The first meeting of the Commission is on February 9th, so submissions received before the end of the first week of February will be read early on in the process.

New - You can now read some of the contributions already submitted here

A Prayer for the Commission

Dear Heavenly Father,
We thirst for godly hearts.
We thirst for godly hearts so that the ungodly can see You in our hearts.
We thirst for godly hearts so that we can give glory to Your name.
We thirst for a godly Communion.
May we become fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
May we and the members of the Archbishop's Commission anchor our hearts in the cornerstone of Christ Jesus.
May we and the Commission build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
May the Anglican Communion, being joined together, grow into a holy temple in the Lord. Spirit, build the Anglican Communion into a dwelling place for God.
Amen

Ephesians 2:18-22

Members of the Commission

Archbishop Robin Eames, Primate of All Ireland, Chairman

The Revd Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, Director of Faith, Worship and Ministry, the Anglican Church of Canada

Bishop David Beetge, Dean of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa

Professor Norman Doe, Director of the Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff University, Wales

Bishop Mark Dyer, Director of Spiritual Formation, Virginia Theological Seminary, USA

Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Primate of the West Indies

Archbishop Josiah Iduwo-Fearon, Archbishop of Kaduna, the Anglican Church of Nigeria

The Revd Dorothy Lau, Director of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council

Ms Anne McGavin, Advocate, formerly Legal Adviser to the College of Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church

Archbishop Bernard Malango, Primate of Central Africa

Dr Esther Mombo, Academic Dean of St Paul's United Theological Seminary, Limuru, Kenya

Archbishop Barry Morgan, Primate of Wales

Chancellor Rubie Nottage, Chancellor of the West Indies

Bishop John Paterson, Primate of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, and Chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council

Dr Jenny Te Paa, Principal of College of Saint John the Evangelist, Auckland, New Zealand

Bishop James Terom, Moderator, the Church of North India

Bishop N Thomas Wright, Bishop of Durham, the Church of England.

The Revd Canon John Rees, Legal Adviser to the Anglican Consultative Council, will act as Legal Consultant to the Commission.

The Revd Canon Gregory Cameron, Director of Ecumenical Affairs and Studies, Anglican Communion Office, will act as Secretary to the Commission.

Mandate of the Commission

The Archbishop of Canterbury requests the Commission:

1. To examine and report to him by 30th September 2004, in preparation for the ensuing meetings of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council, on the legal and theological implications flowing from the decisions of the Episcopal Church (USA) to appoint a priest in a committed same sex relationship as one of its bishops, and of the Diocese of New Westminster to authorise services for use in connection with same sex unions, and specifically on the canonical understandings of communion, impaired and broken communion, and the ways in which provinces of the Anglican Communion may relate to one another in situations where the ecclesiastical authorities of one province feel unable to maintain the fullness of communion with another part of the Anglican Communion.

2. Within their report, to include practical recommendations (including reflection on emerging patterns of provision for episcopal oversight for those Anglicans within a particular jurisdiction, where full communion within a province is under threat) for maintaining the highest degree of communion that may be possible in the circumstances resulting from these decisions, both within and between the churches of the Anglican Communion.

3. Thereafter, as soon as practicable, and with particular reference to the issues raised in Section IV of the Report of the Lambeth Conference 1998, to make recommendations to the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council, as to the exceptional circumstances and conditions under which, and the means by which, it would be appropriate for the Archbishop of Canterbury to exercise an extraordinary ministry of episcope (pastoral oversight), support and reconciliation with regard to the internal affairs of a province other than his own for the sake of maintaining communion with the said province and between the said province and the rest of the Anglican Communion.

4. In its deliberations, to take due account of the work already undertaken on issues of communion by the Lambeth Conferences of 1988 and 1998, as well as the views expressed by the Primates of the Anglican Communion in the communiqués and pastoral letters arising from their meetings since 2000.