Anglican Church League Chairman, Robert Tong has taken ACL members and guests on an epic journey to the other side of the globe and through history at the ACL's annual first night of Synod Dinner.
Mr Tong, who in June this year was appointed to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference, addressed a packed Chapter House on his participation in the pioneering body.
In his speech entitled "A Journey to a Far Country', Mr Tong provided a historical context for the Panel " formed to deal with the crisis facing the Anglican Communion " as it awaits its first reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Mr Tong says there is "little doubt that the Anglican Communion faces a crisis".
"Witness the February 2005 call from the Primates for action as a matter of urgency and look at the internet traffic coming out of North America and Africa," he says.
Mr Tong says the Anglican Church needs to learn from its past.
"Will a look at the rear vision mirror of Anglican history help us steer a truer course when we look forward? It has been said that those who ignore the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them."
Mr Tong summarised four nineteenth century cases of the Anglican Church dealing with internal legal challenges and threats of excommunication.
He maintains the mandate of the Panel is to determine the "adequacy of delegated oversight or other extraordinary arrangements" which varied from the commonly accepted arrangement of "one bishop, one territory".
However, Mr Tong cannot say what arrangements will be examined by the Panel.
"As I have said, we have no references yet so it is not possible to say what might be adequate or extraordinary."
Mr Tong reminded those present that neither the "Archbishop of Canterbury" nor his Panel" have legal jurisdiction over the Anglican Communion.
"The 150 years of international Anglicanism has turned its face against international jurisdictional solutions to Anglican problems," he says.
"Debate, persuasion and peer pressure are the only tools available to those who wish to hold the line."
The book of Matthew provides Mr Tong with all of the legal precedent he says he needs to deal with disputes.
"If you're brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone " if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a gentile and a tax collector," he says.
"What ever may happen to the Anglican Communion we must not forget we are citizens of another country, our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a saviour."
The CEO of the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation, Laurie Scandrett, says Mr Tong's selection as one of the 12-member Panel "shows the high esteem with which he is held within the Anglican Communion".
"I believe the Anglican Communion is in crisis. If it is to survive, it will be because of the success of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference," Mr Scandrett says.
"Given the nature of the crisis, Tong is a vital cog in the Panel."
