Posted Tuesday 26 February 2008
The Faith and Order Board is one of four Provincial Boards of the Church - the others being Mission & Ministry, Information & Communication, and Administration, writes Rev Gordon Fyfe, Glasgow & Galloway’s clerical member of the Faith & Order Board.
It considers questions of Church government and organisation, as well as relations with the Anglican Communion and other churches. The Board is chaired by the Primus and its large membership includes all seven of our diocesan bishops, a clerical and a lay member from each diocese, and the convenors of the Board’s four Pendant Committees, which cover Canons, Doctrine, Inter-Church Relations and Liturgy.
The Board meets about three times a year, including one overnight residential meeting usually held in the spring. The task of the Faith and Order Board at these meetings is mainly to work with the Pendant Committees as they carry out pieces of work at the request of the Board or of General Synod. Members of the Board also have membership of one of these Pendant Committees.
In relation to the Committee on Canons our recent work has involved preparation for the revision of Canon 35 - relating to congregational status; also on the grievance procedure for clergy and bishops’ regulations.
The Board has heard from the Doctrine Committee regarding the topic for the next Grosvenor Essay - the fifth to be produced - as well as the Scottish Episcopal Church’s response to World Council of Churches documents ‘Called to be one Church’ and ‘The Nature and Mission of the Church’.
From the Inter-Church Relations Committee we have recently been informed of progress in the development of links with other Churches within the Porvoo Agreement as well as being updated on talks between the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church.
In relation to the Anglican Communion, a Pre-Lambeth Task Group has been established in preparation for this year’s Lambeth Conference and a response has been made, based on feedback from around the Province, by the Scottish Episcopal Church to the draft Anglican Covenant document.
The Liturgy Committee has recently been involved in the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation which met to discuss Pastoral Rites concentrating on Funeral Rites. Another major piece of work for this committee is the promotion of Liturgical Formation both within TISEC and the wider Church membership.
As you can see, the remit of the Provincial Faith and Order Board is both an exiting and a wide one. It is a Board that touches on so much that is central to who we are as Episcopalians and where it is we see ourselves going as a Scottish Church.
Category: Scottish Episcopal Church
