Berkeley, California

August 2001

More than 70 Anglican liturgists representing 30 provinces of the Anglican Communion gathered in Berkeley California as the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation in August 2001. The principal subject of the Consultation was ministry and the theology and liturgies of ordination.

Members of the Consultation have been working for some years on baptism, eucharist, and ministry, the agenda of the 1982 Lima Conference of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. The subject of ministry had already been explored by two informal meetings of Anglican liturgists and the adoption of a statement by the Berkeley Consultation brings this particular task to a conclusion.

The Consultation based both the theology and practice of ordination firmly on the baptismal nature of the church, emphasizing that the people of God are revealed in baptism to be a holy people ministering to the world in the name and manner of Christ. God bestows a variety of gifts to build up the body of Christ and enable its mission. Ordained ministers are integral members of the body, called by God and discerned by the body to be signs and animators of Christ's self-giving life and ministry to which all are called.

The Consultation described the role of the bishop in terms of pastor and teacher and suggested that the rites of ordination and seating of a bishop should affirm and celebrate the bishop's ministry in and among the people.

Presbyters are called to share with bishops in the oversight of the church especially in identifying and nurturing the gifts of the Spirit given to the community for the work of ministry. The Consultation noted that the terms "presbyter" and "priest" are both used among Anglicans and both are appropriate. However, the ordination rite should affirm the priesthood of the whole baptized community and the sacramental, pastoral, and teaching relationship of the presbyter to the community.

The Consultation noted that historically deacons were the managers of the local church, responsible for charitable and social work. The calling of the deacon is consequently to embody and activate the Christ-like service of the whole people of God in the world.

The Consultation noted that there is movement in some parts of the Communion towards direct ordination to the presbyterate and even the episcopate. While recognizing that there is precedent for both direct and sequential ordination and that both have merit, the Consultation suggested that Provinces should be free to consider direct ordination.

The Consultation stressed that the act of ordination belongs to the community as a whole, with the bishop presiding as the focus of the church's unity. Because an ordination is an ecclesial event in which the church's life and ministry are ordered, it should take place in the context of a eucharist celebrated at a place and time when all the church's ministries may be most fully represented.

The Consultation developed a significant list of practical reflections and suggestions to help local communities realize its theological ideals.

The Consultation engaged in a lively discussion of the possibility of using elements other than bread and wine at the eucharist and agreed to recommend to the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council that a survey be conducted to discover current practice in the Communion. The recommendation also suggested that the ACC form a small working group, including members of the Consultation, to study the data and draft a report with guidelines for further consideration by the Consultation and the ACC Standing Committee.

Sue Parks, Director of SPCK Worldwide, visited the Consultation to tell members that the SPCK is unable to provide financial assistance for liturgical publishing to a level that would meet both demand and need. Noting that one of the defining characteristics of Anglicanism is mother-tongue worship, she asked who would support Anglican liturgical publishing if Anglicans themselves don't provide the resources? She said she brought to the problem to the Consultation because she felt that a liturgical conference is the forum in which the liturgical publishing needs of two-thirds world churches should be taken seriously.

The Consultation elected Paul Bradshaw, Joyce Kurari, and Tomas Maddela to be new members of the steering committee. The steering committee elected Paul Bradshaw to be chair of the Consultation.

Paul Gibson
6 September 2001