches, and to the problems which may arise if a sense of isolation is allowed to develop.

Resolution 4: Report on the Theology of Marriage

The Council welcomes the news that the final report of the Anglican- Roman Catholic Commission on the Theology of Marriage, with special reference to Mixed Marriages, has been completed. It regrets that the report was not published in time for consideration. Nevertheless, it commends the report to the careful study by the Churches of the Anglican Communion. Practical solutions of the problems of inter- Church marriages with which the report deals are impossible without a spirit of co-operation which is not everywhere evident. The Council therefore hopes that each member Church will be able at every level to discuss the report with Roman Catholics.

Resolution 5: Anglican-Lutheran Joint Working Group

The Council welcomes the careful and detailed report of the Joint Working Group. It notes that the responses of Lutheran and Anglican churches to the Anglican-Lutheran International Conversations {Pullach Report) make it clear that while there is wide agreement between the two traditions, there are still areas that call for much fuller discussion, especially the concepts of justification, eucharistic presence, apostolicity and episcopacy. In connection with the last point, we hope that attention will be given to the place of bishops in the Church, rather than to the abstract idea of episcope. It is noted that the Joint Working Group does not recommend a further round of international discussions at present, but that local and regional conversations should go on. It is noted also that both Churches are in conversation with the Roman Catholic Church, and the Council hopes that these conversations will lead to a convergence between Anglicans and Lutherans with each other, as well as with Rome.

Resolution 6: Conference of Secretaries of WCFs

1. The Council welcomes the publication of a revised edition of Confessions in Dialogue by the Conference of Secretaries of WCFs in co-operation with the Secretariat of Faith and Order of the WCC, and expresses the hope that this process will continue and be used by the Anglican churches involved in unity negotiations.
2. The Council authorises the continued participation of the appropriate Anglican representative in the Conference of Secretaries of WCFs, and in the Advisory Group to be convened by the Faith and Order Commission of the WCC, on the understanding that this does not imply anew Secretariat within or outside the WCC.

Resolution 7: Joint Mission and Visible Unity

The Council expresses the hope that more of our member churches will take fresh initiatives in, and become the patient labourers for, national and regional gatherings of churches which will provide the vehicle for the expression of commitment to joint mission and visible unity in every place.

Resolution 8: Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission

The Council refers to member Churches the matter of agreement and discussion in doctrine and theology throughout the Anglican Communion. It asks the member Churches to send to the Secretary General their responses to the following questions:

1. Does your Church have a Commission on doctrine or theology?
2. Is your Church informed of the work of similar Commissions in other member Churches?
3. Would your Church be in favour of co-ordination of doctrinal and .theological study in member Churches by way of an inter-Anglican Commission?

It is asked that replies be reported to the next Lambeth Conference and for ACC-4.

Resolution 9:Training for Ministry.

The Council strongly urges Principal Correspondents for Education to submit information concerning the content and method of training for clergy and laity within their churches to the Secretary General for distribution by him in the Anglican Information Service.

Resolution 10: The Diaconate

The Council advises:

1. that the use of the Diaconate as a period of preparation for the priesthood be retained; and that every church should review its practice to ensure that this period is one of continued training and further testing of vocation; but that it is not to be regarded as necessarily leading to the priesthood;
2. that the churches, and particularly the laity, be invited to examine the concept of the Diaconate as an Order to which lay people serving the Church, or serving in the name of the Church, could also be admitted, to express and convey the authority of the Church in their service. And, in this consideration, to take into account Resolution 32 of Lambeth 1968, and Bishop John Howe's article on the Diaconate written in preparation for that meeting of Lambeth. This study should include the status of deacons in Synods.

Resolution 11: Deaconesses

The Council asks:

1. the provinces to declare that those made deaconesses by laying on of hands, with appropriate prayer, be declared to be within the Diaconate;
2. that appropriate canonical legislation be enacted by provinces and regional churches to provide for those already made deaconesses.

Resolution 12: Self-Supporting Ministry

That in view of the rapid development of the self-supporting ministry throughout the Communion, and the way God has manifestly used it. the Council commends it to all the churches, to be encouraged and used with synodical support and caring pastoral oversight.

Resolution 13: Team Ministries

The Council recommends that teams of ministers, ordained and lay. should be formed in areas of convenient size, whether parishes or groups of parishes, or areas of development, or for any special task. It believes that this should be the normal pattern of the Church's ministry.

Resolution 14: Selection and Training for Ministry

The Council recommends that all member churches should endeavour to secure the greatest possible participation of the local church in the selection and training of the ministry.

