Oversight (the Rev. J. Lane Denson III)

The Rev. Lane Denson III serves as part-time associate at St. Ann's Parish, Nashville, Tennessee. He is editor and publisher of The Covenant Journal and writer of Out of Nowhere. In earlier years, Denson served as a college chaplain at Lamar State, Beaumont, Texas, and Rice University, in Houston, when the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines was Bishop of the Diocese of Texas. Lane Denson also plays jazz cornet in the Monday Night Jazz Band. As for "Oversight," Lane says, the inspiration, some of the language, and the better ideas are from his friend and colleague the Rev. Ann Fontaine, Wyoming missionary, author, and member of the Executive Council.
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Jesus didn't leave all his money to one person. He left it to a community and he sent Spirit a-plenty to keep it embodied, between the curbs, and focused.

One of my favorite things about the Episcopal Church is its pentecostal consistency in commitment to the practice of discerning God's will in community among all orders of ministry – laity, deacons, priests, and bishops. We do this triennially in the General Convention, its lead-up, practice, and follow-up. We do it annually in the conventions and councils of the several dioceses.

Indeed, when we set our minds to it, we even do it in vestries and standing committees. God willing, when we behave that way, every once in a while we actually accomplish something in this Anglican gift of ordered freedom.

Our theology of ministry requires that the whole Church listen for the movement of the Holy Spirit. Such ministry is not relegated solely to the clergy or to magisterium. The problem some have with our polity is that it is messy, time-consuming, ambiguous, and, of course – dare we say – democratic.

Increasingly, it seems, groups of American bishops fail to recognize or maybe even to understand this distinctively collegial characteristic of the very Church through which they received their orders and to whose doctrine, discipline, and worship they swear allegiance. In their penchant for pontificating, they end up overlooking rather than overseeing canon law, the deacons, the priests, and the laity altogether. Note: the word bishop equals overseer, supervisor. In fact, they seem to do whatever they can to avoid it all. What is worse, co-dependents to a fault, we let them, forgetting that denial and grandiosity are the twin diagnostic indicators of addiction, in this case, at least, addiction to power with an apparent disregard for any faithful meaning and understanding of authority – on our part or theirs.

As a consequence of this attitude, of course, they gather alone and in like-minded and reinforcing groups apparently without any thought to their true place in orders and to make unsolicited pronouncements on their own. In just this manner, two separate groups of bishops have met this September in meetings provoked by the famed Windsor Report of 2004, itself largely only episcopal in origin and itself missing the point of our American polity altogether.

These are groups of bishops who have an opinion and who want you to know about it, and that's just fine, but actually, they don't decide anything. They aren't the deciders. The General Convention decides things for The Episcopal Church. The bishops do not stand alone in such matters. They are welcome to lobby the church in whatever direction they wish. This is just as those of us have done who have worked for the full inclusion of women in all orders of ministry and for gays and lesbians to have full participation in the church.

As it is, our view has prevailed within the rules of order and in the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church. These errant prelates keep trying end runs to achieve their vision. But that's pointless, as there is no body that can enforce their desires except the General Convention. This is not to say the bishops have no place in ministry or that their place is not of critical importance. But it is to say it is only a place and of no more importance than that of any other baptized member or duly elected representative to our decision-making bodies.

We pray for their better understanding and fulfilling of their orders and, as well, for our understanding and wariness of their anxiety. But we pray, as well, for them to get back to their dioceses and to get to the work for which they were elected and ordained -- stuff like spreading the gospel and building up the Church in their place of business, healing the sick, feeding the poor, tending the prisoners, and all those other Jesus things. There are many pressing issues in their little corners of the world – a lot more than any one of them can manage alone – pressing issues which need to be overseen, not overlooked.

Presiding Bishop reflects on Camp Allen, Kigali meetings

From Episcopal News Service

My dear brothers and sisters:

We have all received within the last days a letter from the bishops who gathered at Camp Allen at the invitation of Don Wimberly. As well, you may have seen an unsigned communiqué sent from a gathering of primates and others from the global south which was held in Rwanda. Let me share some reflections about these two meetings with you.

With regard to the gathering in Texas, advance and follow-up information about this meeting suggest an involvement by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is important for you to know that the Texas meeting was in no way held at the Archbishop's initiative nor was it planned in collaboration with him. The two bishops from the Church of England did not attend as delegates of the Archbishop, nor were they empowered to speak on his behalf except to give the message that "the bishops meeting are bishops of the Catholic Church in the Anglican Communion." The Archbishop has always encouraged exchanges of views, as have I. Therefore, I appreciate the concern of those who attended the Texas meeting for the faithfulness of our church. At the same time, such encouragement does not necessarily imply affirmation of or agreement with points of view expressed in the course of such exchanges.

I would like to observe here that our House contains many points of view held by persons of unquestionable faith whose desire is to be faithful to the mind and mission of Christ. Because of this, I have seen during these nine years how unhelpful it can be for us as a community when we separate ourselves from one another by signing, or not signing, statements. As we have learned, position statements can easily occlude the more subtle dimensions of agreement and disagreement, which is where our deepest engagement with one another can occur. As much as we draw comfort from those who share our own point of view, it is important for us on all sides to realize that truth in its fullness cannot be contained in any one perspective.

The fact that some among us feel we did not go far enough in responding to the invitations of the Windsor Report while others feel we have gone too far is to be expected in a church in which people hold differing theological perspectives. We are making our best efforts within our church to be faithful to the Windsor process, and I am gratified by how we, for the most part, are comporting ourselves as brothers and sisters in Christ.

The letter from Texas said it is the clear sense of the signers that "the General Convention of 2006 did not adequately respond to the request made of the Episcopal Church by the Communion through the Windsor Report and the Primates at Dromantine." It says that this view is "consistent with the Archbishop of Canterbury's Holy Cross Day letter to the Primates." Given the very nuanced and cautious way in which the Archbishop expresses himself, I think it is important here to refer back to that letter and what Rowan actually said, and I quote: "It is also clear that the Episcopal Church has taken very seriously the recommendations of the Windsor Report; but the resolutions of General Convention still represent what can only be called a mixed response to the Dromantine requests. The advisory group has spent much time in examining these resolutions in great detail, and its sense is that although some aspects of these requests have been fully dealt with, there remain some that have not."

I note here that Archbishop Robin Eames, Chairman of the Lambeth Commission which produced the Windsor Report, says in his introduction: "This report is not a judgment. It is part of a process. It is part of a pilgrimage toward healing and reconciliation." As such, I believe the "Windsor process" is a process of mutual growth which calls for patience, mutual understanding and generosity of spirit rather than stark submission.

It also needs to be said that the assessment of the responses of the Episcopal Church to the Windsor process is not the responsibility of self-chosen groups within the Communion. At the April 2006 meeting of the Joint Standing Committee of the primates and the Anglican Consultative Council a small working group drawn from different parts of the Communion was identified to consider the actions and decisions of our General Convention. They will communicate to both the Joint Standing Committee and then the Primates Meeting in February. The Archbishop has repeatedly underscored the need to allow this process to unfold.

The General Convention in Resolution A165 affirmed our commitment to the Windsor process. From my perspective, being faithful to the Windsor process – and the Covenant process which is integral to it – calls for patience and rules out actions which would preempt their orderly unfolding. In my view, portions of the Kigali statement that take issue with the actions of the Episcopal Church in advance of hearing from the advisory group, and before the Covenant has an opportunity to be developed, are inconsistent with the Windsor process, as are continuing incursions of bishops from other provinces into our dioceses. Patience and respect for one another and our provincial structures are required on the part of us all.

The communiqué from Kigali recommends that there be a separate ecclesial body within our province. The suggestion of such a division raises profound questions about the nature of the church, its ordering and its oversight. I further believe such a division would open the way to multiple divisions across other provinces of the Communion, and any sense of a coherent mission would sink into chaos. Such a recommendation appears to be an effort to preempt the Windsor process and acting upon it would create a fact on the ground, making healing and reconciliation – the stated goal of the Windsor process – that much more difficult to achieve.

Having said that, I am well aware that some within our own Episcopal Church are working to achieve such an end. Efforts, some more overt than others, toward this end have been underway since before the 1998 Lambeth Conference. More recently, the Colorado-based organization called the Anglican Communion Institute has posted on its website a paper outlining a four-part strategy toward a new "Constituent body" in the United States, rather than the Episcopal Church, which would participate in the development of an Anglican Covenant. Though the Texas meeting included consultants who are part of the Anglican Communion Institute, I know this goal is not shared by all of the bishops who signed the letter from Texas.

The Kigali communiqué questions Bishop Jefferts Schori's ability to represent all of our dioceses. The role of primates is to bear witness as fully as possible to the life and complexities of their own provinces. I have sought to bring to the primates' meetings the wide range of opinions and the consequent tensions within our own church. I have every confidence that Katharine will do the same. Furthermore, the voices from dioceses that the Kigali communiqué fears will not be heard seem to be well represented among the primates themselves.

