The Anglican Communion Office Facilitator for the Listening Process on Human Sexuality

2 September 2005

The Anglican Communion Office has placed an advertisement for a Facilitator for the Listening Process on Human Sexuality in the Church Times and Church of England Newspaper. The post is being created in response to the Lambeth Conference Resolution 1.10 taken in 1998 and is to be based at the Anglican Communion Office, St Andrew’s House, 16 Tavistock Crescent, London W11 1AP at a salary yet to be decided.

The advertisement says the bishops attending the Conference wished to establish “a means of monitoring the work done on the subject of human sexuality in the Communion” and to honour the process of mutual listening, including “listening to the experience of homosexual persons” and the experience of local churches around the world in reflecting on these matters in the light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason.

The appointee will be required to hold discussions with Anglican provinces and other interested bodies on the subject of human sexuality and related issues; document responses; research, gather and assemble materials in various mediums; summarise and report findings to the Secretary General and to meetings and assemblies as required. It is expected that the appointment will continue until the later of the next meeting of the ACC or the Lambeth Conference in 2008.

Candidate Characteristics Sought:
• Be able to demonstrate excellent oral, written and presentational skills;
• Familiarity with the Anglican Communion and its instruments.
• Have no previous public alignment on the subject of human sexuality.
• Be prepared to travel within the Communion as required.
• Be keen to encourage and develop the process outlined in imaginative and innovative ways, working on his/her own imitative.
• Have good IT skills, including PowerPoint and basic desktop publishing;
• Initiate and maintain contacts with all parts of the Anglican Communion and other interested parties and operate with a high level of interpersonal skill.

The Revd Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude, said: "Changing Attitude welcomes in principle the decision to create a new full-time post to respond to Lambeth Resolution 1.10. It has taken the Anglican Communion 7 years to respond to the resolution passed in 1998 and 27 years to respond to the first resolution passed in 1978.

"It is, however, quite unacceptable that the candidate must have no previous public alignment on the subject of human sexuality. This is equivalent to excluding a woman from a post dealing with feminism or a black person from a post dealing with race, who have publicly committed themselves on the issue.