Major Anglican ecumenical report 'The Vision Before Us' is published

June 05, 2009 [ACNS] A comprehensive account of the Anglican Communion's ecumenical work has been published by the Anglican Communion Office.

The Vision Before Us, subtitled "The Kyoto Report of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations 2000-2008," records the commission's work of maintaining an overview of the Anglican Communion's engagement with Christians of other traditions, and of giving encouragement and advice to the ecumenical activities of the communion and the provinces.

Described by Bishop Gregory Cameron of St. Asaph, former Anglican Communion director of ecumenical affairs, as "a chocolate box of delights," the book contains all the resolutions of the commission, along with its statements, papers, advice and other key texts. These include an extended study on Holy Orders in Ecumenical Dialogues and Guidelines on Ecumenical Participation in Ordinations. It details all the communion's bilateral and multilateral dialogues, as well as various regional developments, and the ecumenical dimensions of other areas of the communion's life.

All these are accompanied by thorough commentary and analysis, provided by the compiler and editor, the Rev. Sarah Rowland Jones, research and ecumenical advisor to the Archbishop of Cape Town, and a member of the commission throughout its term. She records the evolution of the commission's methodology, and discusses the major themes which characterize and run through all aspects of Anglican understanding and pursuit of the vocation to Christian unity.

Of particular importance is the development of 'Four Principles of Anglican Engagement in Ecumenism' which are offered to the communion for consideration and further development.

The recent meeting of ACC-14 in Jamaica warmly commended The Vision Before Us "for study as a benchmark ecumenical volume in the Provinces of the Anglican Communion."

The book is intended as a key resource and handbook for those with an interest in ecumenism and associated questions of faith and order, whether Anglicans engaged in this work, partners from elsewhere within the Christian world, academics, or the general reader.

For further information, email neil.vigers@anglicancommunion.org at the Anglican Communion Office.

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