Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion has confirmed that the 2012 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council will be held at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland. No dates have been announced.
The Secretary General of the Communion, Rev Canon Kenneth Kearon, reported that during his visit to New Zealand earlier this year he had met with an informal group about the planning of ACC-15. Bishop John Paterson has been selected to chair an official planning group, which identified the mission theme of ACC-14 as something to continue.
Standing Committee also agreed that separating the Episcopal Church from the rest of the Anglican Communion "would inhibit dialogue and ... would therefore be unhelpful," according to a July 26 bulletin from the Anglican Communion Office.
The proposal for separation came on July 24 from Dato Stanley Isaacs, a Standing Committee member from the Province of South East Asia, but was not passed "and the group agreed to defer further discussion until progress on Continuing Indaba project had been considered," the release said.
The Continuing Indaba project is intended to enable clergy and laity to share their experiences of listening to homosexual Christians and to offer the opportunity for Episcopalians to hear stories of mission in contexts far removed from their own.
The committee, meeting in closed sessions at the Anglican Communion Office in London, also heard reports from Hellen Wangusa, Anglican Observer at the United Nations; Bishop James Tengatenga from Southern Malawi, chair of the ACC; and Canon Kearon.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, questioned whether the ACC's committee structure was "appropriate for this new century," according to the release.
"He said questions needed asking about whether revised instrument structures were required to better foster the relationship-building parts of the communion's life, 'so when it comes to looking at the complex questions of the communion we have a better foundation upon which to build.'"
The Standing Committee usually meets annually but has met biannually for the past three years. It oversees the day-to-day operations of the Anglican Communion Office and the programs and ministries of the four instruments of communion – the archbishop of Canterbury, the ACC, the Primates Meeting, and the Lambeth Conference of bishops.
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