The Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference held its second plenary meeting in Saint Andrew's House, London, between 9th and 12th May 2006.  The Panel is grateful for the welcome and hospitality of the Anglican Communion Office during its meeting.

The Panel began its work by considering progress so far.  Since the Panel's first meeting ten months ago, it has received three references from the Archbishop of Canterbury.  These were received by the Panel at the end of October 2005.  The Panel indicated in its first communiqué that speed of response was an important consideration, and that normally it would seek to give its response to the Archbishop within six months of reference.  Review of progress so far has been therefore a vital matter.

The first reference to the Panel arises from an appeal by the Diocese of Forth Worth in the Episcopal Church USA.  The Diocese does not ordain women to the priesthood, and appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the grounds that it is in serious theological dispute with the Episcopal Church, which at its 72nd General Convention in 1997 passed canons to make the ordination of women mandatory.  The Panel considered the preliminary draft of its report, and hopes, after consultation with the parties, to publish its recommendations in the near future.

The second reference relates to the Diocese of Connecticut in the Episcopal Church USA, and to an appeal by six parishes against the oversight of their Bishop.  In January of this year, however, civil proceedings were initiated in respect of matters connected with these situations.  The Panel decided last year as a matter of principle that it should not normally consider references where civil cases are proceeding.  The Panel is not a court, and its recommendations, which may be published with the consent of the Archbishop of Canterbury, have moral and pastoral force.  Civil proceedings should either have come to completion or be stayed if the work of the Panel is to have space in which to operate.  On this basis, the Archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn the reference to the Panel until such time as the matter of the civil cases has been resolved.

The third reference is an appeal by parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada for alternative episcopal oversight.  Consideration of this reference has been unable to proceed until March 2006 while the identity of the applicants who wished to be named to carry this matter forward with the Panel was established.  Since then, work has proceeded swiftly, and the Panel developed a preliminary draft of its report.  Representatives of the New Westminster parishes invited the Panel to meet with them during their meeting.  The Chair of the Panel, accompanied by the secretaries, met with the representatives to explain the procedures of the Panel, and indicate that representatives of the Panel would be visiting Vancouver in Canada in the immediate future in order to meet with both parties.

The Panel received full reports from the Secretariat and Mr Christopher Smith, the Chief of Staff at Lambeth Palace on the work that they undertook to expedite the work of the Panel.  The Panel commended the staff for the work that they were doing in the light of the complex and sensitive matters which they have been called upon to handle.  Mr Smith reviewed the matters on which the Archbishop of Canterbury was considering making a reference to the Panel in the near future.  Two additional references were received in the course of the meeting, upon which work was undertaken.

The Panel elected Ms Fung Yi Wong as Deputy Chair of the Panel.

The Panel also revised its procedures in the light of the experiences of the last ten months.  The revised procedures can be found here.  In particular, the Panel felt it needed to clarify any misunderstanding there may be of the mandate it had received from the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

It was clear from this that the Panel is not a tribunal or court which can intervene formally to adjudicate in the affairs of the autonomous Provinces of the Anglican Communion.  It arose from the request of the Primates at Dromantine, Northern Ireland, in February 2005, for the Archbishop of Canterbury to establish a panel to advise him by supervising the adequacy of arrangements for extended episcopal ministry in situations where parishes were in serious theological dispute with their dioceses, or dioceses in dispute with their provinces.  In such cases, the recommendations of the Panel are intended to assist the situation by offering to the parties an independent assessment of those measures which might move the situation forward. These recommendations are intended to provide sufficient protection to parties who fear oppressive action by ecclesiastical authorities on account of their theological differences.

In addition, the Archbishop of Canterbury has indicated that he might ask for the advice of the Panel on other grave situations of dispute which may arise in the Communion.  The recommendations of the Panel in such cases would be directed towards reconciliation, and would offer advice to the Archbishop of Canterbury on how his ministry could assist the situation.

The members of the Panel are:

Chairman
The Most Revd Dr Peter Carnley
former Archbishop of Perth and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia

Members

His Honour Michael Evans QC
President of the Provincial Court of the Church in Wales

The Revd Dr Joseph Galgalo
Lecturer in Systematic and Contextual Theologies,
St. Paul's United Theological College, Limuru, Kenya
(not present for this meeting)

Canon Bernard Georges
Chancellor of the Diocese of the Seychelles

The Rt Revd Khotso Makhulu CMG
former Primate of Central Africa

The Revd Canon John Moore
former International Director of the Intercontinental Church Society

Mrs Rubie Nottage
Chancellor of the Province of the West Indies

The Rt Revd Claude Payne
former Bishop of Texas

The Most Revd Dr John Sentamu
Archbishop of York
(not present for this meeting)

The Rt Revd Maurice Sinclair
former Primate of the Southern Cone

Mr Robert Tong
Member, Church Law Commission of the Anglican Church of Australia

The Revd Stephen Trott
Church Commissioner, the Church of England

Ms Fung Yi Wong
Registrar, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui

Secretariat

The Revd Canon Gregory K Cameron
Deputy Secretary General, Anglican Communion Office

Dr Brian Hanson
former Legal Adviser to the Archbishops Council, Church of England

The Revd Canon John Rees
Legal Adviser, the Anglican Consultative Council