Anglican Communion Office
Letter of Protest
Gentle Readers—
Below is the letter of protest sent by Mr Gavin Drake from the Anglican Communion Office in London after our front-page story on media access to the upcoming Lambeth Conference in July and August.
Mr Drake’s point about the ACNA is technically correct. In spite of the Anglican Church in North America’s alignment with the vast majority of practicing Anglicans in the Communion, it has only been invited to the Lambeth Conference as an ecumenical observer. It has not been invited to fully participate even though it has more members than either the Episcopal Church of Scotland or the Church in Wales.
The ACNA, unlike the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church in Wales, the Anglican Church in Canada, The Anglican Episcopal Church in Brazil, and The Episcopal Church in the USA, has maintained the positions of Lambeth Resolution 1.10 issued by the 1998 Lambeth Conference about human sexuality.
Drake writes—you compare and decide for yourselves.
Sir,
Your front-page article “Lambeth Conference to Restrict Media Access” is based on a misunderstanding of a standard condition of media accreditation for conferences and events.
Media accreditation is provided to enable journalists from recognised media organisations to report the event – and to take whatever editorial line they wish to take.
Media accreditation is not provided to enable protestors to campaign against events and the organisations running them, using conference facilities and privileged access to bona fide journalists.
The article also states that “The Anglican Church in North America has been denied an invitation by the Archbishop of Canterbury.” This is not true. The Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) is not part of the Anglican Communion but the Archbishop of Canterbury has invited representatives from ACNA to be present at the Lambeth Conference as ecumenical participants in the same way that representatives of other non-Anglican Communion churches have been invited. That invitation remains open to ACNA to accept.
Yours sincerely,
Gavin Drake
Director of Communications
The Anglican Communion
Saint Andrew’s House
16 Tavistock Crescent
London, W11 1AP
