The President of the General Synod of the Anglican Church in Australia, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, has said he is very happy with the sense of unity that the Australian Synod has witnessed this week on a range of critical issues.
The Australian Anglican Church is concluding its General Synod, the Parliament of the Church which sits every three years, in Canberra.
The Primate reported that mission and attendance was a core focus of the Synod, and a task force of General Synod “Fresh Expressions Australia” has been commissioned with preparing a proposal for a full time National Mission Facilitator and developing appropriate criteria for the selection, training and deployment of ordained and lay pioneer ministers in an Australian context.
The Synod has also addressed environment concerns including global warming. In response each Diocese throughout Australia has been asked to commit to reducing its environmental footprint and to report to subsequent sessions of General Synod as to how it is achieving this.
The gathering also discussed the impact of climate change on the poor.
On the issue of Indigenous Australians, the General Synod committed to giving a seat on the Church’s national Standing Committee to one Aboriginal person and one Torres Strait Islander person on the Church’s national Standing Committee, as the Church continues to attempt to bring an authentic representation of itself.
Another hot topic was that of women bishops. A motion on the controversial matter was moved by Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier and seconded by Sydney Bishop Glenn Davies. The motion was passed welcoming the clarity that the Appellate Tribunal decision gave to the question of eligibility of women for admission to the order of bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia.
Addressing global poverty, the General Synod urged the federal government to adopt the Millennium Development Goals as the fundamental framework for its development cooperation program and accept the specific goals as targets including increasing the financial contribution to 0.7% of Gross National Income.
