The Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion is meeting 3-6 September at the Anglican Communion Office (ACO) in London. [The members of the Standing Committee can be seen athttp://bit.ly/1hWqdwV.]

The committee heard further of the move to form a new Province in Peru. It welcomed the liveliness and desire for church growth of this development and asked the Secretary General to pursue conversation with the Diocese of Peru.

The committee also heard about the role of the new Mission Theologian in the Anglican Communion in the service of the Church Mission Society, the Theology Department of Durham University and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The aim is to develop capacity with CMS and the University of Durham to engage more fully with theologians in the global South. The committee agreed that the Secretary General will explore how to partner in this area, making the link with ACO theological work.

In other business, the committee heard from the Lambeth Conference Company, which holds administrative responsibility for any future Lambeth Conference.

ACC-16

Stephen Lyon shared a preliminary planning framework for ACC-16, including themes and priorities that were brought forth through the vehicle of the recent Provincial Secretaries meeting. He highlighted the need to consider how to engage with the work of the networks and deal more effectively with resolutions and whether to have an overarching theme.

The committee welcomed the provisional framework and reflected on the question of a possible theme. It will continue discussion on ACC-16 tomorrow. 

Commissioning of Secretary General

The commissioning service of the Most Revd Josiah Idowu-Fearon as Secretary General of the Anglican Communion was held in the afternoon at St Andrew's Chapel at the Anglican Communion Office.