I am in full agreement with the Kigali communiqué's declaration that the challenges facing our Anglican structures can be a distraction from the work of the gospel. I am glad to know that a great deal of time at Kigali was devoted to such concerns as poverty eradication, HIV/AIDS, peace building and evangelization. Here I note our own church's commitment to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and pray that our mutual concerns will allow us to work together for the healing and reconciliation of the world, and thereby find the source of our healing and reconciliation as a Communion.

I end these reflections with a quotation from one of our great Anglican spiritual guides and teachers of prayer, Evelyn Underhill. The coming of the Kingdom is perpetual. Again and again, freshness, novelty, power from beyond the world break in by unexpected paths bringing unexpected change. Those who cling to tradition and fear all novelty in God's relation to the world deny the creative activity of the Holy Sprit, and forget that what is now tradition was once innovation; that the real Christian is always a revolutionary, belongs to a new race, and has been given a new name and a new song.

May we indeed be guided by the creative activity of the Holy Spirit as we continue through these challenging days, and in the fullness of time may our various divisions find their reconciliation in the One in whom all things have been reconciled, making it possible for us -- with one heart and one mind -- to sing a new song.

Yours ever in Christ,

Frank

Iowans Prepare for National Gathering

[Editor's note: This report was sent from a priest in the Diocese of Iowa.]

About a dozen Iowa clergy gathered before their fall clergy conference to share perceptions, concerns, and information about the efforts of The Episcopal Majority. Ron Osborne, a retired priest in that diocese, reports a good conversation. Several Iowans are planning to attend the Washington meeting, at the time of the installation of the new Presiding Bishop: Barb and Mel Schlachter, Joseph Smith and possibly Netha Breda.

Other Iowa clergy are supporting those attending financially through donations to their Clergy Association account.

As the diocesan convention is the week following the Washington gathering, plans are underway for a lunch meeting at the convention to hear back from those who participated.

Interest in The Episcopal Majority initiative seems strong in Iowa, and many have commented positively about the blog.

Ron Osborne (parson3333@aol.com) is a contact person in Iowa.

The end of the Communion?

The End of the Communion?
InclusiveChurch Response to Kigali
reprinted here with permission from InclusiveChurch

1.0 As a result of the statements issued by the meeting of the Primates of the “Global South” in Kigali, the Anglican Communion has been moved into completely new territory. (http://www.globalsouthanglican.org/index.php/comments/the_road_to_lambeth_presented_at_capa/) . We are presented with a situation where the possibility of dialogue between believing Christians is being closed down. Both the tone and the content of the Communique of the Primates of the Global South reflect an understanding of the Church which is profoundly un-Anglican, and represents a radical departure from both our ecclesiology and our traditions. We are sleepwalking towards a new church, and unless the silent majority of Anglicans do not take action we will wake up find we have lost the Church and the Christianity we hold dear.

2.0 “One church, one bishop, one territory” is fundamental to our Anglican polity and identity; to say that it is now “outdated” is to deny the whole history of Anglicanism . To say that many of the Primates can either not be in communion or to be in “impaired communion” with the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (TEC) represents a theological and ecclesiological nonsense, The sacrament of Holy Communion is a sacrament given to us by God which is not capable of impairment. We trust in God and give thanks to Him for the gift of communion; it is as the Body of Christ that we exist.

3.0 The proposal to create two parallel jurisdictions within the Anglican Communion, separate but both nominally Anglican through their relationship with Canterbury, rides roughshod over the Instruments of Unity and over the Windsor process. It also represents a misunderstanding of the nature of Anglican identity. If we are in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury we cannot be out of communion with one another.

But we remember that many of the primates of the “Global South” absented themselves from a Eucharist to which they were invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Dromantine Conference in 2005. We draw the conclusion from that that their allegiance to Canterbury is at best skin deep, and subject to his confirmation of their particular position on matters of human sexuality.

We also note that the Communique did not involve or receive the assent of the Archbishop of Cape Town and the Province of Southern Africa, and we wonder how many other Provinces’ assent has been assumed instead of confirmed.

4.0 Those who believe in a church which is both inclusive and welcoming have until now sought to respond to the actions of the Primates of the “Global South” with reason and restraint. As a result, factions within our Church have pushed harder and harder at the bounds of communion. Their proposals now bear only a tangential resemblance to the Anglicanism which has until now defined and developed the Communion.

5.0 We note too that significant amounts of funding for many of the organisations which have led on these – notably the American Anglican Council, Anglican Communion Network and Anglican Mainstream – have come from the Ahmansen family and other non-Anglican, politically conservative foundations based in the United States. (http://www.edow.org/follow/part1.html) This funding has enabled the due processes of the Anglican Communion to be subverted and hijacked, raising issues of family life and human sexuality to a prominence within the life of our church which is unjustified and contrary to the Gospel values of love and justice.

6.0 We have noted with concern that although the Archbishop of Canterbury has implicitly on a number of occasions publicly been critical of the actions of TEC - for example in his recent Pastoral Letter (http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/releases/060915a.htm) he has as yet not been critical of the very serious breaches of the Instruments of Unity by the Church of Nigeria; for example, the creation of a Bishop in the United States in complete contravention of Windsor guidelines on provincial boundaries. Neither has he challenged the actions of the Church of Nigeria in its vociferous support of the criminalisation of homosexuality in Nigeria (http://www.anglican-nig.org/PH2006message2nation.htm) despite his condemnation of homophobia on several occasions.

5.0 We note that the Communique from the Primates of the “Global South” identifies the Church of England as being compromised by its attitude towards the civil partnership legislation in this country. We believe it is important in this context for the Church of England to be clear on its current practice. Namely, that hundreds if not thousands of same-gender partnerships have been celebrated over the past thirty years, in churches, by priests and deacons. Further, that there have been, and in the future no doubt will be homosexual bishops in relationships within our church. Any Covenant, therefore, which excludes members of TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada will have also to exclude the Church of England.

5.0 In the light of what is being produced by the “Global South” we have the following questions for which we request urgent clarification from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion Office

5.1 Will they confirm that all Bishops duly elected or appointed and with current responsibilities in the Communion will be invited to the 2008 Lambeth Conference? There can be no other way to ensure that those loyal to the principles of Anglicanism are duly and properly involved in the life of our Communion.

5.2 If “Alternative Primatial Oversight” is granted for the Dioceses seeking it in the United States, what equivalent oversight will be offered to LGBT Christians experiencing danger and discrimination in Nigeria and other parts of Africa?

5.3 What structures exist to permit the selection of an “alternative” to the Presiding Bishop of TEC to attend Primates’ meetings?

5.4 Is the development of parallel jurisdictions acceptable to the ACO? If it is, then what is to stop the development of more jurisdictions on other matters?

5.5 The “Global South” Primates appear to be seeking to pre-empt the Covenant process by preparing a draft with the clear intention of requiring assent to confessional propositions related to homosexuality. What implications does this have for the process of agreeing a Covenant which recognises the depth and breadth of Anglicanism, both Catholic and Reformed?

5.6 What brief was given to the Bishops of Durham and Winchester in their recent attendance at a meeting of Bishops of TEC?

6.0 We are also concerned by the silence from the Bishops of the Church of England. The implications of the “Global South” developments may well, in the near future, have an impact on the Church of England. Indeed there have already been actions which indicate the shape of things to come, such as the unauthorised ordinations in the Diocese of Southwark. There are significant numbers of English Bishops who are deeply perturbed by the actions of their colleagues across the world, and deeply concerned to counter homophobia and prejudice. Why are they not speaking?

7.0 Today we celebrate the life of Lancelot Andrewes, one of the fathers of our church. We deeply regret the way in which the Communion is being undermined and sidetracked by a false Anglicanism which neither reflects nor pays tribute to our history. We trust and pray that the dialogue to which we are all as Christians called will continue so that the Gospel of Christ may flourish in this country and across the Communion.

Giles Goddard
Chair, InclusiveChurch

Lancelot Andrewes; 25th September 2006

www.inclusivechurch.net
Office@inclusivechurch.net

South Africa Speaks Out

From The Daily Episcopalian:

...and the lying liars who tell them

Peter Akinola and MArtyn Minns are up to their old tricks again, releasing a statement in a way that implies the support of people who didn't even know the statement was being developed:

Here are some excerpts from a "clarification" about the Global South communique from Archbishop Njongonkulu Nudngage of Southern Africa. To read the full text, click on the ["more..."] button.

"I wish to offer this clarification of the position of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, in light of the potentially misleading impression that our Province has endorsed the Communiqué issued at the end of the meeting. Whereas Canon Livingstone Ngewu and I were present in Kigali, neither of us were made aware even of the possibility of a communiqué in the name of the Primates of the Global South, prior to its release."

and

" I also want to clarify what may be to some the ambiguous wording of section 14. CAPA Primates ‘received’ the draft ‘The Road to Lambeth’ in the sense of agreeing to give it full consideration. However, we recognised our inability to commit our Provinces to this, or indeed any other text, without consulting them. It is precisely for that consultation that we are referring it to our Provinces for study, with the expectation that comments will be made, and a final text agreed in the new year. Our ‘commending’ should not be interpreted as ‘endorsing’ the text as it currently stands – it remains a draft."

