What do you call a group of lawyers?
Well, one answer might be the “Ecclesiastical Law Society“, a UK organisation, Patronised by ++Canterbury and ++York, that
seeks to promote the study of ecclesiastical and canon law, particularly in the Church of England and those churches in communion with it.
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Now, normally that sort of thing would bore me silly (which is saying something for a CPA) but these days ecclesiastical and canon law have got to be pretty near the top of our list of necessary reading, particularly since the list of speakers is
- NT Wright
- Gregory Cameron
- Norman Doe
- Robert Tong
- John Gladwin
- James Jones (+Liverpool)
- Josiah Fearon (bishop in Nigeria)
These individuals have all been involved in recent Anglican legal matters; e.g. the Windsor Report, the ongoing Panel of Reference and so on.
Details of the conference can be found here (PDF).
Particularly interesting should be this morning’s session (Saturday am, UK) where Gregory Cameron and Robert Tong are speaking. Cameron is Deputy General Secretary at the Anglican Communion Office, an organisation whose leadership isn’t overly enthusiastic about the resurgence of the Global South. Robert Tong is a lawyer who sits on the Panel. Both have been asked to speak about developments post-Windsor and to address the notion that “bonds of affection” are a viable possibility.
Post Windsor bonds of affection? Tell that to parishes in Virginia and North Florida (who are still waiting for the report from the Panel of Reference, despite writing to Lambeth 18 April 2006) and who’s bishops are the bonding all the affection they possibly can.
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