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ACNAC Meets in South Carolina

Diocesan Press Service. October 20, 1975 [75359]

David G. Pritchard, Editor, The Church in Georgia

JOHN'S ISLAND, S.C. -- At its 1975 meeting, the Anglican Council of North America and the Caribbean (ACNAC) reexamined its role in the life of the member Churches and laid the groundwork for increased cooperation between them. The meeting was held October 6 to 9 at Camp St. Christopher, John's Island, S.C., with the Rt. Rev. Gray Temple, Bishop of South Carolina, as host.

Formed in 1969, ACNAC brings together representatives of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC), the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), and the Church in the Province of the West Indies (CPWI), led by their respective Primates. In addition, the Council of Anglican Bishops in South America and Province IX of PECUSA are invited to send a single representative.

Under the leadership of ACNAC Chairman, the Rt. Rev. Clive O. Abdulah, Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago, the delegates first shared reports of those areas of present concern which are absorbing most of the energy of their respective Churches as a preamble to reexamining ACNAC's role.

Part of the reason for the reexamination grew out of a concern that the Council not duplicate, or appear to be in conflict with, the "Partners in Mission" program being developed as a result of the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Dublin, Ireland in 1973.

After small group discussions, ACNAC members reaffirmed the Council's role as expressed in its Constitution:

1. Giving expression to the Church's response to Mission by assessing the needs and resources of the Churches and Provinces in the Americas, and by co-ordinating their planning and action in response to those needs and in relation to those resources;

2. Giving expression to the existing unity of the Church, and ministering to the wider unity to which the whole Church is committed;

3. Giving strength to and providing co-ordination for the relationships of the member Churches and Provinces, among themselves and also non-member Churches and Provinces.

As the delegates saw it, ACNAC can provide an effective means both for implementing priorities established through "Partners in Mission, " and for deepening ties between the member Churches.

Several participants cited instances where, because of their involvement with ACNAC, they had had an impact on the decision making process within their own Church.

More small group discussions on Wednesday afternoon produced a number of recommendations for action, some of which were adopted in subsequent sessions.

The Council encouraged each member Church to strengthen and increase bi-lateral Companion Diocese relationships, and instructed its Executive Committee to initiate an experimental tri-lateral relationship involving a diocese from each of the three Churches.

An earlier meeting had asked for a Task Force report on the problems of CPWI immigrants in Canada and the United States. The Task Force was able to announce that, among a number of steps to be taken, there would be a mini-Consultation on the subject in Toronto November 24 to 26.

Throughout the meeting there was frequent reference to the many positive aspects of the June 1974 "Tobago experience," which had been carried out by ACNAC.

At that time, nearly 100 persons from the three Churches spent five days visiting ten Caribbean countries in small "discovery groups." The teams talked with a broad range of people, from government officials to farmers, to assess the factors and issues affecting the lives of the people.

The teams came together for another four days on Tobago to see how what they had learned affected the life and mission of their Churches, and to propose some lines for advance on a cooperative basis.

ACNAC members decided to produce the same, or a similar, program in ACC or PECUSA as soon as possible, probably in 1977 or 1978. They directed the Executive Committee to bring detailed plans to the 1976 meeting, along with tentative plans for a third such experience approximately 18 months after the second.

Other items referred to the Executive Committee for study, development, or action included:

* the feasibility of unification of CPWI clergy pension schemes, together with ideas for financial undergirding of existing schemes;

* the possibility of a conference for clergy who have had experience of working in at least two of the three Churches;

* the problem of availability of ACC and PECUSA staff to assist in coordinating programs;

* a request to the member Churches to increase their contribution to the ACNAC budget by 20 percent (the total current budget is $15,000), and for the Executive Committee to study the proportion contributed by each of the member Churches.

New officers elected for ACNAC for the coming year were: the Rt. Rev. John C. Bothwell, Bishop of Niagara, Chairman; Dr. D. Bruce Merrifield, Houston, Tex. Vice-Chairman; the Rev. Keith A. McMillan, Jamaica, Secretary; and Mrs. L.J. Patterson, Windsor, Ont., Treasurer.

The 1976 ACNAC meeting will take place in Canada in mid-October 1976.

Participants in the meeting, listed by Churches, were:

PECUSA -- The Most Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop; Mrs. John S. Jackson, Jr.; the Rev. Henry B. Mitchell; the Rev. Jack C. Potter; Dr. D. Bruce Merrifield; the Rev. Donald O. Wilson; and the Rev. Alfred Rollins and the Rev. Frank Turner, both of PECUSA staff.

ACC -- The Most Rev. Edward W. Scott, Primate of ACC ; the Rt. Rev. John C. Bothwell; Mr. J. R. Ligertwood; the Ven. E. S. Light; Mrs. L. J. Patterson; Mr. John S. Ridout; and Mr. Ron Stratford.

CPWI -- The Rt. Rev. Philip E.R. Elder, deputy for the Archbishop of the West Indies; the Rt. Rev. Clive O. Abdulah; the Rt. Rev. Michael H. Eldon; Mr. Harold L. U. Griffith; the Rev. Keith A. McMillan; Mr. Norrin O. Meighan; and Mr. Oscar Bird, ACNAC Staff Assistant.

Also present were: The Rev. F.D. Chaplin, Assistant to the Executive Secretary of the Anglican Consultative Council; the Rt. Rev. Edmund K. Sherrill, Bishop of Central Brazil, representing the Council of Anglican Bishops of South America; the Rev. Onell Soto, representing Province IX of PECUSA; and the Rt. Rev. Edward M. Turner, Bishop of the Virgin Islands.