AUSTRALIA: Sydney diocese votes for lay and diaconal presidency -- again
Episcopal News Service. October 27, 2008 [102708-04]
Matthew Davies
The General Synod of the Diocese of Sydney, Australia, has voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of lay and diaconal presidency, which means that lay people and deacons could be permitted to administer and consecrate the sacraments at Holy Communion -- a role that is usually limited to priests.
In the motion, the synod affirmed "its conviction that lay and diaconal administration of the Lord's Supper is consistent with the teaching of Scripture, and that the Lord's Supper in this diocese may be administered by persons other than presbyters..."
The Sydney synod has been debating lay presidency since 1977 and has passed several motions in favor of the practice, some of which have been ruled unconstitutional with the national church or vetoed by the archbishop of the diocese.
A report accompanying the most recent motion argued that, because deacons can administer the sacrament of baptism "in its entirety," and because "no hierarchy of sacraments is expressed in describing the deacon's role of assisting the presbyter," deacons are therefore authorized to "administer the Lord's Supper in its entirety," the U.K.-based Church Times newspaper reported.
Bishop Glenn Davies of Sydney-North, who moved the motion, told synod members that although Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen could not prevent a deacon from "administering the Lord's Supper," he would need to license lay people for presiding at Sunday services. "The archbishop will not license a lay person at this time," Davies said.
According to the Church Times report, "this reluctance is believed to relate to Sydney's relationship with the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) bishops." GAFCON was a gathering of conservative Anglicans and former Episcopalians, including some Anglican Communion primates, who met in Jerusalem in June. Jensen was one of GAFCON's leadership team.
Bishop Peter Tasker of Sydney-Liverpool "supported an attempt to remove general affirmation of lay and diaconal presidency from the motion out of concern for a potential adverse GAFCON response, but the amendment was lost," the Church Times reported.
Despite the Diocese of Sydney's conservative tradition and opposition to women's ordination, the latest resolution does not limit the role of lay and diaconal presidency to men alone. The Ven. Narelle Jarrett, archdeacon for women's ministry, welcomed the opportunity the motion gave for women deacons to preside at services for women and children, for example in "a girls' school or a women's prison," the Church Times reported.
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. TEC's Constitution and Canons allow for licensed lay persons to administer the 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 and deacons to preside at the Eucharist when in October 1994 the synod voted in favor of lay administration of the Holy Communion.
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 moral 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 administer the Lord's Supper in its entirety.