Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission Communique

October 23, 2002

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The initial meeting of the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission had been disrupted by the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, so this year's meeting was the first occasion for all members to come together. Assembled at Virginia Theological Seminary, and charged by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Consultative Council to articulate ‘the meaning and maintenance of communion', the Commission was once again vividly aware of the volatility of human communities. Dramatic preparations were being made for the anniversary of September 11, rhetoric for regime change in Iraq was gathering force, and during the meeting news was received of the murder of a Congolese priest as he was travelling to a meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council.

The Commission, twenty-two theologians and teachers from all parts of the Anglican Communion under the Chairmanship of the Rt Rev'd Professor Stephen Sykes, was also acutely aware of conflict and potential divisions within the church. Papers commissioned for the meeting and extensive correspondence with dioceses and centres of theological education around the world were discussed. Over 100 replies were received to questions about the nature of communion, threats to its integrity, and the degree to which ‘moral teachings' define, but also at times divide, Christian identity. What has become clear is that alongside well-publicised differences over attitudes to homosexuality, questions of gender and ministry or the possibility of lay-presidency at the Eucharist, most Anglicans are even more concerned about the way appropriate expressions of fellowship could provide mutual support for churches living under the threats of poverty, ethnic tensions, violence and enormous human need. An underlying theology of communion (koinonia) will need to engage all these issues.

The Commission is committed to continuing its task in conversation with the Anglican Communion as a whole, and especially with churches of the global South. In a second stage of consultation, responses are being sought to a series of propositions about the nature of conflict in the church; the role of Scripture; the proper integration of doctrine and ethics; the way in which local, contextual questions are addressed and how far the interdependence of Anglican provinces can be a source of strength in this responsibility, along with the need to find structures of ‘testing, reconciliation and restraint' which are appropriate to an Anglican understanding of authority in the Church.

The Commission greatly appreciated the generous hospitality of Virginia Theological Seminary and expects to meet next from 4-9 September 2003. A review of responses to the first phase of the Commission's work, The Communion Study, 2002: Four key questions for Anglicans, will be sent to dioceses along with an outline of the future course of its study. Additional details will be shown on the IATDC pages of the Anglican Communion web-site: www.anglicancommunion.org.

Participants were: The Rt Rev'd Prof Stephen Sykes, England, Chairman; Dr Jennie Te Paa, Aotearoa/NZ and Polynesia; The Rev'd Dr Stephen K Pickard, Australia The Rev'd Dr Bruce Kaye, Australia; Dr Eileen Scully, Canada; The Rt Rev'd Dr Samuel Cutting, India (not able to attend); The Rt Rev'd Paul Richardson, England; The Rev'd Prof Nicholas Sagovsky, England; The Rev'd Canon Dr Tom Wright, England; Dr Ester Mombo, Kenya; The Rev'd Joseph Denge Galgalo, Kenya; The Rt Rev'd Dr Matthew Owadayo, Nigeria; The Rev'd Canon Luke Pato, Southern Africa; The Rt Rev'd Hictor Zavala, Southern Cone; The Rt Rev'd Dr Lim Cheng Ean, South East Asia; The Rev'd Victor Atta-Bafoe, West Africa; The Very Rev'd Dr Paul Zahl, United States; The Rev'd Prof Kortwright Davis, United States; The Rev'd Dr Kathy Grieb, Observer, VTS; The Rt Rev'd Dr Mark Dyer, IASCER Cross Appointment; The Rev'd Dr Philip Thomas, England, Assistant to the Chairman; The Rt Rev'd John Baycroft, ACO, Secretary; Mrs Christine Codner, ACO, Administrative Assistant; Ms Frances Hiller, ACO, Administrative Assistant.

Anglican Communion News Service