IRAN: Bishop Azad Marshall resigns from Anglican Communion's Standing Committee
Episcopal News Service. June 29, 2010 [062910-03]
Matthew Davies
Bishop Azad Marshall of the Diocese of Iran has announced his resignation from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion, yet no explanation has been given.
"I can confirm that Bishop Azad Marshall has resigned from the Standing Committee, though I'm not in a position to cite his reasons," Jan Butter, director of communications for the Anglican Communion, said June 29 in a statement e-mailed to ENS.
Marshall's announcement follows that of Middle East President Bishop Mouneer Anis, who in January also tendered his resignation from the Standing Committee saying that his presence has "no value whatsoever" and that his voice is "like a useless cry in the wilderness."
Both Marshall and Anis serve as bishops in the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
Butter told ENS that the Standing Committee members will elect a successor to Marshall at their next meeting, scheduled for July 23-27 at St. Andrew's House in London, where the Anglican Communion Office is located.
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 Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates Meeting, and the Lambeth Conference of bishops.
The Standing Committee is made up of 15 members elected from among the ACC and the Primates Meeting. The Primates Meeting also elects alternates who serve when the elected member is unable to attend. The ACC does not elect alternates to the Standing Committee.
Since Marshall was elected to the Standing Committee by the ACC, "it is the responsibility of the Standing Committee ... to elect a successor from the ACC membership," Butter confirmed.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who serves as chair of the Standing Committee, was unavailable for comment about Marshall’s resignation.
In April, Archbishop Henry Orombi of the Anglican Church of Uganda wrote a three-page letter to Williams raising concerns that the Standing Committee has assumed "enhanced responsibility" and expressing his dismay that its membership includes representatives from the U.S.-based Episcopal Church.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected in February 2007 by her fellow primates to represent the Americas on the Standing Committee and has attended every subsequent meeting. Orombi was also elected at the 2007 primates meeting to represent Africa on the Standing Committee but he has not attended any of its meetings.
Bishop Ian Douglas of Connecticut was elected to serve on the Standing Committee during the May 2009 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council. He attended the following meeting of the committee Dec. 15-18 in London.
The current members of the Standing Committee are:
- Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (chair)
- Archbishop Philip Aspinall of Australia
- Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda
- Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the U.S.-based Episcopal Church
- Archbishop Barry Morgan of Wales
- Bishop James Tengatenga of Central Africa (ACC chair)
- Canon Elizabeth Paver of England (ACC vice chair)
- The Rev. Ian Douglas of the U.S.-based Episcopal Church
- Anthony Fitchett of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
- Dato Stanley Isaacs of the Province of South East Asia
- Philippa Amable of West Africa
- Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe of Ceylon