Last year was a very active and successful year for the ACL. Our membership grew by 56. The key change to the council was the resignation as Secretary of Ian Carmichael and his replacement by Rev. Andrew Dircks. The council expressed its appreciation at the work done by Ian and I do so now publicly.
Synod Elections
By far the most important aspect of our work last year was the triennial Synod elections. In order to maximise our chances of success the ACL embarked on an unprecedented series of consultations with its members in order to discover and then support candidates who would command widespread support. This involved central and regional meetings, following the adoption of the new regional system of voting for Standing Committee and the creation of new regional councils.
On the whole ACL members stuck together very well and this resulted in the election to key Synod Committees and boards of more ACL supported nominations than for many years. The success was inspite of organised opposition and what can only be described as unfair and untrue criticism by our opponents.
In this process we learnt many lessons for the future and the Council plans to build on those recent experiences to strengthen and work in this area in the years ahead.
Other Activities
Regional Chapter Meetings
Our Regional Chapter meetings attracted very strong support last year. In the spring they were the venue for launching Robert Tong's book on Synod Procedures (published by the ACL) well over 300 people attended these meetings.
This year another round of meetings was held with an attendance of over 250. It is very pleasing to see this new venture becoming established. Rev. Zac Veron is in charge of the co-ordination of these, aided by committed local members.
Prayer Book Conference
Last September we held a major conference on the proposed Prayer Book for Australia at Moore College. Our speakers were Professor Edwin Judge, Rev. Dr. John Woodhouse and Dean Boak Jobbins. Like the conference held in 1995 on the same issue it was very well attended and I believe was influential in helping people prepare for the debate at Synod, which as you know rejected the book for general use in this Diocese.
Synod Dinner
Speaking of Synod, last year saw the largest ever attendance at our Annual Synod Dinner. Some 250 synod members gathered to hear an address from the Archbishop and Emeritus Vice President, Harry Goodhew.
ACL News and Internet
Our regular newsletter continued to be published, thanks most especially to Rev. Colin Mackellar. Also as you know the ACL has established a home page on the Internet. This is a service and facility which will grow as the Internet itself becomes more and more a normal way of life. Everything we put on the Net is able to be downloaded and used and this has the potential to be a very convenient and inexpensive means of distributing information.
Looking to the Future
Because of the already significant expansion of ACL activities the Council has continued to wrestle with the need to achieve greater efficiency in administration. This involves a constant process of reviewing our procedures and willingness to make whatever changes necessary in order to become more efficient.
Late last year, as part of this process of review, and in order to focus our attention on future initiatives I prepared a revised corporate plan and other documents which aimed to set out proposals for a three year programme. A special council meeting was held at the same time as Summer School and out of that meeting a number of significant new programmes were adopted. These have been published in the ACL News.
For the record I list some of the major features:-
At last year's Synod the Archbishop challenged the Synod to wrestle with the many hard questions concerning the nature of our association as an Anglican diocese. I don't know whether others heard this appeal but the ACL did and it is intended over the next two to three years to establish a special project to examine the nature and role of the diocese and its activities with a view to helping us all approach the 21st century better equipped to use our resources to more effectively advance the gospel, especially in our churches. For the moment this initiative is called Project 2001. What remains of this year will be spent establishing a strong management structure. The hope is that it will involve a very large representation of ACL members.
The Council is looking at assisting the current debate on Liturgical reform by setting up its own liturgical task force with a view to producing material for use in churches where appropriate. It is expected that the Internet facility will be very helpful in disseminating information on the matter.
These are just some of the activities in place or planned for the years ahead.
An additional matter that has been raised by a number of members is the importance of strengthening our ministry to and involvement of lay people. It could well be that in calendar year 1998 this could be the main new initiative, with 1999, being the first year of a new synod, the triennial elections will take centre stage as far as the ACL is concerned.
The ACL is its members and the work is carried out by a large number of committed people. I obviously can't mention them all but I particularly want to mention Robert Tong as Chairman, Laurie Scandrett as Treasurer, Colin Mackellar as Editor and Computer man, Andrew Dircks as Secretary. Also we are greatly helped by Zac Veron, Silas Horton and Joanne Warren, who head up key task forces.
