Nominees to Replace NZ Primate John Paterson for Chair of ACC Revealed

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
5/7/2009

Four nominees have emerged to be the next chair of the Anglican Consultative Council to replace outgoing New Zealand chairman John Patterson.

The first one is Robert Fordham, a layman from the Anglican Church of Australia as well as a former Member of Parliament for 22 years who has also served as deputy premier of Victoria state in Australia and Government Minister for seven years. He is considered a "moderate to liberal" candidate, according to sources.

A second candidate is George Koshy, Church of South India (United) and a professor of English at the CMS College in Kottayam, India, who has attended ACC-8 through 13. He has been a member of the Standing Committee since 1999 and vice chairman since 2002. VOL was told that Koshy is "wishy washy" with no stomach to stand up to the ACC's strident liberals, especially TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

A third candidate is Elizabeth Paver, a lay canon of Sheffield Cathedral, Diocese of Sheffield. She is a former member of the Archbishops' Council, and a former Church Commissioner. This is her third ACC meeting. She has been a member of General Synod since 1991 and chair of the Synod for two 3-year periods. She is a founding member of the Archbishop's Council and a Church Commissioner. She is considered a centrist, middle of the road candidate with a '"don't rock the boat policy"'.

A fourth candidate is The Rt. Rev. Dr. James Tengatenga, of the Province of Central Africa. He has been Bishop of Southern Malawi since 1998 and a member of the ACC Joint Standing Committee since 2002. He served as a member of the Design Group for the Lambeth Conference in 2008 and is a former chair of the Malawi Council of churches.

An Anglo-Catholic, he is heavily favored by TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and is actively being promoted for the position by her because he is seen as the most malleable.

Tomorrow (Friday) will also be the day the ACC votes on the Covenant.

TEC has been uniformly and unequivocally opposed to any Covenant that might mean it could be disciplined for its aberrant ways and that would preclude future gay bishops and rites for same sex blessings. At the same time, the Anglican Church of Canada House of Bishops has backed away from TEC's more strident position, arguing that it does want to remain a good member in the Anglican Communion.

VOL will break the news as soon as we know.

END