Archbishop Ndungane's statement:

I thank God for the fellowship I enjoyed with my brother Primates of CAPA and the Global South, in Kigali last week, as we shared concerns about the Anglican Communion and other matters of common interest.

I wish to offer this clarification of the position of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, in light of the potentially misleading impression that our Province has endorsed the Communiqué issued at the end of the meeting. Whereas Canon Livingstone Ngewu and I were present in Kigali, neither of us were made aware even of the possibility of a communiqué in the name of the Primates of the Global South, prior to its release.

While I may well concur with some sections of the text, there are others which are certainly not consonant with the position of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, as articulated only earlier this month by our Synod of Bishops and our Provincial Synod. This is particularly the case in relation to Section 10.

As a general point, I want to comment that whereas I fully endorse the rationale for a body such as the Global South, which can help us address some of the power imbalances between North and South that exist within the Church and more generally, I am surprised that we allow our agenda to be so dominated and driven by an inordinate influence from the United States. This flies in the face of the experience of those of us who are steeped in black and post-colonial theology, the theology of liberation, and black consciousness. It is hard to understand why we continue to act in response to the North to such a great extent, rather than making use of our freedom to concentrate our energies on the priorities of our own people and Provinces.

That said, there is no doubt that the tensions within the Anglican Communion, arising from actions within North America, raise serious and problematic concerns for our future. Yet I am deeply disturbed by the tenor of our approach, as reflected in this communiqué. To me, at least, it appears in places that there is a hidden agenda, to which some of us are not privy. For example, I am unable to understand why there seems to be a deliberate intention to undermine the due processes of the Anglican Communion and the integrity of the Instruments of Unity, while at the same time we commit ourselves to upholding Anglican identity, of which these, as they have continued to evolve over the years in response to changing needs, are an intrinsic part. Thus, for example, recent meetings of the Primates, in which the Global South played a very full part, requested various actions from the Archbishop of Canterbury, which he has been assiduous in pursuing; such as setting up the Lambeth Commission, the Panel of Reference, and now the Covenant Design Group. Yet there seems to be an urgency to obtain particular outcomes in advance, pre-empting the proper outworking of the bodies for which we called.

Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. As Peter writes in his second letter, ‘Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.’ We do not want the best of Anglicanism to be cast aside, and so to perish! And to allow the due processes of these bodies, and the Instruments of Unity, to be followed through will take such a short time in relation to the life of God’s Church over two millennia.

I must also say that I am disturbed by the apparent zeal for action to be taken against those deemed not in compliance with Lambeth Resolution 1:10, with a readiness to disregard ancient norms of observing diocesan autonomy. Though this was upheld within the Windsor Report’s recommendations, it is of course a practice that was adopted in earliest times by the universal church. It was thus ironic that that the feast of Theodore of Tarsus fell during our meeting: as Archbishop of Canterbury, in 673 he summoned one of the most important Synods of our early tradition. In addressing both the rights and duties of clergy and religious, its decisions included the requirement, already acknowledged elsewhere, of bishops to work within their own dioceses and not to intrude on the ministry of others. We are in danger of giving the impression of being loyal Anglicans, and loyal members of God’s One, Holy and Apostolic Church, only where, and insofar, it suits us!

We must also be careful to avoid creating, in effect, episcopi vagantes. This is a difficult and complex area, which Resolution 35 of the Lambeth Conference of 1920 addressed when it said ‘The territorial Episcopate has been the normal development in the Catholic Church, but we recognise that differences of race and language sometimes require that provision should be made in a Province for freedom of development of races side by side; the solution in each case must be left with the Province, but we are clear that the ideal of the one Church should never be obscured.’ In our time too, we must do all that we can not to obscure that ideal of the one Church.

I am also more than a little wary of calling into question the election processes of another Province in the way the Communiqué suggests, in relation to the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. This introduces a completely new dimension into our relationships within the Communion, the reciprocal implications of which we have not considered. I would feel more confident if we addressed this question as a part of the more comprehensive reassessment of the nature of the Communion for our times, which is underway not least through the work of the Covenant Design Group.

An added concern for me is the apparent marginalisation of laity, clergy and bishops in the debate within the Global South. I was particularly glad that circumstances allowed me fully to consult both my fellow bishops, and our Provincial Synod, immediately in advance of the Kigali meeting. For a fundamental and indispensable element of our Anglican identity is that we are both episcopally led and synodically governed. I long for a consultative process that fully engages the whole Body of Christ, recognising that ‘to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good’ (1 Cor 12:7). Primates do not have sole monopoly on wisdom and knowledge at this crucial time, nor indeed at any other!

In light of this, I also want to clarify what may be to some the ambiguous wording of section 14. CAPA Primates ‘received’ the draft ‘The Road to Lambeth’ in the sense of agreeing to give it full consideration. However, we recognised our inability to commit our Provinces to this, or indeed any other text, without consulting them. It is precisely for that consultation that we are referring it to our Provinces for study, with the expectation that comments will be made, and a final text agreed in the new year. Our ‘commending’ should not be interpreted as ‘endorsing’ the text as it currently stands – it remains a draft.

To my brother Primates of the Global South and CAPA, I therefore offer a plea from the heart. Let us hold fast, in word and deed, to the true marks with which we believe the Lord has graced and gifted us as Anglicans – yes, our rootedness in Scripture as our primary touchstone, but also in our Tradition and our use of Reason. The Windsor Report has done us an invaluable service in beginning to address how we understand and recognise these and what they mean for us today, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has offered further vital insights in his reflections ‘The Challenge and Hope of Being an Anglican Today.’ I have offered my own thoughts in ‘Heartlands of Anglicanism’ and I am sure there is more to be said. But I am also sure that if we fail to carry forward the ‘three-fold strands’ not just of Scripture, Tradition and Reason, but also of what Archbishop Rowan has so eloquently described as ‘reformed commitment to the absolute priority of the Bible for deciding doctrine, a catholic loyalty to the sacraments and the threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, and a habit of cultural sensitivity and intellectual flexibility that does not seek to close down unexpected questions too quickly’ – that if we fail to carry forward these, then we certainly relinquish our ability to claim that we stand authentically within Anglicanism.

In the book of the Prophet Isaiah, we read that ‘those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint.’ We want the Anglican Communion to rise up, renewed and strengthened, on eagles’ wings. It is for us to wait upon the Lord. We do not have a God who is slow to act. We can have confidence to let him lead our Church forward, through the ways he has so often done in the past. In our concerns for the Anglican Communion which we love, we do not have to be precipitate and risk losing much of what it is we wish to preserve and enhance.

And so I also offer a call to my brother Primates, that we step back from the brink at which the Kigali Communiqué appears to place us. It is certainly the case that we need changes within the life, and structures, and processes of the Anglican Communion. Yet part of the strength of our heritage is that intrinsic to our life, structures and processes is a considerable flexibility and openness to change that has allowed us to evolve – creating and amending Instruments of Unity, for example (and I am thinking here particularly of the ACC) in response to God’s calling to be faithful in our mission and ministry to his people and his world. We are now in need of such evolution, to preserve the very best of the heart of Anglicanism – and working in conformity with this essence of Anglicanism will most effectively preserve that ‘best’ which has been God’s continuing gift to us over the centuries.

Two weeks before our meeting in Kigali, the Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa issued a statement which spoke of the gift of tolerance and grace in the face of the pains of divisions among ourselves with which we have had to deal in our past. The breadth of current divisions also find expression within our Province. Yet we remain convinced that what unites us far outweighs what divides us, and that we must therefore both choose and strive, with deep sacrificial love, for the Anglican Communion to remain united.

Our God surely is a God of surprises. As one of my predecessors as Archbishop of Cape Town said, ‘God still works his purposes out, in spite of the confusions of our minds.’

May that be so! Amen!

Akinola Throws Down Gauntlet

A Second Anglicanism?

The recent meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, of 18 Provinces of the Anglican Communion has for all intents and purposes established another Anglicanism. It suggests that what had heretofore been a division in Anglicanism has now become an irrevocable and irreversible split. There now appear to be two Anglicanisms.

For some time now, there had been the hope that the various actors within Anglicanism were in good faith looking for a solution to our present difficulties. The meeting in Kigali now obliterates any such hopes. The meeting finally reveals the determination and intransigence of a large group within the Church to mold the larger Communion in their image. It would seem now to matter little what the various intermediary efforts to adjudicate the differences within the Communion will conclude over the next few years. They have been pre-empted. The matter has been settled by the Rt. Reverend Peter Akinola and his colleagues from the Global South. They are establishing a new Anglicanism; others are now asked to sign on or no.

Here are the outlines of the "new Anglicanism" being espoused by the Kigali group:

++Akinola's Anglican Covenant

The Akinola/Global South alliance say that they will soon produce an Anglican Covenant, a kind of definitive statement of what Anglicanism is by their lights -- a form of a constitution, if you will, of the new Anglicanism. It will be a radically evangelical document, as they have often said, and will brook little disagreement on central issues. This alliance has been working on such a Covenant for some time, presumably as soon as the Windsor Report called for such a document.

