The morning of the first day was one of introductions. There are six new members of the Standing Committee (Mrs Helen Biggin, the Rt Revd Eraste Bigirimana, Professor Joanildo Burity, the Revd Dr Sarah Macneil, Ms Louisa Mojela, and Mr Samuel Mukunya) therefore much of the first session was given over to an orientation session. This consisted of an explanation of member’s roles and responsibilities.

Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon then gave his address in which he reminded the Standing Committee that it had been a short period of time since the ACC-15 in November 2012 so the programmatic reports would not be a substantial as normal.

He then highlighted the fact that a major issue for the Anglican Communion Office (ACO) is a lack of funding. This, he said, meant that that for a “not negligible amount of time, staff are having to raise money for their own work.”

Canon Kearon made it clear that the work around theological education—that the Anglican Communion Office had facilitated in the past—currently had no funding whatsoever, and therefore no immediate future.

He explained that funding was also part of the thinking about the Anglican Communion’s presence in New York and Geneva for work with the United Nations and other Churches’ and non-governmental organisations’ representatives there.

His visit to Uruguay in January had been well received, as was his trip to the Diocese of Botswana in March for its anniversary celebrations and farewell to Bishop Trevor Mwamba.

The Secretary General concluded by highlighting the positive experience of the Anglican Communion’s delegation to Pope Francis’ inauguration mass.

The afternoon began with a session reflecting on ACC-15. Stephen Lyon began by sharing feedback from ACC members on what they thought had gone well, and what could have been improved for the next meeting. Things to be improved included the handling of resolutions, how the ACC related to the Anglican Communion Networks, and the amount of reading material and preparation required.

Those things particularly appreciated included having members spend time in regional groups; the welcome and involvement of the local parish churches and local Anglicans; and the separation of the meeting space from the accommodation space. There was particular praise for holding the meeting in a sacred space.

During the discussion about the handling of resolutions, both Bishop David Chillingworth and Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak raised questions about the role and functions of the Instruments of Communion. Archbishop Deng Bul Yak said he hoped the Anglican Consultative Council could be more of a forum where issues impacting the global Anglican family could be discussed. Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori recommended more space at the beginning of meetings to “listen deeply to one another and figure out what it is we need to indaba about”.

Before the finance report, Canon Kearon raised a few other items of business. He said the ACO’s Communications Department would be taking forward the ACC resolution that Anglican Communion Sunday should be revived. He said his office would investigate how to raise additional funds for the work of the Anglican Communion Office. He also said he had received a letter regarding the spouse’s programme. Archbishop Deng Bul Yak recommended that the Secretary General reply clarifying it is the host Province that runs that programme, not the ACC. This was agreed by the council.

Canon Kearon also said that in response to Resolution 15.36 on lay participation, he would continue to ask Provinces to recommend suitable lay people, women and people under 40 years of age for inclusion in committees, commissions and working groups; though the response to such requests in the past had not been good.

ACO Finance Director Tim Trimble, then delivered the Report and Financial Statements for 2012. Elizabeth Paver, Chair of the Finance Committee, said the auditors had given the accounts “a clean bill of health”. The Statements will be available on the Anglican Communion website.

The Standing Committee comprises:

• President: The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby 
• Chair: Bishop James Tengatenga, Church of the Province of Central Africa 
• Vice Chair: Canon Elizabeth Paver, Church of England 
• Mrs Helen Biggin, Church in Wales 
• The Rt Revd Eraste Bigirimana, Anglican Church of Burundi 
• Professor Joanildo Burity, Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil 
• The Rt Revd Ian T Douglas, The Episcopal Church 
• The Revd Dr Sarah Macneil, Anglican Church of Australia 
• Ms Louisa Mojela, Anglican Church of Southern Africa 
• Mr Samuel Mukunya, Anglican Church of Kenya

There are five Primates elected by the Primates:

• The Most Revd Sammuel Azariah, Church of Pakistan 
• The Most Revd David Chillingworth, Scottish Episcopal Church 
• The Most Revd Dr Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Episcopal Church of Sudan 
• The Most Revd Dr Katharine Jefferts Schori, The Episcopal Church 
• The Most Revd Dr Paul Kwong, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui