SYDNEY: Tribunal rejects move to allow deacons to preside at Eucharist
Episcopal News Service. August 12, 2010 [081210-02]
ENS staff
The Anglican Church of Australia's Appellate Tribunal says it disagrees with the Diocese of Sydney's decision that people other than priests may preside at Eucharist.
Sydney's diocesan synod in 2008 overwhelmingly agreedthat lay people and deacons could be permitted to preside at Eucharist and consecrate the communion elements-- a role that is usually limited to priests.
The tribunal -- consisting of three bishops and four senior lawyers -- has given an advisory opinion both on lay administration, which is not sanctioned in the Diocese of Sydney and on administration by deacons, which the diocese practices, according to an Aug. 10 news release.
Since the 2008 decision, some Sydney parishes have allowed deacons to preside at Eucharist where a priest is not able to do so. The diocese does not allow lay people to do so, however, the release said.
The tribunal's advisory opinion considered both lay and diaconal presidency and concluded that a general synod canon would be required to implement either practice. The tribunal was not asked to consider the theological merits of persons other than a presbyter administering the Lord’s Supper, given a previous opinion which endorsed its doctrinal validity. Instead, it considered only legal argument, the release said.
A 1986 opinion had declared that lay and diaconal presidency at Eucharist was consistent with Scripture, the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles, which are the bedrock of the Australian church's constitution.
"The advisory opinion of the tribunal will doubtless receive attention at the diocesan synod to be held in October," a diocesan spokesperson said in the release.
Lay presidency is widely rejected throughout the Anglican Communion and is seen as a break from tradition and the church's historic Ordinal. The Evangelical Lutheran churches in both America and Canada authorize lay and diaconal presidency in certain extraordinary circumstances. Lay presidency is practiced as an exception in the United Methodist Church.
Eucharistic rubrics in the Episcopal Church's version of The Book of Common Prayer (pages 322 and 354) require bishops or priests to preside at Eucharist. Deacons may assist in the ministration of the sacrament to the communicants and the BCP's "Additional Directions" on page 408 permit licensed lay people to administer the chalice. The church's Constitution and Canons allow for licensed lay persons to administer the consecrated elements during a Eucharist (Canon III.4.6) or home visit (Canon III.4.7).
The Diocese of Sydney first endorsed the principle of lay presidency in 1985. Two years later it received a report that there were no doctrinal objections or legal impediments to lay presidency. The diocese became the first Anglican diocese in the world to support legislation allowing lay people or deacons to preside at the Eucharist when in October 1994 the synod voted in favor of lay presidency.
The Anglican Church of Australia's canon law commission ruled in 1995 that the introduction of lay presidency would not be possible under the church's national constitution.
In October 1999, the Diocese of Sydney approved a five-year trial period which would allow trained lay people to preside at Holy Communion, with the permission of the archbishop and the local parish. A few weeks later, then Archbishop Harry Goodhew of Sydney vetoed the measure, saying that the bishops at the 1998 Lambeth Conference had "expressed such a clear view" on such issues. Since October 2001, the diocese has been investigating legal options for commencing the practice of lay and diaconal presidency.
One of the main arguments in support of lay presidency is that it can provide isolated communities with the sacramental ministry. Supporters of the practice also cite a disparity between the importance of Word and Sacrament if lay persons or deacons are allowed to preach the word of God in church, but may not preside at the table.