Same Gender relationships - Sir Anand chairs Anglican Committee -

Same Gender relationships – Sir Anand chairs Anglican Committee

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

The former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand is heading up a commission of eminent persons set up by the Anglican Church to investigate the issue of blessing people who are in same gender relationships.

The Church hopes the appointment of the committee is a step that will lead it out of the impasse over questions involving in same gender relationships.

The committee met for the first time on 9 June to begin the task of clarifying the choices the church faces – and identifying the implications of those choices.

The commission was instituted by the Standing Committee of the General Synod, which resolved at its November 2011 meeting to ask a small group of eminent people “with ability, credibility and a commitment to work in prayerful collegiality” to convene to do this work.

The commission’s task is to summarise the Biblical and theological work done by the church over 30 years on these matters – and to present a final report which outlines the various options, and suggests the implications of each of those options, to the 2014 General Synod.

The members of the commission are:

Sir Anand Satyanand, who was a lawyer, judge and ombudsman before he was chosen as New Zealand’s 19th Governor General.

Ms Mele Tuilotolava, a Tongan New Zealander lawyer who is also involved in a wide range of health, legal and Pacific Island advocacy work.

Professor Paul Trebilco, head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Otago.

Justice Judith Potter, a High Court judge, and former president of both the Auckland District and New Zealand Law Societies.

Sir Tamati Reedy, an educationalist who was the founding Professor of the University of Waikato’s School of Maori and Pacific Development, and who has also served as the head of the Maori Affairs Department.

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