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Resolution 69 - The Role of the Anglican Communion - Anglican Consultative

Resolution 69

The Role of the Anglican Communion - Anglican Consultative Council

The Conference accepts and endorses the appended proposals concerning the Anglican Consultative Council and its Constitution and submits them to the member Churches of the Anglican Communion for approval. Approval shall be by a two-thirds majority of the member Churches and shall be signified to the Secretary of the Lambeth Consultative Body not later than 31 October 1969.

Anglican Consultative Council ANGLICAN CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL Functions 1. To share information about developments in one or more provinces with the other parts of the Communion and to serve as needed as an instrument of common action.

2. To advise on inter-Anglican, provincial, and diocesan relationships, including the division of provinces, the formation of new provinces and of regional councils, and the problems of extra-provincial dioceses.

3. To develop as far as possible agreed Anglican policies in the world mission of the Church and to encourage national and regional Churches to engage together in developing and implementing such policies by sharing their resources of manpower, money, and experience to the best advantage of all.

4. To keep before national and regional Churches the importance of the fullest possible Anglican collaboration with other Christian Churches.

5. To encourage and guide Anglican participation in the ecumenical movement and the ecumenical organisations; to co-operate with the World Council of Churches and the world confessional bodies on behalf of the Anglican Communion; and to make arrangements for the conduct of pan-Anglican conversations with the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches, and other Churches.

6. To advise on matters arising out of national or regional Church union negotiations or conversations and on subsequent relations with united Churches.

7. To advise on problems on inter-Anglican communication and to help in the dissemination of Anglican and ecumenical information.

8. To keep in review the needs that may arise for further study and, where necessary, to promote inquiry and research.

Constitution Membership 

1. The Council shall be constituted initially with a membership according to the Schedule below. With the assent of two-thirds of the metropolitans, it shall have power to make alterations in the Schedule as changing circumstances may require.

2. Members shall be chosen as provincial, national, or regional machinery provides. Alternates shall be named by each Church and shall be invited to attend if a Church would otherwise be unrepresented for a whole session of the Council.

3. The Council shall have power to co-opt as set out in the Schedule of Membership.

4. The term of office for members appointed according to the Schedule, and for co-opted members, shall be six years. Except as provided in the recommendation below for the initial period, members shall be ineligible for immediate re-election. Bishops and other clerical members shall cease to be members on retirement from ecclesiastical office, and all members shall similarly cease to be members on moving to another regional Church or province of the Anglican Communion. Casual vacancies shall be filled by the appointing bodies, and persons thus appointed shall serve for the unexpired term.

5. The Council shall have the right to call in advisers, Anglicans or others, at its discretion.

(a) The Archbishop of Canterbury shall be President of the Council and, when present, shall preside at the inaugural session of each meeting of the Council. He shall be ex officio a member of its committees.

(b) The Council shall elect a Chairman and Vice-Chairman from its own number, who shall hold office for six years.

(c) The Council shall appoint for a specified term a Secretary, who shall be known as the Secretary General of the Council, and shall determine his duties.

7.Frequency of Meetings.

The Council shall meet every two years at the call of the Chairman in consultation with the President and the Secretary General.

8.Standing Committee

The Council shall appoint a Standing Committee of nine members, which shall include the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council. The Secretary General shall be its Secretary. The Standing Committee shall meet annually. It shall have the right to call advisers.

9.Locality of Meetings
As far as possible, the Council and its Standing Committee shall meet in various parts of the world.

The Council shall produce an annual budget, including the stipend and expenses of the Secretary General, his staff, and office, and this shall be apportioned among the member Churches of the Anglican Communion.

Amendment of the Constitution 11. Amendments to this Constitution shall be submitted by the Council to the constitutional bodies of the member Churches and must be ratified by two-thirds of such bodies.

membership, at the beginning one-third of the delegates shall be appointed as elected for a two-year period, one-third for a four-year period, and the remaining third for a single period of six years. Those elected for a two-year or four-year period shall be eligible for appointment for one further period of six years. Thereafter all appointments or elections shall be for six years.

Schedule of Membership The membership of the Council shall be as follows:

(a) The Archbishop of Canterbury (b) Three from each of the following, consisting of a bishop, a priest or deacon, and a lay person: The Church of England; The Episcopal Church of the United States of America; The Church of India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon; The Anglican Church of Canada; The Church of England in Australia.

(c) Two from each of the following, consisting of a bishop, and a priest, deacon, or lay person: The Church in Wales; The Church in Ireland; The Episcopal Church in Scotland; The Church of the Province of South Africa; The Church of the Province of West Africa; The Church of the Province of Central Africa; The Church of the Province of East Africa; The Church of the Province of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi; The Church of the Province of New Zealand; The Church of the Province of the West Indies; Nippon Sei Ko Ki; The Archbishopric in Jerusalem; The Council of the Church of South-East Asia; The South Pacific Anglican Council; Latin America; any province of the Anglican Communion not at present represented.

(d) Co-opted members: The Council shall have power to co-opt up to six additional members, of whom at least two shall be women and two lay persons not over 28 years of age at the time of appointment.


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