Posted on 12/16/2005 5:52:44 PM PST by sionnsar
Your Anglican Communion Panel of Reference hits the ground running:
The Panel of Reference has received its first batch of referrals from the Archbishop of Canterbury, according to sources in London familiar with details.
Petitions have been distributed to the 13 members of the Panel of Reference for review. The particulars of each case have not been disclosed by the panel, which has taken an oath of secrecy and pledged not to reveal details of any petition for relief.
In place.
The petitions for review have passed through several hands prior to their distribution to the panel members. Parishes and dioceses that wish to avail themselves of the process must first petition Archbishop Rowan Williams for relief. After being vetted by the archbishop’s staff, led by Christopher Smith, the petitions are then forwarded to the panel chairman, Archbishop Peter Carnley.
According to its charter, after the panel receives a referral, Archbishop Carnley distributes the petition to the 12 other members and solicits the views of the primate of the province affected.
The guidelines state that Archbishop Carnley is to form a subcommittee comprised of at least two members, one clergy and one lay, to examine the dispute. The rest of the panel will then be asked to submit their responses to the case within 14 days of receipt of the petition.
The subcommittee will then initiate an investigation, gathering evidence and hearing the arguments. Upon completion and submission of the initial finding, the panel members will be given 14 days to offer comments, critiques and suggestions.
A revised finding, prepared in light of the comments received, will then be circulated to the full panel. Should there be “significant dissent,” the subcommittee is directed to “discuss the matter with the dissenting members with a view to achieving consensus.”
Once an agreed report is prepared, it will then be sent to the petitioner and respondent for comments. The final text of the report will then be distributed to the panel for final approval.
An agreed statement and recommendations will be forwarded to Archbishop Williams.
The first recommendations should emerge shortly after the conservatives walk out of the Lambeth Conference in 2008. Given the fact that GenCon's next year and GenSyn's the year after that, one would think that Your Anglican Communion Panel of Reference would want to streamline their procedures a considerable amount. Because based on the rather, um, relaxed approach indicated here, a cynic might suggest that Your Anglican Communion Panel of Reference was, well, stalling.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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