Rosalie Simmonds-Ballentine of the Diocese of the Virgin Islands was recently elected to serve as the Episcopal Church lay representative on the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). Photo: Provided

Bishop of the Virgin Islands Edward Ambrose Gumbs said Canon Chancellor Rosalie Simmonds-Ballentine now takes her great faith, conviction and dedication to the work of the church worldwide with her being elected to serve as Episcopal Church lay representative on the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). 'We are extremely proud today, and St. Paul’s Sea Cow Bay must be even more proud knowing that her roots are there,' Bishop Gumbs told Virgin Islands News Online. Photo: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/

The Executive Council is currently meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Ballentine is the chancellor of the Diocese of the Virgin Islands(based in St Thomas, USVI) since 1995 and has been a deputy to General Convention since 2000. She is said to have roots in the Virgin Islands and more specifically the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Sea Cow’s Bay.

The ACC is one of the four instruments of communion in the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is one of the 38 Province members. The ACC is the only instrument of communion in which there is lay representation. According to the ACC website, the role of the ACC is to facilitate the cooperative work of the churches of the Anglican Communion.

“This is the highest level at which a lay person can serve in the structure of the Anglican Communion. What an honor to be elected from a field of eleven applicants,” commented Bishop of the Virgin Islands, Edward Ambrose Gumbs in his exclusive comments to Virgin Islands News Online.

Bishop Gumbs further told this news site that Canon Chancellor Ballentine now takes her “great faith”, conviction and dedication to the work of the church worldwide, to this new assignment. “She has served us faithfully here in the Diocese of the Virgin Islands, and we know that she will be a tremendous asset to this auspicious Council, especially when we recall that she is also an attorney, court certified mediator and dispute resolution practitioner. We are extremely proud today, and St. Paul’s Sea Cow Bay must be even more proud knowing that her roots are there.”

Asked what her election to the ACC means for the Diocese of the Virgin Islands, Bishop Gumbs said that by extension the diocese will gain greater recognition and prestige in the hierarchy of the church, “and it might give us a greater opportunity to have an impact on the decision making process. This might be an ambitious statement but it does feel wonderful to have one of our own seated in such a position.”

Canon Chancellor Ballentine served on the Executive Council from 2006 – 2012, chairing the Joint Standing Committee on World Mission from 2009 – 2012. For six years, she chaired the task forces working on the Episcopal Church’s response to the Anglican Covenant. She was the chair of the Legislative Committee on World Mission at General Convention 2012, and she chaired the Legislative Committee on Constitution at General Conventions 2003 and 2006.

She is an elected member of the Church Pension Fund Board of Trustees and is vice-president of Province II.

The term, which takes effect immediately, is for three meetings of the ACC, generally nine years. The next ACC meeting is slated for 2016 in Central Africa.

Ballentine was one of four nominees presented by the Executive Committee of Executive Council following a review of 11 applications.

Current Episcopal Church members of ACC are Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori (as a member of the ACC Standing Committee), Bishop Ian Douglas of the Diocese of Connecticut (bishop), and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings of the Diocese of Ohio and President of the House of Deputies (clergy).