Some Commission members are also concerned that the ACC staff will manipulate the proceedings. On Oct 2, The Church of England Newspaper reported that a memorandum to the Archbishop of Canterbury prepared by an ACC staffer, argued that it was imperative that the will of the majority of Primates be frustrated in their plans to discipline the Episcopal Church and diocese of New Westminster, Canada.

ACC staffers inadvertently gave Dr Paul Zahl, a member of the Inter Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission and Dean of the Cathedral of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, a copy of the memo. Dr Zahl told us the memo argued, “the conservatives and the Americans will try to get their way by making a lot of fuss, but we must resist at all costs listening to that". Some Commission members are wary that a similar attempt will be made to frustrate their work.

The members of the steering committee are Archbishop Eames, his two legal advisors, the Rev. John Rees and Dr. Norman Doe, and the commission secretary, Canon Gregory Cameron, who is one of three finalists to replace the Rev Canon John L Peterson as Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council.

Canon Cameron’s May 29 address to the 37th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada on behalf of the commission surprised many of its members, as they had not been briefed about the speech before its presentation. Canon Cameron offered a stark choice to Synod: “If you say ‘no’ to the motions before you, [authorising same-sex blessings] then you will be in danger of letting down the thousands of gay people in your midst, who are part of your Canadian family.”

“But if you say ‘yes’, the work of the Lambeth Commission becomes horribly complicated, because we will be told that the Anglican Church of Canada refuses to hear the voice, or to heed the concerns of your fellow Anglicans in the growing Provinces of the Global South, who are your international family.”

Canon Cameron’s speech drew mixed responses as some were disconcerted by the curt tone of the speech while others were annoyed by the usurpation of the Commission’s prerogatives by its staff.

Archbishop Eames’ press officer, the Rev Brian Parker, said reports of tensions between the staff and members have been overstated. Bishop Tom Wright of Durham, while declining to discuss the internal workings of the Commission, confirmed to us that the second plenary session had been “very frank, very friendly, very cordial and hard-working”.

“Canon Cameron was authorized to speak to the Canadian General Synod by the chair and steering committee,” Mr Parker told us. “The words were his own but the broad outline was discussed at the steering committee.”

END