The Bishop in Iran has quit the Anglican Communion’s ‘Standing Committee’.

Bishop Azad Marshall’s decision to stand down will come as a blow to the Archbishop of Canterbury who has sought to vest an unprecedented degree of authority in the new entity—formed by the merger of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Standing Committee of the Primates Meeting.

The vote of ‘no confidence’ by yet another leader of the Global South group of Anglican churches serves to isolate Dr. Williams from the conservative and liberal wings of the Communion—diminishing his authority as the political centre collapses from under him.

Bishop Marshall’s withdrawal also comes the same week as the Episcopal Church presents Dr. Williams with a new crisis over the legitimacy of the standing committee, with a fight over the seating of Bishop Ian Douglas of Connecticut on the committee likely to loom large at its next meeting.

The Church of England Newspaper was unable to contact Bishop Marshall, who is traveling in Iran, to confirm his reasons for withdrawing from the standing committee, but those familiar with his decision say it follows in line with the Jan 30 announcement of his primate, Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis of Jerusalem and the Middle East.

Dr. Anis said that after having served for three years on the standing committee he had come to the belief that his continued presence had “no value whatsoever and my voice is like a useless cry in the wilderness.”

The Primate of Uganda, Archbishop Henry Orombi has also absented himself from the meetings of the ACSC for the past year.  The African’ primates representative has not resigned his seat, but has stated he has no confidence in the integrity of the organization and will not attend meetings if representatives from the Episcopal Church are seated.

However, on June 21 the director of communications of the Anglican Consultative Council confirmed to CEN that Bishop Marshall had tendered his resignation from the standing committee.

On June 18 the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church elected Bishop Ian Douglas of Connecticut to succeed Bishop Catherine Roskam as its episcopal representative to the ACC.  Bishop Douglas had been a clergy representative from the Episcopal Church to the ACC and at last year’s ACC meeting in Kingston Jamaica was elected to the Standing Committee.

Asked by CEN in March whether he would continue as a member of the ACSC following his April 17 consecration to the episcopate, Bishop Douglas said “election to the Standing Committee by the ACC is irrespective of orders.  Therefore, if I am elected the episcopal ACC member from TEC by the Executive Council in June, then I remain on the Standing Committee.”

However, the Anglican Communion Institute (ACI) has objected to Bishop Douglas’ continuing membership on the ACSC, noting it violates the language of the ACC constitution and bylaws.

In a paper released last week, the ACI argued that Bishop Douglas gave up his clergy seat on the ACC when he was consecrated a bishop.  His “membership on the ACC ended on April 17 when he retired from his presbyterial office and was ‘translated’ to a new order” of ministry, they said.

The ACI further stated that the ACC bylaws require a member of the Standing Committee to be a member of the ACC, and due to his consecration and subsequent loss of clergy seat on the ACC he “also ceased to be a member of the ACC standing committee at that moment,” under Article 2(f) of the bylaws.

Even assuming that Bishop Douglas could be re-appointed to the Standing Committee after he changed his clergy seat for an episcopal seat, the ACC bylaws require a replacement member be drawn from the “same order” of ministry as his predecessor.  Bishop Douglas could not, under the ACC bylaws the ACI said, replace the Rev. Douglas.

The ACI further noted that Bishop Douglas “is not eligible in any event to replace retiring Bishop Roskam as [the Episcopal Church’s] episcopal representative to the ACC,” as clause 4(c) of the ACC constitution states that upon termination of office, “no member shall be eligible for re-appointment nor shall he or she be appointed an alternate member until a period of six years elapses from the date when such original membership ceased.”

“Bishop Douglas may not serve again on the ACC until 2016,” the ACI said, adding even if the ACC were to ignore all of the above, Bishop Douglas’ new term does not begin until the start of the next ACC meeting under and “would not be qualified to serve on either the ACC or the standing committee under any circumstances until that time.”

The ACC’s “credibility has been badly damaged” by actions “that are widely seen as favoring [the Episcopal Church] over wider Communion convictions and sentiments. And this harm has only been highlighted by resignation and principled absence from the ACC’s standing committee,” the ACI said.

“Restoration of the ACC’s credibility can only begin by enforcing its rules in the case of Bishop Douglas’s attempt to hold onto a standing committee seat that became vacant under the rules on April 17,” it argued.