They were at work even before the official process, prompted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, began. While the official process is slated to go on for a number of years under ++Canterbury's aegis, the document prepared by the Global South alliance is almost finished. It is quite certain the Akinola/Global South document will adhere strictly to their stated views on homosexuality ("an evil" and a "perversion," according to their statements). Further, the ordination of homosexuals to the diaconate and clergy will be be proscribed -- though the Windsor Report never suggested they should be. This and perhaps other conditions will be central to remaining in the Anglican Communion under the new Anglicanism.

The bishops speaking from Kigali have stated they will submit this material to the official Anglican Covenant Committee now chaired by the Rt. Rev. Drexel Gomez, one of the most outspoken enthusiasts of an Anglican realignment and a fervent opponent of the inclusion of gay men and lesbians in the Church. It is equally clear from the accompanying statements by the Nigerian Archbishop that their covenant will not simply be one among many suggestions offered to the official Covenant Committee. As reported in the Reuters dispatch of September 20, 2006:

"In order to put to rest this issue of homosexuality, we are working on an Anglican covenant with provisions that very clearly say what it means to be an Anglican." He further told reporters: "Who ever subscribes to this covenant must abide by it and those who are unable to subscribe to it will walk out." That is to say there is to be no discussion, alteration or compromise on this issue. Take it or leave it. In that sense it is logical to conclude that the archbishop and his colleagues are no longer participating in any inter-Anglican discussion of differences. They have now begun the process of setting up an alternative Anglicanism based on the covenant his group will soon release.

Alternative Primatial Oversight [ALPO]

The communiqué went on to discuss the issue raised by the request on the part of nine American dioceses for alternative primatial oversight. According to the process currently in place these matters and others dealing with similar conflict were to be referred to the Panel of Reference set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury. According to the communiqué this matter will now be taken up by "the Global South Steering Committee" to "develop a proposal identifying the ways by which the requested Primatial oversight can be adequately provided." The Committee will "meet with the leadership of the dioceses requesting Alternative Primatial Oversight, in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Network and the ‘Windsor Dioceses’."

Why is this to be done? Because of the "slow response from the Panel of Reference." Having now bypassed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s panel, the Akinola-aligned primates have decided, we find, the Archbishop of Canterbury is now merely one of many to be consulted in the matter of primatial oversight. In fact, therefore, Archbishop Akinola and the Global South have now appointed themselves the sole arbiters of Anglican affairs. They have become an alternative Anglicanism simply bypassing Canterbury. Their actions will mean the presenting of foreign archbishops on American soil. That this would violate the canons of the Episcopal Church is of no mind. In the new Anglicanism, the decisions of Archbishop Akinola and the primates of the Global South are law.

A New Ecclesiastical Structure for the U.S.

The communiqué then proceeds blithely to speak of their intent to set up, under their sole guidance, a parallel ecclesiastical structure in America:

"We are convinced that the time has now come to take initial steps towards the formation of what will be recognized as a separate ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the USA. We have asked the Global South Steering Committee to develop such a proposal in consultation with the appropriate instruments of unity of the Communion. We understand the serious implications of this determination. We believe that we would be failing in our apostolic witness if we do not make this provision for those who hold firmly to a commitment to historic Anglican faith.

"That traditional Anglicanism, in keeping with ancient catholic practice, has forbidden such ecclesiastical poaching is apparently of no consequence to the Akinola/Global South alliance. In their apocalyptic universe ("there is now a growing number of congregations and dioceses in the USA and Canada who believe that their Anglican identity is at risk ") such ancient practices must be forsworn. It can be bypassed because in their eyes, in the eyes of the new Anglicanism, they have determined the Episcopal Church is "apostate," giving them free rein simply to act now to replace the Episcopal Church. They will no longer wait for some process of determination in the future to rule on this matter. They will not wait for the Archbishop of Canterbury to act on behalf of the entire Communion. They are the law -- and a law unto themselves.

The rueful allusion to consultation with the Instruments of Unity is bitterly ironic. The communiqué has already announced, "At the next meeting of the Primates in February 2007 some of us will not be able to recognize Katharine Jefferts Schori as a primate at the table with us. Others will be in impaired communion with her as a representative of The Episcopal Church." The alliance arrogantly asks that some other bishop represent the Episcopal Church. Since the Primates form one of the Instruments of Unity and since the Alliance doesn’t like a particular bishop, they now arrogate to themselves the right to reshape the primatial structure to their liking. Again they have become a law unto themselves.

Conclusion

The matter before us is now clear. First, we must dispense with any notion that there can be some accommodation with Archbishop Akinola over the matters which divide us. He cannot be dissuaded personally, and all such Communion-wide instruments to adjudicate the dispute are now of no use whatsoever. The archbishop has simply created his own Anglicanism and announced it to the rest of us. By his edict, the remainder of Anglicans must either sign on or not.

Second, for those who do not wish to be a part of Archbishop Akinola’s new Anglicanism but still remain loyal to, and convinced of, the efficacy of the traditional Anglican way, we must now find a way to join together.

Archbishop Akinola has now thrown down the gauntlet. He has created his Anglicanism. We must now come together in ours. It is immensely sad that there be two Anglicanisms. Still, there have been other rocky periods in Church history. In time I suspect this too will pass. In some indeterminate future moment, reason will once more prevail, and unity will once more be established. In the meantime we call upon all Anglicans of good will, who love the Church as it has been, to join now and uphold the faith.

Observers respond to Kigali, Camp Allen statements [ENS]

Editor's note: As other groups are, The Episcopal Majority is drafting responses to the Kigali and Camp Allen statements. Once the group has approved those written responses, they will be published here.

Observers respond to Kigali, Camp Allen statements

By Mary Frances Schjonberg
Friday, September 22, 2006

[Episcopal News Service] Reactions to statements issued September 22 by a group of Episcopal Church bishops meeting in Texas and the Global South Primates meeting in Rwanda included both praise and criticism.

Statements were made by Via Media USA, the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDAP), the American Anglican Council (ACC) and the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC).

The Episcopal Church's two presiding officers, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson, are also expected to comment.

The text of the meeting of the Global South Primates, held September 19-22 in Kigali, Rwanda, is available here.

The text of the meeting of some Episcopal bishops, held during the same dates at Camp Allen Conference and Retreat Center northwest of Houston, Texas, is available here.

Dr. Christopher Wilkins, facilitator of Via Media USA, said that the two statements "are hard to reconcile" given the Camp Allen bishops' stance toward unity and what he called the Kigali statement's "breathtaking rejection of the entire Episcopal Church, except for those segments of it that the signatories consider truly faithful."

The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, AAC president and chief operating officer said the statement is "what we have hoped and prayed for since 2003."

"It is sure to inspire and encourage biblically faithful Anglicans in North America," he said.

NACDAP, a group made up of 10 of the Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses, along with congregations and individual clergy, said it welcomed the Kigali Communiqué.

"We are deeply humbled by the care shown for us by our Fathers in God in the Global South," said Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, the network's moderator.

Meanwhile, ANiC said the Kigali statement was a "grave warning" to the Anglican Church of Canada, "demonstrating the consequences for churches that stray from authentic, biblically-faithful Anglican teaching."

Wilkins of Via Media USA said that the contrast between the statements was notable.

"The statement from Camp Allen shows Episcopalians, once again, attempting to find ways to express their longstanding commitment to other Anglican Communion provinces, to the faith we have received, and the truth to which it bears witness. It even flirts with accepting greater division in the church as the price of its continued unity, which would be difficult for the church to accept," Wilkins said. "By contrast, and as though in rebuke, the Global South Primates' Kigali Communiqué is a breathtaking rejection of the entire Episcopal Church, except for those segments of it that the signatories consider truly faithful."

Wilkins said that an Anglican Communion province in North America founded in opposition to the Episcopal Church, which the Kigali statement envisions, "would be a mistake."

"No matter how many people might cheer for it, or believe their Christian faith to require it, it would be a church founded in large measure on the exclusion and rejection of a certain kind of human being -- a gay or lesbian human being -- and of anyone (and, indeed, an entire church) who sees Christ's face and faith in such persons," he said. "Can this truly be how we live out Christ's love in our time?"

The two statements show, Wilkins said, that compliance with the suggestions of the Windsor Report "particularly if conceived as a matter of structural change or doctrinal limitation" would lead to schism.

"As it has been framed, such compliance would diminish the faithful and distinctive witness that has characterized the Episcopal Church since its founding. We, surely, can do better," Wilkins said.

He added since the 2003 General Convention, "those intent on replacing the Episcopal Church with something under their control" have had too much control of the agenda for the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion on matters of human sexuality and church discipline.

Such activity "has hampered each church's effectiveness in bearing witness to Christ's love, healing and reconciliation," Wilkins said. "It is difficult for me to see how it can be suffered to continue without more harm being done both to the church and to the world it serves."

Via Media USA has chapters in 12 Episcopal Church dioceses, including the eight that have requested a relationship with a primate of the Anglican Communion other than the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The process is being called alternative primatial oversight (APO). Via Media USA and its affiliates want to promote the faith, unity, and vitality of the Episcopal Church, according to the Via Media USA website [http://viamediausa.org].

Duncan praised the Global South primates for their perspective in the NACDAP statement.

