The Editor’s invitation to guest-edit this issue of SEARCH came as the Church of Ireland moved into the busiest phase of preparation for hosting the nineteenth meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Belfast from 28th June to 4th July this year. It seemed obvious that we should address important matters on ACC-19’s agenda.
Bishop Graham Tomlin explains the genesis of the Nairobi Cairo Proposals (NCP) which, if adopted in Belfast, will reposition relationships within the AC almost a century after a definition of these relationships, centred upon the See of Canterbury, was fi rst attempted. Archbishop John McDowell offers a close examination of what might be the subject of determinative change following ACC-19: the “Instruments of Communion”.
It would be naïve to pretend that the meeting takes place against a tranquil background in Church or world. David Ford traces the journey from a significant meeting of bishops in Porto in 2000, towards ACC-19. He brings to this task magisterial theological and biblical scholarship, deep experience of facilitating consultations among AC bishops, and most recently the work of the Rose Castle Foundation towards peace and reconciliation. All these converge in the work of Scriptural Reasoning and Biblical Reasoning which he has done so much to develop.
In an essay which responds to the recently published Oxford Handbook of Religion in Modern Ireland, Alan Ford leads us through the way religion in Ireland has been studied and represented, towards close engagement with the book’s treatment of secularisation, sectarianism, and identity.
The last issue looked forward to the Installation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Here, Lindsay Yates provides the inside story of the design of the service that took place on 25th March 2026, describing how careful choreography articulated the way in which we can expect this office to be exercised in the future. Continuing the liturgical theme, Neil Vigers surveys the paradox of shared heritage and diversity in the expression of Anglican worship worldwide, concluding with some hopes for the Belfast gathering as an opportunity to send something powerfully good home with the visiting delegates when they depart.
