Anglican Church Law and Governance (DC3000T)

Content

Students in this unit will explore the principles and practice of church law in the Anglican Church of Australia, with particular reference to the law’s implications for church governance at the national, diocesan and parish levels. They will engage with the scriptural and historical foundations for canon law, and explore, among other topics, its contemporary utility with regard to modern state-based requirements for safeguarding.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

No prerequisites. Experience in parish ministry desired.

Pedagogy

The unit will be taught in seminars held in two 3 day intensive sessions. Students will be required to engage actively in discussion and identification of issues, drawing on their own experiences.

Indicative Bibliography

• The Anglican Church of Australia, The Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia and General Synod canons: https://www.anglican.org.au/constitution and https://www.anglican.org.au/canons-and-rules
• Avis, Paul D. L. The Anglican Understanding of the Church, London: SPCK Publishing, 2000
• Billings, Bradly S. The Parish Council Handbook, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, 2017
• Billings, Bradly S. A Pastoral Handbook for Anglicans: Guidelines and Resources for Pastoral Ministry, Sydney: Broughton Publishing, 2018
• Briden, Timothy (ed.). Moore’s Introduction to English Canon Law, 4th ed., London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013
• Church of England. 1603/04 Canons of the Church of England https://archive.org/details/constitutionscan00lond/page/8/mode/2up
• Davis, John. Australian Anglicans and their Constitution, Canberra: Acorn Press, 1993
• Hardy, Daniel. Finding the Church, London: SCM Press, 2001
• Hooker, Richard. The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, 1594-97: a critical edition with modern spelling. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Assessment