"In many places they and the Anglicans they pastor face poverty, disease and persecution for their faith on a scale that goes far beyond anything that threatens us. In fact, just this week, Anglicans in Nigeria saw their cathedral in Dutse burned to the ground by rioting Muslims. Yet, in the midst of dealing with these massive issues, they continue to offer us their support and guidance. We can only be profoundly grateful."

The full text of the statement is available here.

The AAC's Anderson called the Kigali statement "bold" and called it "an action plan attesting to the Global South's visionary leadership in a time of chaos and crisis in our beloved Communion."

He said it was good that the Global South primates "are moving beyond temporary intervention to create long-term solutions such as a covenant and a new ecclesiastical structure, while consistently affirming the authority of Scripture and apostolic faith."

The "primary focus of the Kigali meeting was the ongoing work of Christ's mission and ministry in the midst of enormous challenges, including HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty, and dangerous conflicts in the Global South," Anderson said.

He called it "humbling" to have the primates "offer their unwavering support for us as they gathered to discuss such critical issues in their own provinces."

The full text of Anderson's statement is available here.

The ANiC statement praised the primates' desire for an Anglican entity in the United States apart from the Episcopal Church.

"This comes as a dire warning for the Anglican Church of Canada," says ANiC executive director Cheryl Chang. "Global South leaders will be clearly defining for all what it means to be truly Anglican, and that requires a commitment to historic authentic Anglican teaching. If the Anglican Church of Canada chooses to follow the path of the U.S. Episcopal Church, they too will be deemed to be ‘walking apart' from the global Church and a new ecclesiastical structure will be required for Canada as well."

Archbishop Greg Venables, Primate of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone (in South America), who was present at the Kigali meeting, is quoted in ANiC's statement as saying that the institutional structures of the Communion "must catch up" with the "reality" that the Episcopal Church has "departed from Christian teaching and practice."

"It is our prayer that the Anglican Church of Canada will bear this in mind in the upcoming General Synod and turn back from any unbiblical course," the ANiC's statement quotes Venables as saying.

The full text of the ANiC statement is available here.

The NACDAP, ACC, and ANiC are all organizations that support Episcopalians and Anglicans whose views put them at odds with their Church's structures in their countries.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.

Camp Allen Bishops Vow Unity amid Conflicts [ENS]

Camp Allen bishops vow unity amid conflicts [ENS]
Letter to House of Bishops calls for Windsor compliance, pastoral care of all

By: Mary Frances Schjonberg
Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006

A group of 21 Episcopal Church bishops said September 22 in a letter to their colleagues in the House of Bishops that they support the Windsor Report, believe that the 75th General Convention "did not adequately respond" to the report and subsequent statements, but pledged to "care for all God's children in our dioceses."

The letter also thanked the two Church of England bishops who attended a meeting held September 19-22 at the Episcopal Diocese of Texas' Camp Allen Conference and Retreat Center, northwest of Houston.

"We are grateful for the helpful briefing from the Archbishop of Canterbury, brought to us through the Bishops of Durham [N.T. Wright] and Winchester [Michael Scott-Joynt]," the letter said. "We have corresponded in turn with the Archbishop and communicated our hopes with respect to continuing in full constituent Communion membership. It is our intention to offer a faithful and dynamic witness within the Episcopal Church."

The bishops who signed the letter are:

Mark L. MacDonald (Alaska), William H. Love (Albany), John W. Howe (Central Florida), James M. Stanton (Dallas), Jack L. Iker (Fort Worth), Michael G. Smith (North Dakota), Edward S. Little (Northern Indiana), C. Wallis Ohl, Jr. (Northwest Texas), Robert W. Duncan (Pittsburgh), Keith L. Ackerman (Quincy), Geralyn Wolf (Rhode Island), Jeffrey N. Steenson (Rio Grande), John-David Schofield (San Joaquin), Edward L. Salmon (South Carolina), John B. Lipscomb (Southwest Florida), Peter H. Beckwith (Springfield), Bertram N. Herlong (Tennessee), Don A. Wimberly (Texas), James M. Adams (Western Kansas), D. Bruce MacPherson (Western Louisiana) and Gary R. Lillibridge (West Texas).

In late July, Wimberly issued an invitation to the meeting that he called a "consultation for bishops." His invitation said Wright and Scott-Joynt would be coming "with [the Archbishop of Canterbury's] blessing to discuss with us the nature of our future relation to the See of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion."

"What the bishops are looking for is a group firmly committed to the Windsor Report who can forge a visible link with the See of Canterbury on terms acceptable to the Communion and in keeping with its ethos and mission," Wimberly's letter said.

The Camp Allen letter said the group will meet again early in 2007 and invited "others who share our concern and position to join us in our common work on behalf of the church."

The signers referred to themselves as "catholic bishops within the Anglican Communion" who "gathered with a common desire to work for the unity of the Church, as well as for the integrity and vitality of our own Province and the Anglican Communion as a whole."

Among the letter's points were:

• The bishops recognized the need on the part of the leadership of eight of the Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses to ask for a relationship with a primate other than the Presiding Bishop. The bishops said their recognition "does not weaken our fundamental theological and ecclesial commitments," but instead "our unity has strengthened them, and for this we thank God."
• The bishops noted that some Episcopal congregations "need a safe space within which to live out the integrity of their faith in compliance with the Windsor Report" while others "do not accept the provisions" of the report. "We pledge ourselves to work with our Episcopal colleagues to care for all God's people in our dioceses."
• The bishops "accept and affirm the Windsor Report and view adherence to it as furthering the vocation to heal the breaches within our own Communion and in our ecumenical relationships."
• The bishops believe that the Windsor Report "properly belongs within the larger framework of Anglican teaching," which includes the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10 on human sexuality. "We understand this to be the mind of the Communion for teaching and discipline."
• The bishops agree with the Windsor Report's call for development of an Anglican Covenant.
• The bishops are committed to the "conciliar character of our Communion" and have a "clear sense" that the 2006 General Convention "did not adequately respond to the request made of The Episcopal Church by the Communion through the Windsor Report and the Primates at Dromantine." The letter said that their sense was "consistent" with a letter issued September 14 by Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Williams' letter said, in part: "It is ... clear that the Episcopal Church has taken very seriously the recommendations of the Windsor Report; but the resolutions of General Convention still represent what can only be called a mixed response to the Dromantine requests [by the Anglican Primates]. The advisory group has spent much time in examining these resolutions in great detail, and its sense is that although some aspects of these requests have been fully dealt with, some have not." Read the full text of Williams' letter.
• The bishops confess their "faith in Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life," adding that such a faith is "uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures, set forth in the catholic Creeds, and to which the historic Anglican formularies bear witness."

Read the full text of the Camp Allen letter.

While a statement by Wimberly on Texas' website [http://www.epicenter.org/edot/] says that the invited Episcopal Church bishops represent a "diversity of opinion," his July invitation said that those bishops attending must agree to four points that he wrote are "all assumed as a starting point by Bishops Wright and Scott-Joynt." They were:

1. "Agreement that Lambeth 1:10 now constitutes the teaching of the Anglican Communion."
2. "Commitment to the Windsor Report as marking the way ahead for the Communion, and acceptance of its recommendations in respect to blessing same sex unions and the ordination of persons engaged in sexual relations outside the bonds of Holy Matrimony."
3. "Acceptance of the Communique from Dromantine issued by the Meeting of Primates in response to the Windsor Report."
4. "Agreement that the response of ECUSA's General Convention to the Windsor Report does not go far enough, and the intent to find a way to be related to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Communion in a way that is not impaired."

"I need to underscore the fact that these four points are not ones for debate at this meeting," Wimberly wrote in his letter. "They are assumed as a starting point for seeking means to solidify Communion after Windsor. It is my hope that you will be able to accept this invitation and enter with fellow bishops into a consultation that can produce a way forward that both prevents some in our Church from 'walking apart,' and others from seeking irregular means of preserving their Anglican identity."

Wimberly urged recipients of the letter to notify him about any diocesan bishop "who can accept the four points" and if he or she has not already been invited, an invitation would be sent. He would not release the list of original invitees or a list of those who attended.

Wimberly stressed that Wright and Scott-Joynt could provide "necessary information about the circumstances in which we now find ourselves, but it is we the bishops who are committed to the four points above who must jointly find a way forward."

The bishops who attend would have to discuss the five points, according to Wimberly's letter including solidifying links to Canterbury and the Meeting of Primates, developing a leadership council for links with Canterbury and the Meeting of Primates, "commitment to common action," "thresholds for an Anglican Covenant," and "care of clergy and parishes not represented by 'Windsor Bishops'."

"Lambeth 1:10" refers to a resolution passed in 1998 by the Lambeth Conference, the decennial meeting of all the bishops in the Anglican Communion. The resolution said, in part, that while the majority of attending bishops recognized that "many persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation" are members of the Church, they rejected homosexual practice as "incompatible with Scripture" and "cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions..." Read the full text.

