Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado of Puerto Rico and Yvonne O’Neal, a member of the Church Pension Group’s board, will represent the Episcopal Church on the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). The council is one of four Instruments of Communion and the only one to include lay leaders. The group advises on the organization and structures of the Communion and helps develop standard policies that reflect the mission of the global church.
The ACC convenes about every three years in different parts of the world. Its next meeting will be held in the summer of 2026 and hosted by the Church of Ireland. The council has around 100 members, with each province sending two or three members to its meetings.
Maldonado and O’Neal were elected as bishop and lay representatives on the second ballot during the summer meeting of the Executive Council on June 24 at Linthicum Heights, Maryland. In 2022, the Rev. Canon Ranjit Matthews was elected as the Episcopal Church’s ACC clergy member.
Earlier, the Executive Council opened nominations for bishop and lay representatives for the ACC churchwide. Eligible nominees must have a thorough knowledge of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church and be familiar with the governance structures of both. The council’s constitution says the council prefers that representatives belong to the governing bodies of their respective provinces.
“Bishop Rafael Morales represents a leader who is committed to his people, who enlivens the Gospel with actions and projects that have an impact on people,” the Rev. Canon Mario Rodriguez wrote when he nominated Maldonado.
Maldonado is also the provisional bishop of the Diocese of Cuba and bishop adviser to the Diocese of the Virgin Islands.
A deeply involved lay leader who “lives and breathes Anglicanism,” Yvonne O’Neal was appointed by the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to serve on the Advisory Council of the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations. O’Neal represented the Communion at the 2008 United Nations Conference on Financing for Development in Doha, Qatar.
A cradle Episcopalian, she was elected to the vestry as a teenager and has held various positions in her parish, Holy Trinity in Manhattan.
“The opportunity to serve is both an honor and a sacred responsibility—one that demands listening, collaboration, and faithful engagement across the worldwide Anglican family,” O’Neal wrote as she nominated herself for consideration to become a council member. She worked for decades as a financial consultant with TIAA-CREF (now called TIAA), a Fortune 500 pension fund.
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is The Living Church’s Episcopal Church reporter. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Broadview Magazine, and Presbyterian Outlook, among other publications.
