WEDNESDAY MARCH 21 2007 No: 65 www.churchnewspaper.com

CHURCH OF ENGLAND THE ORIGINAL CHURCH NEWSPAPER ESTABLISHED IN 1828

America Rebuffs Primates

By George Conger

www.churchnewspaper.com/cen_online

The American Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops has rejected a key element of the communiqué issued by the Primates at last month’s meeting in Tanzania, saying they will not accept a pastoral council that undermines their authority.

The Bishops yesterday released their “Mind of the House” resolution rejecting the pastoral provision of the Dar es Salaam plan, but claimed is not a complete rejection of the Primates’communiqué.

The rejection of the pastoral council plan by the House of Bishops, following closely upon the dismissal of the recommendations of the Panel of Reference by the Bishop of Florida earlier this month, leaves the Archbishop of Canterbury few options as the American church has rejected all of the structural mechanisms put forward to event a confrontation with the Global South.

The Bishops meeting took place at Houston from March 16-21, where they wrote a four-part resolution, extended an invitation to Dr Williams to visit the US, and released a statement attacking the Primates’ communiqué and outlining why they ould not accede to its emands.

While Dr Williams and the Primates asked the House of Bishops to respond to the Dares Salaam plan, the US bishops have attempted to step out of the line of fire, and have made their recommendations to the US church’s Executive Council — asking it to make the decision.

The four-part resolution affirmed the Bishops’ desire to be invited to the 2008 Lambeth Conference and to remain “part of the councils”
of the Communion; stated that the interpretation of the Preamble of the US Church’s constitution, which says that it is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and in communion with the See of Canterbury, was a matter for the US Church alone to interpret; rejected the Dar esSalaam plan of pastoral careas “injurious” to the Episcopal Church; and pledged to find alternative ways of “meeting the pastoral concerns of the Primates.”

In a letter to Dr Williams,the bishops stated they believed there was an “urgent need for us to meet face to face” to discuss these issues and asked him to “join us a tour expense” at a meeting in the United States before the Sept 30 deadline set by the Primates’ communiqué.

However, the Rev Richard Kirker, Chief Executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, welcomed the Episcopal Church’s response.He said: “At last some sanity is breaking into the debate. There is an obvious realisation that the consequences of this pandering to the Puritans means an increasing hostility towards lesbian and gay people so clearly demonstrated by the Archbishop of Nigeria who is fiercely promoting anti-gay legislation in his country contrary to Scripture and all the decisions of Anglicanism over the last 30 years.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury has much to answer for. His decision to sell us down the river in the short term to buy time has back-fired - the Americans are having none of it and we hope he will now come to see his strategy has failed. "If the Americans are expelled from the Anglican Communion this will encourage those already bent on ourdestruction to persecute lesbian and gay people.”

The Episcopal News Service

www.dfms.org/3577_84198_ENG_HTM.htm

House of Bishops: Message to God's People

Spring House of Bishops Meeting
Camp Allen Episcopal Conference Center
Navasota, Texas
March 16-21, 2007

A Message to God's People...from the Bishops of the Episcopal Church

As we prepare for Easter and the joyous celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we send you greetings from Navasota, Texas where we gathered for the spring meeting of the House of Bishops. We represent fifteen sovereign nations, the fifty United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, and Micronesia bearing witness to the Gospel of Our Lord and the wonders of Christ's redeeming work in the world. We were reminded of the health and vitality of our Church as our new Presiding Bishop recounted her travels. We have experienced a sense of identity, clarity, and purpose in fulfilling our vocation as bishops. We were blessed by the presence of the Primate and the House of Bishops of the Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico. Together we discovered a growing unity as we seek the mind of Christ. Our meeting was marked by a spirit of thanksgiving and respect, lived in a rich rhythm of worship, work, study, and rest.

That spirit moved us deeper into our focus on mission for Christ. In that context we discussed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Primates' Communiqué, the draft Anglican Communion Covenant, as well as a number of other mission opportunities.

The central theme of the address by the Rev. Dr. Ian Douglas of the Episcopal Divinity School was that "the mission of the Church is to participate in the mission of God". This observation set the tone for our study and discussion of the MDGs. We gave special attention to the challenge of environmental sustainability, the theme of a presentation by Dr. John Pine of Louisiana State University who addressed the environmental implications of global climate change.

We heard from the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner and the Rev. Dr. Katherine Grieb, members of the Covenant Drafting Committee, each of whom brought a distinct perspective regarding the proposed Covenant. Their presentations, which are available on line, will inform further conversations as the drafting process continues prior to the Lambeth Conference of 2008.

Mission concerns received attention in a variety of workshops and presentations, including: the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, Darkness into Day campaign, TEAM (Toward Effective Anglican Mission), TEAC (Theological Education within Anglican Communion), Bishops Working for a Just Society, issues facing returning military personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families, as well as immigration and border issues viewed from both the United States and Mexican perspectives. The fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq was marked by a prayer vigil for peace. Then, in both formal and informal ways, members of the House expressed their strong desire to keep God's mission at the center of the life of the Church.

We also heard a well-documented report by the House of Bishops' Task Force on Property Disputes on the history and strategy of groups, including some in the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDAP) and others, to remove congregations and church property from The Episcopal Church. This report will be made available at a later date. We commend it, once publicly available, to diocesan Standing Committees.

We had an extended and thoughtful discussion of the Communiqué from the Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam, which represents the beginning of a longer process of response that will continue through the coming months.

It is our strong desire to remain within the fellowship of the Anglican Communion. The Primates' Communiqué, however, raises significant concerns. First among these is what is arguably an unprecedented shift of power toward the Primates, represented, in part, by the proposed "Pastoral Scheme." This proposed plan calls for the appointment of a Primatial Vicar and Pastoral Council for The Episcopal Church whose membership would consist of "up to five members; two nominated by the Primates, two by the Presiding Bishop, and a Primate of a Province of the Anglican Communion nominated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to chair the Council." We believe this proposal contravenes the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. Moreover, because it is proposed that this scheme take immediate effect, we were compelled, at this March meeting, to request that the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church decline to participate in this aspect of the Communiqué's requests. Nonetheless, we pledge to continue working to find a way of meeting the pastoral concerns raised by the Primates that are compatible with our own Church's polity and canons. We should note that our recommendation to Executive Council not to participate in the Pastoral Scheme, though not unanimously endorsed by this House, came at the conclusion of long and gracious conversation.

Finally, we believe that the leaders of the Church must always hold basic human rights and the dignity of every human being as fundamental concerns in our witness for Christ. We were, therefore, concerned that while the Communiqué focuses on homosexuality, it ignores the pressing issues of violence against gay and lesbian people around the world, and the criminalization of homosexual behavior in many nations of the world.

The Theology Committee of the House of Bishops was charged with the responsibility of developing a teaching guide for consideration of both the Primates' Communiqué and the proposed draft Covenant for the Anglican Communion. We anticipate this guide will be available by late May for use by bishops and dioceses in preparation for the September meeting of the House of Bishops.

The bishops unanimously affirmed a Mind of the House Resolution inviting the Archbishop of Canterbury and the members of the Primates' Standing Committee to meet, at a time of their choosing, with the House of Bishops.

As we prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery we call for your prayers for and commitment to God's mission of making all things new.

For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5)