There is not complete agreement within the Anglican Communion about when a Lambeth Conference resolution becomes "the teaching of the Anglican Communion," especially because the Lambeth Conference does not have specific authority to require compliance with its resolutions. The Communique from the meeting of the Primates in the Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre, Newry, in Northern Ireland in February 2005 stated, in part, that Lambeth 1:10 "should command respect as the position overwhelmingly adopted by the bishops of the Anglican Communion."

"Windsor Bishops" is a title adopted by bishops who say they support full compliance with the report of the 2004 Lambeth Commission on Communion, known as the Windsor Report.

Episcopal Bishops Meeting in Texas [ENS]

Editor's note: Bishops representing 21 of The Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses met at Camp Allen, Texas, at the invitation of Texas Bishop Don Wimberly September 19-22, while selected primates of the Global South provinces of the Anglican Communion met in Kilgali, Rwanda. Members of The Episcopal Majority are preparing responses to both groups, which will be posted on this site as soon as they have been approved by the group.

It should be noted that the only bishops allowed to attend the Camp Allen meeting were those who were willing to sign-on to Lambeth I.10 as the official "teaching of the Anglican Communion" and who were willing to declare themselves "Windsor-compliant." Thus, the Camp Allen meeting was a highly self-selected group of Episcopal bishops.

Episcopal bishops meeting in Texas send letter to House of Bishops [ENS]

Episcopal bishops meeting in Texas send letter to House of Bishops [ENS]

Episcopal News Service
Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006

Twenty-one bishops sent a letter September 22 to their colleagues in the House of Bishops following a meeting held by the letter's signatories at the Episcopal Diocese of Texas’ Camp Allen Conference and Retreat Center. The text of the letter is reprinted in full below.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full story and statement:

A Letter to the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church
St. Matthew’s Day, 2006

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

We, the undersigned bishops, have met together at Camp Allen in the Diocese of Texas from September 19-22. We understand ourselves to be catholic bishops within the Anglican Communion and have met to contribute to our future life within this Communion. We are writing to you as fellow bishops in The Episcopal Church, in the knowledge that many others in our Province and around the world have expressed an interest in this meeting.

We have gathered with a common desire to work for the unity of the Church, as well as for the integrity and vitality of our own Province and the Anglican Communion as a whole.

We are grateful for the helpful briefing from the Archbishop of Canterbury, brought to us through the Bishops of Durham and Winchester. We have corresponded in turn with the Archbishop and communicated our hopes with respect to continuing in full constituent Communion membership. It is our intention to offer a faithful and dynamic witness within the Episcopal Church.

We confess our faith in Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life – the faith that is uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures, set forth in the catholic Creeds, and to which the historic Anglican formularies bear witness.

We are committed to the conciliar character of our Communion. Consistent with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Holy Cross Day letter to the Primates, it is our clear sense that General Convention of 2006 did not adequately respond to the request made of The Episcopal Church by the Communion through the Windsor Report and the Primates at Dromantine. These requests include explicit moratoria regarding church discipline and order. We express our regret, on behalf of ourselves, for those actions with which the Windsor Report was concerned.

We accept and affirm the Windsor Report and view adherence to it as furthering the vocation to heal the breaches within our own Communion and in our ecumenical relationships. Furthermore, we endorse the recommendation of the Windsor Report, as supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury, for the development of an Anglican Covenant.

The Windsor Report properly belongs within the larger framework of Anglican teaching, as expressed, not least, in successive Lambeth Conferences, including the resolutions of Lambeth 1998 (among which is Resolution 1.10). We understand this to be the mind of the Communion for teaching and discipline.

We recognize that many congregations within The Episcopal Church need a safe space within which to live out the integrity of their faith in compliance with the Windsor Report. We also recognize that there are some congregations that do not accept the provisions of the Windsor Report. We pledge ourselves to work with our Episcopal colleagues to care for all God’s people in our dioceses.

Within our group are needs for various levels of response to the conflicts in the church. While here we have worked diligently to achieve unity across these lines. We recognize the need of some among us for an alternative primatial relationship. This recognition does not weaken our fundamental theological and ecclesial commitments. Rather, our unity has strengthened them, and for this we thank God.

It is our hope and prayer that through our fellowship we can contribute to the renewal of our Province’s life within the Communion. We invite others who share our concern and position to join us in our common work on behalf of the church, and we plan to meet again early in the new year. We hope that those of you who share our commitments will find yourselves able to join us then, as we continue our work.

We ask for your prayers and assure you of ours.

In the name of Christ Jesus,

The Rt. Rev. Mark L. MacDonald, Diocese of Alaska
The Rt. Rev. William H. Love, Diocese of Albany
The Rt. Rev. John W. Howe, Diocese of Central Florida
The Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton, Diocese of Dallas
The Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker, Diocese of Forth Worth
The Rt. Rev. Michael G. Smith, Diocese of North Dakota
The Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little, Diocese of Northern Indiana
The Rt. Rev. C. Wallis Ohl, Jr., Diocese of Northwest Texas
The Rt. Rev. Robert W. Duncan, Diocese of Pittsburgh
The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, Diocese of Quincy
The Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf, Diocese of Rhode Island
The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey N. Steenson, Diocese of Rio Grande
The Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Diocese of San Joaquin
The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Diocese of South Carolina
The Rt. Rev. John B. Lipscomb, Diocese of Southwest Florida
The Rt. Rev. Peter H. Beckwith, Diocese of Springfield
The Rt. Rev. Bertram N. Herlong, Diocese of Tennessee
The Rt. Rev. Don A. Wimberly, Diocese of Texas
The Rt. Rev. James M. Adams, Diocese of Western Kansas
The Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson, Diocese of Western Louisiana
The Rt. Rev. Gary R. Lillibridge, Diocese of West Texas

Global South Meeting Issues Communiqué [ENS]

Editor's note: Selected primates of the Global South provinces of the Anglican Communion met in Kigali, Rwanda, September 19-22. Today they issued a formal communiqué. Members of The Episcopal Majority are preparing a response, which will be posted on this site as soon as it has been approved by the group.

Global South meeting issues communiqué

By: Matthew Davies
Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006

A meeting of Global South Primates, held September 19-22 in Kigali, Rwanda, has issued a communiqué criticizing the 75th General Convention's response to the Windsor Report and announcing that "some of us will not be able to recognize" the Episcopal Church's next Presiding Bishop "as a Primate at the table with us" at the next Anglican Primates' Meeting, set for February 2007 in Tanzania.

The communiqué -- which expresses regret that the Convention "gave no clear embrace of the minimal recommendations of the Windsor Report" -- is available in full online at: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/41/75/acns4193.cfm.

The communiqué stated that 20 of the Anglican Communion's 38 Provinces were represented at the Rwanda meeting, but signatories among the Primates in attendance were not included with the statement. It is unclear how many, or which, Primates endorsed the communiqué.

According to the communiqué, the 20 provinces represented were: Bangladesh**, Burundi, Central Africa, Church of South India, Congo, Indian Ocean, Jerusalem and Middle East, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Philippines**, Rwanda, Southern Africa, South East Asia, Southern Cone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa, West Indies (** not present but represented).

The Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop-elect, Katharine Jefferts Schori, will become the first woman to lead an Anglican Province when she formally takes office on November 4.

The communiqué asserts that she "cannot represent those dioceses and congregations who are abiding by the teaching of the Communion" and proposes that another bishop, "chosen by these dioceses, be present at the meeting so that we might listen to their voices during our deliberations."

In a June 19 statement, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, sent his greetings to Jefferts Schori offering his "prayers and good wishes as she takes up a deeply demanding position at a critical time."

He noted that she will bring "many intellectual and pastoral gifts to her new work," and acknowledged, with gratitude, "the strength of her commitment to mission and to the Millennium Development Goals," but also recognized that her election would have "an impact on the collegial life of the Anglican Primates."

The Global South Steering Committee is chaired by Archbishop Peter J. Akinola of Nigeria, a leading critic of recent actions taken by Anglican Provinces that affirm and uphold the full inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the life of the Church.

Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, Primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, who attended the Kigali meeting, has been at the forefront of issues of peace, justice and reconciliation throughout the Anglican Communion and has repeatedly delivered a message of "open and loving support for our gay and lesbian members."

The Kigali statement says that Jefferts Schori's position on human sexuality is in "direct contradiction of Lambeth 1.10 [resolution of the 1998 Lambeth Conference] and the historic teaching of the Church."

On the day of her election, Jefferts Schori said: "I believe that God welcomes all to his table, those who agree and those who disagree. The Episcopal Church always has been a strong voice for including a variety of opinions; the marginalized are welcomed at the table."

Referring to the response of the 75th General Convention to the recommendations set forth in the Windsor Report, the communiqué stated that "the actions and decisions of the General Convention raise profound questions on the nature of Anglican identity across the entire Communion."

General Convention responded with six resolutions that commit to interdependence within the Anglican Communion, express regret for straining the bonds of affection, affirm pastoral care, and urge restraint in consecrating bishops "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church."

The Anglican Communion Listening Process and the development of an Anglican Covenant also received support in both Houses of Convention.

The Kigali communiqué noted the development of an Anglican Covenant, one of the recommendations of the Windsor Report, as a "sign of promise" and affirmed "the extraordinary progress made by the Global South task group" in the Covenant's development.

