Bishop Matthews and the Reverend Alyson Barnett-Cowan reported on the January meeting of the ACPO [Advisory Committee on Postulants for Ordination] secretaries. At that meeting there was a sense of frustration because on the one hand, the Church makes use of ACPO, but on the other hand, dioceses use several different systems for screening potential candidates for ordination. A discussion followed. Another difficulty for the ACPO secretaries is the feeling that their requests for direction from the House of Bishops often receive no response.
Issues which were raised at the secretaries' meeting included questions such as:
- What models are we looking at ?
- Does ACPO have a role in screening out sexual abusers ? And, how can that be done ? Can that be done in one weekend ?
- Does ACPO help or hinder the process of screening candidates ?
The House of Bishops broke into provincial table groups to discuss three questions asked of them.
The groups reported back in plenary. There was some disagreement about whether the ACPO recommendations put to the House at their May 1995 meeting were dealt with and what was the final agreement. (The recommendations were attached to the minutes of that meeting as appendix i.)
Text
1. In light of the re-structuring of General Synod, and of new realities of ministry, the House of Bishops recommends to the Council of General Synod that it establishes a consultation to examine and make recommendations to the appropriate bodies concerning:
a) The role and governance of ACPO
b) Alternate models of ministry and methods of discernment for these models
c) The appropriate lines of accountability for processes relating to all models on the diocesan, provincial and national levels
and that this consultation be representative of:
a) the House of Bishops
b) the Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee
c) ACPO secretaries
d) Theological Colleges
e) those conversant with the concept of Mutual Ministry;
2. The House recommends that, in the meantime, ACPO be considered by all concerned as discernment for training for the professional model of priesthood;
3. The House requests that future ACPO conferences offer the category `Recommended at this time for postulancy' instead of `Recommended at this time for training'. CARRIED
Bishop Hiltz introduced this section and the text of "Night Prayers" was reviewed, discussed and revisions noted.
Text
"That the House of Bishops approve "Night Prayer: An Order for Compline" for publication and distribution for use where authorized by the Ordinary, subject to the obtaining of necessary copyright permission." CARRIED Res. #HB 06-10-00
"The first conforms closely to the shape of the liturgy of the word in the Eucharist. The second might be described as an expanded and more 'user-friendly' version of Morning and Evening Prayer in The Book of Alternative Services'." CARRIED Res. #HB 13-10-00
"That in response to General Synod's request that FWM provide collects suitable for use with the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary, the FWM Committee obtain the necessary copyright permissions for Sunday Collects for use with the Revised Common Lectionary, Years A, B, C (reprinted from A Prayer Book for Australia, 1995) and distribute an electronic copy, an unbound copy for duplication, and a spiral-bound copy of the book to each diocese for trial use where authorized by the Ordinary." CARRIED Res. #HB 14-10-00
"That this House of Bishops acknowledges with gratitude the establishment of the commission called for by the Primates in their statement of October 16, 2003, welcomes the announcement of the members appointed, and commits itself to uphold them prayerfully in the task they have accepted." CARRIED Res. #HB-03-10-08