International and Development Affairs Committee (IDAC)

Papers of the International Affairs Committee and its predecessors, the International Affairs Committee (1964-1970) and the Committee for International Affairs and Migration (1970-1976). Includes minutes of Committee meetings, correspondence between the Secretary and Committee members, correspondence between the Secretary and external organisations, and briefs for bishops. Also includes files containing papers, pamphlets, reports and correspondence relating to particular topics of concern or particular countries.

The International Affairs Committee was set up in 1964, with the first meeting taking place under the Chairmanship of the Very Revd. E.N. Porter Goff at Church House, Westminster, on 7 January 1965, when discussion centered on nuclear weapons and the situation in South Africa. At this meeting the terms of reference for the Committee were stated as follows: 1. To inform and advise the Board [BSR] on those aspects of international relationships which require consideration by the Board and the Church Assembly. 2. To provide a means of communication between the Board on the one hand and the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) and the International Department of the British Council of Churches (BCC) on the other. 3. To promote studies and discussions which will contribute to Christian thinking on international relationships. By the end of 1966 it was minuted that the main areas of work for the Committee would likely fall within 5 subject areas which were not otherwise being dealt with by other Church of England Committees. These subjects were the work of the United Nations, European Affairs, Disarmament, East-West relationships, and North-South relationships (including World Poverty). From 1970 to 1976 the Committee was called the Committee for International Affairs and Migration, but it then reverted to being the International Affairs Committee. In 1972 the Council for Commonwealth Settlement was placed under the direction of IAC, and so it remained until its demise in 1981 having, in 1974, changed name to become the Committee for Overseas Settlement. From this point forward the Overseas Settlement work was undertaken by the Overseas Secretary of BSR, in association with the International Affairs Committee. In 1989 the name of the Committee became the International and Development Affairs Committee in recognition of the growth in the work of the Committee in the development sphere. Generally the Committee held meetings four times per year, with Special Meetings held when necessary. Chairmen of the International and Economic Affairs Committee (and predecessors); - Very Rev. E.N. Porter Goff, Provost of Portsmouth, 1964-1969 - Rt. Rev. Roger Plumpton Wilson, Bishop of Chichester, 1969-1972 - Maurice Chandler, 1972-1981 - Mrs Margaret Cornell, 1981-1986 - Rt. Rev. Simon Barrington-Ward, Bishop of Coventry, 1986-1997 - Rt. Revd. Humphrey Taylor, Bishop of Selby, 1998-2001 Secretaries of the International and Economic Affairs Committee (and predecessors); (prior to 1968 there was no deicated Secretary, with the duties being undertaken by the BSR Secretary - Canon John Oates, 1968-1972 - Hugh Hanning, 1972-1980 - Peter Haynes, 1980-1985 - Pamela Gruber, 1985-1994 - Dr. Roger Williamson, 1995-1998 - Dr. Charles Reed, 1999-2001