IASCUFO Communiqué: ‘Facing our theological differences more productively’

18 December 2024 • Persistent link: iarccum.org/?p=5143

Members of IASCUFO meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Members of IASCUFO meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Dec. 2024). Photo: IASCUFO/Anglican Communion Office
Anglican Communion News Service

A meeting of the Inter–Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) gathered in Kuala Lumpur from 6–12 December. Hosted by the Right Revd Steven Abbarow and the Diocese of West Malaysia, the meeting was also attended by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Right Revd Anthony Poggo.

IASCUFO is supported by the Anglican Communion Office and chaired by the Right Revd Dr Graham Tomlin of the Church of England. It is one of the main places where the Anglican Communion does its theological and ecclesiological reflection. Its membership is composed of a diverse group from across the Anglican Communion, incorporating a range of viewpoints from Africa, Asia, South and North America, Europe, and Australia.

IASCUFO’s Kuala Lumpur gathering followed the recent publication of the paper The Nairobi–Cairo Proposals: Renewing the Instruments of the Anglican Communion on December 6, 2024. They are the result of a long–term piece of work, commissioned at the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC–18) in 2023 to explore “structure and decision–making to help address [our] differences in the Anglican Communion.”  A draft of the paper was discussed at the Primates’ meeting in April 2024, and will be considered at the 19th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in 2026.

During the meeting, the Commission discussed plans to aid the reception of The Nairobi–Cairo Proposals around the Anglican Communion. A communiqué summarising the meeting and its hopes reports that the Commission “sensed that the Communion may be moving from a season of raw and antagonistic division to one of reckoning with what will likely be a long process of resolution. We may now be able to face our theological differences and associated fractures more productively, as we seek responsible and creative ways to remain together, albeit to varying degrees.”

The communiqué goes on to say that “IASCUFO’s entire membership, which includes members of Churches of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), welcomes the GSFA’s commitment to stay within the Anglican Communion. We value its voluntary intensification of fellowship within the Communion as a potential source of renewal and fresh missional energy, the fruits of which may inspire others (see Nairobi–Cairo Proposals, §§8, 56, 68–69). Despite our divisions, the Anglican Communion needs to find ways for the contribution of the GSFA to be more fully recognised and received within its wider life and mission.”

Following the meeting, Bishop Tomlin said: “We give thanks for the work that we have done together and that we are still engaged in, seeking common ground on ways forward in handling differences within our common life as Anglicans. Our discussions have been an opportunity for learning from one another, as well as wrestling with challenging questions around Anglican identity and unity. It is our heartfelt prayer that the Holy Spirit will use the Nairobi–Cairo proposals to build bridges across our divisions, to strengthen our life in Christ together, in order to serve the mission God has called us to in his world.”

In a recent comment about The Nairobi–Cairo Proposals, Bishop Poggo said: “The Anglican Consultative Council commissioned IASCUFO’s work in 2023. The Nairobi–Cairo Proposals are the result of international collaboration, representing diverse voices from around the Communion. They are offered to strengthen our global Anglican family. I pray that they will be received with prayerful consideration in the months ahead.”