Resolution 15: Personnel Movement

The Council asks the member Churches to consider what steps each can take to improve the co-ordination of the movement of personnel (clerical and lay) between them.

Resolution 16: Indigenous Theological Studies

The Council strongly urges the Principal Correspondents for Education to submit information concerning indigenous theological studies to the Secretary General for distribution by him in the Anglican Information Service.

Resolution 17:Partners in Mission

The Council:

1. affirms that the implementation of the Joint Consultation process proposed at Dublin has been an important co-operative and educational experiment and should continue to be developed;
2. asks the churches to consider the recommendations made for the improvement of the process and suggestions for the next phase of Consultations;
3. asks the Secretary General to explore the possibility of the use of a similar consultation process by the World Confessional Families experimentally in certain regions in order to promote joint action for and understanding of mission.

Resolution 18: Provincial and Diocesan Organisation

The Council requests all Provinces and proposed Provinces to notify the Secretary General prior to ACC-4 of developments of either permanent or experimental nature regarding Provincial and Diocesan organisation.

Resolution 19:The Lambeth Conference

The Council advises that:

The next Lambeth Conference should:

1. be in 1978 on the same pattern as 1968;
2. be residential, and held in London or Canterbury;
3. consist of all diocesan bishops (about 400), 40 assistant bishops, 60 consultants and observers including the Standing Committee of ACC;
4. be preceded by an ACC meeting;
5. last for 3 and a half weeks.

Carried in favour 40: against 5: abstentions 5

Resolution 20: Amortisation of Lease

The Council resolved that the amount of the annual amortisation of the lease plus an additional £2,000 a year from the Accumulated Reserve Fund be transferred to a capital reserve fund for purchase of suitable property for the secretariat of the ACC. This annual transfer to be made on 1st January 1976, and again in 1977.

Resolution 21: Interest on Funds

The Council recommended to the treasurer of the ACC that funds held for specific purposes each receive a proportionate amount of interest at the average earning rate for the year.

Resolution 22: Standing Committee, Treasurer and Auditors

The Council decided that when next the Standing Committee meet in London in 1977 they would like the treasurer and the auditors to meet with them.

Resolution 23: Membership

The Council resolved:

1. That as from a member's first attendance at an ACC meeting the membership period of six years shall be taken to mean three successive meetings of the ACC, assuming the intention is maintained that the Council meets every two years.
2. That following precedent this standing Committee shall continue in office until and including the first meeting of the Standing Committee following the present Council meeting.
3. Alternate Members: That the Standing Committee's guideline of 1974 (see Tome, p.510) be confirmed that "any alternate might be re-appointed an alternate member, or appointed a full member , unless he had already replaced a member at two meetings of the Council."
4. Co-opted Members: That the Secretary General in consultation with the President collect nominations for co-opted members of the Council, and that the Standing Committee be given power to act on this information.

Resolution 24: Trust Fund

The Council requests the President of the Anglican Consultative Council to appoint a small group of its members to consider the advisability and ways and means of providing a trust fund for the purposes of the Anglican Communion, and to report to the Standing Committee.

Resolution 25: The ACC: Past, Present and Future

The Council:

1. Received the Report with appreciation and acclaim.
2. Recommends that meetings of the ACC be held at intervals of approximately every two or three years as appropriate, and that the Constitution be amended accordingly.
3. Asks members of the ACC to examine the Constitution of the ACC and to send their views and suggested amendments to the Secretary General by the end of 1976, from which he will produce a working paper for the Standing Committee meeting in 1977.
4. Since the time has come to separate the ACC office from the Secretary General's house, empowers the Standing Committee to take such steps as may be appropriate, within the limits of finance available, to re-arrange office and housing accommodation as possible and necessary.

Resolution 26: ACC and Lambeth Conference

The Council requests the Archbishop of Canterbury, as President of the Anglican Consultative Council, to appoint a committee (including the office bearers of the Council) to receive comments and recommendations concerning:

1. the implications of the coming Lambeth Conference on the staff needs of the Anglican Consultative Council;
2. relationships between the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council - including the dates of the next meeting of the ACC;
3. financial implications for the ACC in the light of the Lambeth Conference;

and to make recommendations and to take necessary decisions in consultation with the members of the Standing Committee between now and the next meeting of the Standing Committee; and further, authorises the Standing Committee to make decisions on its behalf relating to the , coming Lambeth Conference.

Resolution 27: ACC Agenda

The Council:

1. proposes that, since one of its purposes Is "to share information about developments in one or more Provinces with other parts of the Communion", specific time should be set. aside in the agenda for reporting by representatives of particular local conditions, experiences, problems and developments, and for their general discussion.
2. recommends that during meetings of the ACC there is need for more in-depth exchanges of understanding and experience regarding those problems and opportunities relating to the mission of the Church.