"We believe," the communiqué noted, "that an Anglican Covenant will demonstrate to the world that it is possible to be a truly global communion where differences are not affirmed at the expense of faith and truth but within the framework of a common confession of faith and mutual accountability."

The communiqué acknowledged that a growing number of congregations are receiving alternative oversight from bishops in other provinces -- arrangements that are in contravention of the Windsor Report and the canons and constitution of the Episcopal Church -- and that "in recent days we have received requests to provide Alternative Primatial Oversight for a number of dioceses."

In light of this "unprecedented situation in our Communion that has not been helped by the slow response from the Panel of Reference," the communiqué said: "We have asked the Global South Steering Committee to meet with the leadership of the dioceses requesting Alternative Primatial Oversight, in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Network and the 'Windsor Dioceses,' to investigate their appeal in greater detail and to develop a proposal identifying the ways by which the requested Primatial oversight can be adequately provided."

The Network refers to the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDAP) led by Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan and composed of 10 of the Episcopal Church's total 110 dioceses.

A group of Episcopal bishops with differing perspectives, who met with Anglican Communion Secretary General Kenneth Kearon in New York September 11-13, was unable to reach an agreement on how to meet the needs of those dioceses that have asked for oversight with a Primate other than the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

The constitution of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Anglican Communion's main policy-making body, makes no provisions for alternative primatial oversight. Neither do the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.

The communiqué also said that "the time has now come to take initial steps towards the formation of what will be recognized as a separate ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the USA," however, the Archbishop of Canterbury continues to recognize the Episcopal Church as the U.S.-based Province of the Anglican Communion.

The meeting asked the Global South Steering Committee "to develop such a proposal in consultation with the appropriate instruments of unity of the Communion," according to the communiqué.

The communiqué affirmed a commitment by the Primates "not to abandon the poor or the persecuted wherever they may be and in whatever circumstances," such as the Rwanda genocide that claimed almost 1 million lives 12 years ago.

It also acknowledged the "agonizing situation in the Sudan," commending the terms of the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and the South, but vowing not to ignore the continuing atrocities in Darfur. "We invite people from all of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion and the entire international community to stand in solidarity with the men, women and children in Darfur, Sudan," the communiqué stated.

Positive developments in Burundi were also noted, as were encouraging signs that an end to the conflict in Northern Uganda was in sight and that the upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo offer "promise for a peaceful future."

The communiqué recognized the challenges between Christianity and Islam "and the complex issues that we must now confront at every level of our societies throughout the Global South. We recognized the need for a more thorough education and explored a number of ways that allow us to be faithful disciples to Jesus Christ while respecting the beliefs of others. We condemn all acts of violence in the name of any religion."

The group -- which claims to represent more than 70 percent of the active membership of the worldwide Anglican Communion -- recommits itself "to the abiding truth of the Holy Scriptures and the faithful proclamation of the whole Gospel for the whole world," but also "to the vision of our beloved Communion as part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church."

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From Episcopal News Service, September 22, 2006.

Kigali Communiqué

Editor's note: Selected primates of the Global South provinces of the Anglican Communion have been meeting in Kilgali, Rwanda. Today they issued this statement. Members of The Episcopal Majority are preparing a response, which will be posted on this site as soon as it has been approved by the group.

Global South Primates Meeting - Kigali Communiqué

Kigali, Rwanda September [22] 2006

1. As Primates and Leaders of the Global South Provinces of the Anglican Communion we gathered at the Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda, between 19th and 22nd September 2006. We were called together by the Global South Steering Committee and its chairman, Archbishop Peter J. Akinola. Twenty provinces were represented at the meeting*. We are extremely grateful for the warm welcome shown to us by the Right Honorable Bernard Makuza, Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda, and the hospitality provided by Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, members of the House of Bishops of the Church of Rwanda and all of the members of the local organizing committee.

2. We have gathered in Rwanda twelve years after the genocide that tragically engulfed this nation and even its churches. During this time Rwanda was abandoned to its fate by the world. Our first action was to visit the Kigali Genocide Museum at Gisozi for a time of prayer and reflection. We were chastened by this experience and commit ourselves not to abandon the poor or the persecuted wherever they may be and in whatever circumstances. We add our voices to theirs and we say, "Never Again!"

3. As we prayed and wept at the mass grave of 250,000 helpless victims we confronted the utter depravity and inhumanity to which we are all subject outside of the transforming grace of God. We were reminded again that faith in Jesus Christ must be an active, whole-hearted faith if we are to stand against the evil and violence that threaten to consume our world. We were sobered by the reality that several of our Provinces are presently in the middle of dangerous conflicts. We commit ourselves to intercession for them.

4. We are very aware of the agonizing situation in the Sudan. We appreciate and commend the terms of the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and the South. We dare not, however, close our eyes to the devastating situation in Darfur. We are conscious of the complexities but there must be no continuation of the slaughter. We invite people from all of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion and the entire international community to stand in solidarity with the men, women and children in Darfur, Sudan.

5. We are here as a people of hope and we have been greatly encouraged as we have witnessed the reconciling power of God’s love at work as this nation of Rwanda seeks to rebuild itself. We have been pleased to hear of positive developments in the neighboring country of Burundi as they have recently completed a cease-fire agreement between their government and the Palipehutu-FNL. We are also beginning to see an end to the conflict in Northern Uganda and we note that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is approaching a historic election that offers promise for a peaceful future. All of these developments are occasions for hope for the future.

6. We have met here as a growing fellowship of Primates and leaders of churches in the Global South representing more than 70 percent of the active membership of the worldwide Anglican Communion. We build on and reaffirm the work of our previous meetings, especially our most recent gathering in Egypt in October 2005. We are mindful of the challenges that face our Communion and recommit ourselves to the abiding truth of the Holy Scriptures and the faithful proclamation of the whole Gospel for the whole world. We recommit ourselves to the vision of our beloved communion as part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

7. We recognize that because of the ongoing conflict in the Communion many people have lost hope that we will come to any resolution in the foreseeable future. We are grateful therefore, that one sign of promise is the widespread support for the development of an Anglican Covenant. We are delighted to affirm the extraordinary progress made by the Global South task group on developing an Anglican Covenant. For the past year they have labored on this important task and we look forward to submitting the result of their labor to the rest of the Communion. We are pleased that the Archbishop of Canterbury has recognized the exemplary scholarship and leadership of Archbishop Drexel Gomez in asking him to chair the Covenant Design Group and look forward with anticipation to the crucial next steps of this historic venture. We believe that an Anglican Covenant will demonstrate to the world that it is possible to be a truly global communion where differences are not affirmed at the expense of faith and truth but within the framework of a common confession of faith and mutual accountability.

8. We have come together as Anglicans and we celebrate the gift of Anglican identity that is ours today because of the sacrifice made by those who have gone before us. We grieve that, because of the doctrinal conflict in parts of our Communion, there is now a growing number of congregations and dioceses in the USA and Canada who believe that their Anglican identity is at risk and are appealing to us so that they might remain faithful members of the Communion. As leaders of that Communion we will work together to recognize the Anglican identity of all who receive, hold and maintain the Scriptures as the Word of God written and who seek to live in godly fellowship within our historic ordering.

9. We deeply regret that, at its most recent General Convention, The Episcopal Church gave no clear embrace of the minimal recommendations of the Windsor Report. We observe that a number of the resolutions adopted by the Convention were actually contrary to the Windsor Report. We are further dismayed to note that their newly elected Presiding Bishop also holds to a position on human sexuality – not to mention other controversial views – in direct contradiction of Lambeth 1.10 and the historic teaching of the Church. The actions and decisions of the General Convention raise profound questions on the nature of Anglican identity across the entire Communion.

10. We are, however, greatly encouraged by the continued faithfulness of the Network Dioceses and all of the other congregations and communities of faithful Anglicans in North America. In addition, we commend the members of the Anglican Network in Canada for their commitment to historic, biblical faith and practice. We value their courage and consistent witness. We are also pleased by the emergence of a wider circle of ‘Windsor Dioceses’ and urge all of them to walk more closely together and deliberately work towards the unity that Christ enjoins. We are aware that a growing number of congregations are receiving oversight from dioceses in the Global South and in recent days we have received requests to provide Alternative Primatial Oversight for a number of dioceses. This is an unprecedented situation in our Communion that has not been helped by the slow response from the Panel of Reference. After a great deal of prayer and deliberation, and in order to support these faithful Anglican dioceses and parishes, we have come to agreement on the following actions:

a. We have asked the Global South Steering Committee to meet with the leadership of the dioceses requesting Alternative Primatial Oversight, in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Network and the ‘Windsor Dioceses’, to investigate their appeal in greater detail and to develop a proposal identifying the ways by which the requested Primatial oversight can be adequately provided.

b. At the next meeting of the Primates in February 2007 some of us will not be able to recognize Katharine Jefferts Schori as a Primate at the table with us. Others will be in impaired communion with her as a representative of The Episcopal Church. Since she cannot represent those dioceses and congregations who are abiding by the teaching of the Communion we propose that another bishop, chosen by these dioceses, be present at the meeting so that we might listen to their voices during our deliberations.

c. We are convinced that the time has now come to take initial steps towards the formation of what will be recognized as a separate ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the USA. We have asked the Global South Steering Committee to develop such a proposal in consultation with the appropriate instruments of unity of the Communion. We understand the serious implications of this determination. We believe that we would be failing in our apostolic witness if we do not make this provision for those who hold firmly to a commitment to historic Anglican faith.

