Editing Anglican Communion (section)

=== Instruments of communion ===
As mentioned above, the Anglican Communion has no international juridical organisation. The archbishop of Canterbury's role is strictly symbolic and unifying and the communion's three international bodies are consultative and collaborative, their resolutions having no legal effect on the autonomous provinces of the communion. Taken together, however, the four do function as "instruments of communion", since all churches of the communion participate in them. In order of antiquity, they are:

[[File:Canterburycathedralthrone.jpg|thumb|The [[Chair of St Augustine]] (the episcopal throne in [[Canterbury Cathedral]], Kent), seat of the archbishop of Canterbury in his role as head of the Anglican Communion{{NoteTag|The [[Chair of St Augustine]] is the seat of the archbishop of Canterbury in his role as head of the Anglican Communion. Archbishops of Canterbury are enthroned twice: firstly as diocesan ordinary (and metropolitan and primate of the [[Church of England]]) in the archbishop's throne, by the [[archdeacon of Canterbury]]; and secondly as leader of the worldwide church in the Chair of St Augustine by the senior (by length of service) archbishop of the Anglican Communion. The stone chair is therefore of symbolic significance throughout Anglicanism.}}]]

# The [[archbishop of Canterbury]] functions as the spiritual head of the communion.<ref>{{cite web |title = Anglican Communion |url = http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/pages/anglican-communion.html |website = www.archbishopofcanterbury.org |access-date = 4 October 2015 }}</ref> The archbishop is the focus of unity, since no church claims membership in the communion without being in communion with him. The office is currently vacant.
# The [[Lambeth Conference]]<ref name="Bodies">{{cite web |title = Anglican international bodies|url = http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/pages/instruments-of-communion.html |website = www.archbishopofcanterbury.org |access-date = 4 October 2015 }}</ref> (first held in 1867) is the oldest international consultation. It is a forum for bishops of the communion to reinforce unity and collegiality through manifesting the [[historical episcopate|episcopate]], to discuss matters of mutual concern, and to pass resolutions intended to act as guideposts. It is held roughly every ten years and invitation is by the archbishop of Canterbury.
# The [[Anglican Consultative Council]]<ref name="Bodies" /> (first met in 1971) was created by a 1968 Lambeth Conference resolution, and meets usually at three-yearly intervals. The council consists of representative bishops, other clergy and laity chosen by the 38 provinces. The body has a permanent secretariat, the Anglican Communion Office, of which the archbishop of Canterbury is president.
# The [[Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting|Primates' Meeting]]<ref name="Bodies" /> (first met in 1979) is the most recent manifestation of international consultation and deliberation, having been first convened by Archbishop [[Donald Coggan]] as a forum for "leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation".<ref>Jeremy Morris, ''The Oxford History of Anglicanism, Volume IV: Global Western Anglicanism, c. 1910–Present'' (Oxford University Press, 2017), 320–22. {{ISBN|9780192518262}}</ref>

Since there is no binding authority in the Anglican Communion, these international bodies are a vehicle for consultation and persuasion. In recent times, persuasion has tipped over into debates over conformity in certain areas of doctrine, discipline, worship and ethics. The most notable example has been the objection of many provinces of the communion (particularly in Africa and Asia) to the changing acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals in the North American churches (e.g., by [[same-sex unions|blessing same-sex unions]] and ordaining and consecrating same-sex relationships) and to the process by which changes were undertaken. (See [[Anglican realignment]])

Those who objected condemned these actions as unscriptural, unilateral, and without the agreement of the communion prior to these steps being taken. In response, the [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|American Episcopal Church]] and the [[Anglican Church of Canada]] answered that the actions had been undertaken after lengthy scriptural and theological reflection, legally in accordance with their own [[canon law|canons and constitutions]] and after extensive consultation with the provinces of the communion.

The Primates' Meeting voted to request the two churches to withdraw their delegates from the 2005 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council. Canada and the United States decided to attend the meeting but without exercising their right to vote. They have not been expelled or suspended, since there is no mechanism in this voluntary association to suspend or expel an independent province of the communion. Since membership is based on a province's communion with Canterbury, expulsion would require the archbishop of Canterbury's refusal to be in communion with the affected jurisdictions. In line with the suggestion of the [[Windsor Report]], [[Rowan Williams]] (the then archbishop of Canterbury) established a working group to examine the feasibility of an Anglican covenant which would articulate the conditions for communion in some fashion.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714012659/http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/41/50/acns4164.cfm|archive-date=14 July 2006|url=http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/41/50/acns4164.cfm |title=Archbishop of Canterbury: address to General Synod on the Anglican Communion|publisher=ACNS|date=7 July 2006}}</ref>