Resolution 28: Task Force on Communication

The Council

1. receives and adopts the Report of the Task Force on Communication, with its Recommendations; expresses its thanks to those responsible for the Report; and authorises the Secretary General to implement the Report when additional and guaranteed finance is available over and above the budget of the ACC;
2. resolves that a sum of £2,000 from present reserve funds be made available to assist the Secretary General with temporary help with communications.

Resolution 29: "Response" and "Partners in Prayer"

The Council:

1. Expresses its gratitude for the publication over past years of Response, and its warm appreciation to all who have worked to produce it;
2. commends the use of the publication Partners in Prayer, for use with our Cycle of Prayer, to those Provinces who may wish to use it.

Resolution 30: Legal Consultant

The Council authorises the Secretary General, in consultation with members of the Standing Committee, to appoint a consultant for legal matters relating to constitutions referred to the ACC for advice.

Resolution 31: Comparative Study of Constitutions

The Council authorises the officers of the ACC to commission a competent person to make a comparative study of existing Provincial and General Synod Constitutions and Canons; and to report to the . Secretary General. The purpose of this study would be to identify:

1. common aspects within the existing documents;
2. the alternative ways in which existing provinces deal with various constitutional and canonical concerns.

The Council recommended that the officers of the ACC appoint a small committee to consider and revise a draft definition of Metropolitical authority, outlined by the Constitutions Committee, and to report if possible to the Standing Committee meeting in 1977.

Resolution 32: Korea

The Council recommends that the Anglican Church in Korea review with the Archbishop of Canterbury its Constitution and Canons particularly to clarify the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury as the Metropolitical Authority of the three dioceses of Korea.

Resolution 33: Proposed Province of Burundi, Rwanda & Zaire

The Council advises that the appropriate authorities in the Church of a Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire consider further the best kind of development for an autonomous francophone Church, and that the proposals made above should be acted upon.

Resolution 34: Proposed Province of Nigeria

The Council welcomes the above development in West Africa, which includes the preservation of the fellowship between the dioceses of the present Province of West Africa, and finds the draft Constitution in order.

Resolution 35: Proposed Province of Papua New Guinea

The Council advises that the plans for constituting a Province of Papua New Guinea should be proceeded with, but that the Constitution should be revised along the lines proposed above.

Resolution 36: Proposed Province of the Sudan

The Council advises that the plans for the inauguration of the Province of the Sudan should proceed, but that the draft Constitution should be revised in accordance with the above proposals.

Resolution 37: Parallel Jurisdictions in Europe

The Council noted with pleasure the report of the meeting in London and wishes its progress well.

Resolution 38: St George's College, Jerusalem

The Council

1. receives the report made to it by the Chairman of the International Governing Council;
2. notes and commends the efforts being made to provide a revised constitution with provisions to ensure that the Bishop and Diocese in Jerusalem are seen as partners in the project, and to provide for the wider Anglican Communion to have the opportunity of sharing in the guidance of the centre;
3. commends the work of the College to the support of the Churches of the Anglican Communion in regard to the provision of scholarship assistance;
4. notes with appreciation the work of the regional committees in Britain and the United States of America in their efforts to support and forward the work of the College.

Resolution 39: Mothers' Union

The Council, meeting at Chaguaramas Convention Centre, Trinidad, on 31st March 1976:

1. wishes to send a letter of congratulation to the Mothers' Union on their Centenary when they meet in London next June;
2. urges all member Churches to support the Mothers' Union, the Church Fellowships, and similar organisations in their areas which teach and witness to the Christian ideals of marriage and family life.

Resolution 40: Province of Burma

The Council sends greetings to the Primate and to the Province of Burma, and expresses the hope that the Church in Burma may be able soon to share in the life of the Council.

Resolution 41:Christians of China

The Council, recognising that the Christian faith continues to be maintained in the People's Republic of China but that adequate information is not available to the Council, encourages member Churches to pray with the Christians of China that the Holy Spirit may continue to fill his people with faith to the glory of God and the welfare and advancement of the people's Republic. The Council looks to the time when the insights of the Christians from the People's Republic of China may be shared in the fellowship of this Council.

Resolution 42: Rhodesia

The Council expresses in penitence its concern at the failure of the recent efforts to find a solution of the Rhodesian question, and calls on all the member Churches to pray for God's guidance in finding without delay the right solution which recognises the rights, responsibilities, and aspirations of the majority of the people of that country.