11. While we are concerned about the challenges facing our Anglican structures we are also very much aware that these issues can be a distraction from the work of the Gospel. At our meeting in Kigali we invested a great deal of our time on the day-to-day challenges that confront our various Churches including poverty eradication, HIV/AIDS, peace building and church planting. We were enormously encouraged by the reports of growth and vitality in the many different settings where we live and serve.

12. We received a preliminary report from the Theological Formation and Education (TFE) Task Force. We were pleased to hear of their plans to provide opportunities for theological formation from the most basic catechism to graduate level training for new and existing Anglican leaders. We request that all Global South provinces share their existing Catechisms and other educational resources with the TFE Task Force for mutual enrichment. We were pleased by their determination to network with other theological institutions and theologians in the Global South as well as with scholars and seminaries who share a similar vision for theological education that is faithful to Scripture and tradition.

13. We were blessed by the presence of a number of Economic Officers (Advisors) from around the Communion. Their determination to find creative ways to offer means of Economic Empowerment at various levels throughout the provinces of the Global South was an inspiration to all of us and resulted in the issuing of a separate summary statement. We note especially their proposed Ethical Economic and Financial Covenant that we adopted as Primates and commended for adoption at all levels of our Provinces. We were impressed by their vision and fully support their proposal to convene an Economic Empowerment consultation in 2007 with participation invited from every Global South Province.

14. We received ‘The Road to Lambeth,’ a draft report commissioned by the Primates of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) which they have commended to their churches for study and response. It highlights the crisis that now confronts us as we consider the future of the Lambeth Conference. We commend this report for wider reflection.

15. We were challenged by a presentation on the interface between Christianity and Islam and the complex issues that we must now confront at every level of our societies throughout the Global South. We recognized the need for a more thorough education and explored a number of ways that allow us to be faithful disciples to Jesus Christ while respecting the beliefs of others. We condemn all acts of violence in the name of any religion.

16. Throughout our time together in Kigali we have not only shared in discussions such as these we have also spent time together in table fellowship, prayer and worship. We are grateful that because of the time that we have shared our lives have been strengthened and our love for Christ, His Church and His world confirmed. Accordingly, we pray for God’s continued blessing on all members of our beloved Communion that we might all be empowered to continue in our mission to a needy and troubled world.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)


* Provinces Represented:

Bangladesh**, Burundi, Central Africa, Church of South India, Congo, Indian Ocean, Jerusalem and Middle East, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Philippines**, Rwanda, Southern Africa, South East Asia, Southern Cone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa, West Indies (** Not present but represented)

From the Anglican Communion News Service, dated 22 September 2006

TEM Condemns ++Akinola's Views

Calls on Archbishop to Cease Destructive Behavior

The Church in Nigeria under the leadership of The Rt. Rev. Peter Akinola proclaimed on September 14-15:

"The Church affirms our commitment to the total rejection of the evil of homosexuality which is a perversion of human dignity and encourages the National Assembly to ratify the Bill prohibiting the legality of homosexuality since it is incongruent with the teachings of the Bible, Quran and the basic African traditional values."

We now learn from a Reuters release dated September 20 that Archbishop Akinola plans at an upcoming meeting of conservative Anglican bishops to make his position on homosexuality central to what he calls an Anglican Covenant to which all Anglican churches must subscribe. He states that "who ever subscribes to this covenant must abide by it and those who are unable to subscribe to it will walk out."

The archbishop's outrageous and inhumane characterization is, of course, in contradiction to the Lambeth Conference resolution in 1998 calling for pastoral care for homosexuals and in utter disregard of the Anglican position iterated in the Windsor Report that there should be a listening process involving homosexuals throughout the Anglican Communion. We note that his intention to proscribe the ordination of homosexuals in such an institutional way has been articulated without any worldwide consultation. The lack of such consultation in the matter of the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson has been used by the Archbishop as a point of attack on the American and Canadian churches.

The Episcopal Majority rejects and condemns the archbishop's views. We call on him to cease his destructive behavior and his followers to reject his leadership.

We are further dismayed that the archbishop and his followers are short-circuiting the process now underway to formulate an Anglican Covenant as a means of adjudicating our present difficulties. It is apparent that the archbishop thinks that he can, ahead of time, dictate the terms of whatever finished project emerges. That one man should seem in such an imperious way to command, if not coerce, an entire Communion is astonishing and, we believe, completely unacceptable.

We are further appalled that the conservative or evangelical groups in America have remained silent in the face of the archbishop's outrageous statements and provocative actions. Do they wish as well to demean human life in the search for political power?

Global South to the World: "The Evil of Homosexuality is a Perversion"

The self-styled orthodox primates in the self-styled Global South have begun their meeting, and are beginning to issue pronouncements. Led by the primate of the Anglican Church in Nigeria, Peter Akinola, the group released a statement saying, “The Church affirms our commitment to the total rejection of the evil of homosexuality which is a perversion of human dignity." Read the story here.

Separatist Rochester Parish Loses Lawsuit

In the Diocese of Rochester, All Saints Episcopal Church in Irondequoit tried to leave the Episcopal Church and the Diocese with their property. In a news story released today, the state Supreme Court issued a summary judgment ruling that the parish must return all property and records to their rightful owner – the Diocese. Read the story here.

Outrageous Accusations

In a letter to the editor of the Charleston, SC, Post and Courier, retired Bishop C. Fitzsimons Allison writes:

The troubles facing the Episcopal Church (and other denominations) have to do with being divided between two faiths. A new religion has arisen that uses the terminology of Christianity but is a serious alternative to it. Oxford Prof. V.A. Demant in 1947 described it as "… an unsupernatural and unevangelical religion. It equates Christianity with good ideals. It attaches no vital meaning to sin, grace, redemption or to the church as a divine society."
This religion paid no attention to the psychiatrist Karl Menninger when he warned the churches about ignoring the essential human problem in his book, "Whatever Became of Sin?"
E. Brooks Holifield's "A History of Pastoral Care in America: From Salvation to Self-Realization" sums it up in his subtitle.
Individuals can be reconciled but these two faiths cannot. Those who are substituting good ideals for Christian hope are so unconcerned with Christian doctrine that they do not notice its prevailing denial among our leaders and seem undeterred by its shrinking numbers and repudiation by the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The churches that acknowledge the reality of sin and persist in their trust in forgiveness, redemption and salvation will not only survive but prevail.

Response by The Rev Thomas B. Woodward:

This piece makes me very sad. It simply is not true. While one may find isolated examples of what Bishop Allison asserts, moderate and progressive Episcopalians are quite serious about sin, grace, redemption and the Church as divine society. The self-styled conservatives and those who refer to themselves as "orthodox" have been distressingly silent about the sins which beset us as individuals and as a culture. I refer here to the evils of armed combat, of institutional and personal racism, of the greed and acquisitiveness which is eating away at our common life, of structural poverty, of the reduction of human sexuality to talk of body parts instead of Christlike relationships.

Likewise, we have not seen or heard much lately from the conservatives about grace or divine forgiveness or the Church as divine society. Rather, they offer more and more restrictions for membership in the kingdom and they offer ever more support for relegating to second-class citizenship some of the Baptized. We hear a lot of Paul and very little of Jesus.

I monitor several "conservative" Episcopalian or purportedly Anglican blogs, including TitusOneNine, Drell's Descants, StandFirm, and the (grossly misnamed) VirtueOnline. In their postings – and especially in the comments they allow on their sites – I see attitudes that would make our forbearers wince, if not cry aloud. There is such condemnation. Such outright hatred. I trust the dedication of many conservative leaders to the Church as divine society and to us being the very best that we can in Jesus Christ – but the blogs that surround us do not reflect the best that we need from conservatives to bring to our common life and the dialogue that is necessary.

The "ideals" of moderate and progressive Episcopalians are those of the Beatitudes, Matthew 25, the Sermon on the Mount, and a world redeemed through the Cross and made whole through our participation in the Resurrected Life of Jesus Christ. That has never changed. And repetitive rhetoric from "orthodox" leaders and blogmeisters cannot erase that commitment of moderate and progressive Episcopalians. I, myself, do not need to have anyone attempt to shame me or my faith with the words of Karl Menninger. Dr. Menninger was a frequent visitor in my home in Topeka, Kansas, and was responsible in good part for the spiritual formation of me and my brother, Pete, who also is a priest in The Episcopal Church.

My sadness in reading the words from retired Bishop Allison comes, in part, from his seeming reduction of sin to certain sexual acts which he does not approve. The Biblical vision of sin and redemption is so much more vast than that. We need to look to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Micah, to Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Desmond Tutu, to John Hines and Jonathan Daniels and Sojourner Truth. In such company, James Dobson and Matthew Kennedy and Bishop Allison have much to learn.