The final personnel note I wish to mention is that tonight marks the retirement from Council of one of our longest serving council members. I refer to Rev. Tony Lamb. Tony has been a member of the Council for over 35 years. I want to put on record my appreciation of the long and illustrious career of one of our great soldiers and on behalf of the ACL thank him for all that he has done as a member and office holder over so many years.
Appellate Tribunal
It is customary to comment on some matter of public importance on this occasion and tonight I want to speak briefly on the Appellate Tribunal. We are awaiting with interest the answers to questions referred to it by the Primate and certain Sydney members of the General Synod.
The questions relate to the consistency or otherwise to the Fundamental Declarations and Ruling Principles of this church of such matters as prayers for the dead, the practice of reservation and later use of consecrated bread and wine, lay administration at the Lord's Supper and a whole range of activities of lay persons at divine service.
Many people are in the habit of thinking that what is coming are rulings, as if these answers will be the last word on these subjects. That is quite wrong. What they will be giving are advisory, non-binding opinions. They should be accorded the respect appropriate to the people concerned but judged on their merits. The answers will constitute one ingredient in the ongoing debate on these matters. Depending on what they say, different sides will want to shelter behind them or reject them as inadequate or wrong.
That is as it should be, given the way the Tribunal is constituted and its members appointed. People should realise that there is built into the structure of the Appellate Tribunal a serious anomaly. Judges are called upon to give opinions on matters of theology, a discipline they are not necessarily qualified in and bishops are called upon to give opinions on matters of legal interpretation of the Constitution and Canon Law, a discipline they are not necessarily qualified in.
Many years ago I asked a member of the Tribunal how they got around this problem. He said generally the bishops rely on the lawyers on legal questions and vice versa. This is a very unsatisfactory situation and if followed in this case would diminish the value of their answers. Remember, for answers to be given from the Tribunal, both the lawyers and the Bishops have to give answers by certain majorities, and the answers of each side have equal standing even though they may not have the expertise in the appropriate disciplines.
As to the method of appointment; different members are elected by different people, the lay member of General Synod elect some, the clerical members others and the bishops still others. Given the nature of the national church it is only natural that electors will support the candidates they think will reflect their own views. I know for a fact that some recent General Synod vacancies have been filled in an atmosphere of considerable politicking and manoeuvring.
I don't see anything wrong with that in principle, even though evangelicals generally find it harder to win support for candidates that they favour. Nevertheless it means that the Tribunal as an institution isn't always necessarily composed of people who are impartial or disinterested as say, secular tribunals, when it comes to dealing with certain types of questions.
Everybody has to live with this flaw in our structures and respect the efforts of the members of the Tribunal who I'm sure endeavour to act with the utmost integrity.
In the matters before the Appellate Tribunal this time, apart from the lay administration question, how they deal with such widespread and contentious practices as prayers for the dead, reservation of the sacraments and manual acts at Holy Communion not specifically allowed for in BCP, will be watched very closely.
If the Tribunal fails to answer these questions plainly, but does give an answer on lay administration then the standing of the Tribunal itself will be in question. If they say "yes" to prayers for the dead, reservation etc. evangelicals will be confronted with an opinion that means the protestant and reformed character of the church has not been safe guarded by the Constitution, as many thought it was. We would discover that we could be members of a church where many of the great biblical truths rediscovered at the Reformation have been discarded as defining characteristics of our church.
Again, if they answer negatively to such questions then those dioceses and churches that practice them will be put in a position of either flaunting the opinion of the Tribunal or radically overhauling their customs to bring them back into line with the 1961 Constitution as described by the Tribunal.
Bruce Ballantine-Jones OAM
President
Anglican Church League, Sydney
17th July 1997.
Canon Bruce Ballantine-Jones OAM is President of the ACL and Rector of the Sydney parish of St. Clement's Jannali.
(Copyright Anglican Church League)
Anglican Church League, www.acl.asn.au