Communion Partners

With the election of a non-celibate lesbian priest as Bishop Suffragan, the Diocese of Los Angeles has demonstrated its belief that membership in an international communion of churches is less important than unilaterally proceeding with an agenda of sexual liberation.  We believe that this action is contrary to the best interest of the Episcopal Church and the health of the wider Anglican Communion. Where restraint has been respectfully requested by the leadership of the Communion, this action by the Diocese of Los Angeles is provocative, defiant and uncharitable.

We wish to distance ourselves from this action and urge our bishops and standing committees, as well as those of all the dioceses, to withhold consent for the consecration of the Bishop Suffragan-elect of the Diocese of Los Angeles.

The Communion Partners Advisory Committee

The Rev. Dr. Charles Alley; St. Matthew’s, Richmond
The Rt. Rev. Anthony J. Burton; Church of the Incarnation, Dallas
The Very Rev. Anthony Clark; The Cathedral of St. Luke, Orlando
The Rev. Stuart Brooks Keith; Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, Vail
The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson, St. Martin’s, Houston
The Rev. R. Leigh Spruill, St. George’s, Nashville

The undersigned Communion Partner Rectors associate Clergy commend and support the initiative taken by the Communion Partner bishops in meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury on September 1, 2009 in order to discuss and clarify the present circumstances of The Episcopal Church, as well as his understanding of what entities might be eligible to sign and adopt the Anglican Communion Covenant.

We echo the commitment of the bishops “to remain constituent members of both the Anglican Communion and The Episcopal Church.”  Our desire is also to use the present situation as an opportunity to make manifest our commitment to becoming “a part of a ‘Covenanted’ global Anglican body in communion with the See of Canterbury.”

In support of the bishops, we commit ourselves to the five non-episcopal requests listed in their report of September 7, 2009.

1. We will continue our study of the Covenant,  pray and work for adoption of an Anglican Communion Covenant.
2. We endorse the first three sections of the Ridley Cambridge Draft of the Covenant and the Anaheim Statement.  In addition, once the Anglican Communion Covenant is released we will study, endorse and promote it to the General Convention.
3. We will record our endorsement on the Communion Partners website.
4. We will seek to form and engage in “companion domestic mission relationships among diocese and congregations within The Episcopal Church.
5. We will seek to build ministry relationships with dioceses and congregations in other provinces of the Anglican Communion.

In addition, we commit ourselves and the congregations in our charge to pray continually in thanksgiving and encouragement, as well as for strength and protection, for the Communion Partner bishops.

The Rector’s Advisory Committee:

The Reverend Dr. Charles Alley
Rector, St. Matthew’s
Richmond, Virginia

The Right Reverend Anthony Burton
Rector, Church of the Incarnation
Dallas, Texas

The Very Reverend Anthony Clark
Dean, St. Luke’s
Orlando, Florida

The Reverend Brooks Keith
Rector, Church of The Transfiguration
Vail, Colorado

The Reverend Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr.
Rector, St. Martin’s
Houston, Texas

The Reverend Leigh Spruill
Rector, St. George’s
Nashville, Tennessee

Communion Partner Rectors:

The Rev. Christopher L. Ashmore
Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church
Jacksonville, Illinois

The Rev. John D. Badders, Jr.
Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church
McAllen, Texas

The Rev. Phyllis Bartle
Rector, St. Jude’s Episcopal Church
Orange City, Florida

The Rev. Milton E. Black, Jr.
Rector, Church of the Good Shepherd
Corpus Christi, Texas

The Rev. Richard F. Bordin
Rector, Church of the Holy Cross
Winter Garden, Florida

The Rev. Christopher Andrew Bowhay
Rector, St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church
Houston, Texas

The Rev. William J. Cavanaugh
Rector, Church of the Epiphany
Richardson, Texas

The Rev. Anthony F. M. Clavier
Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
La Porte, Indiana

The Rev. C. Carter Croft
Rector, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Silver City, New Mexico

The Rev. Joseph N. Davis
Rector, Church of the Resurrection
Franklin, Tennessee

The Very Rev. Canon Richard C. Doscher, Sr.
Rector, St. Alfred’s Episcopal Church
Palm Harbor, Florida

The Rev. Mifflin Dove, Jr.
Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Katy, Texas

The Rev. Robert G. Eaton
Rector, St. John Episcopal Church
Tulare, California

The Rev. Theodore W. Edwards, Jr.
Rector, St. George’s Episcopal Church
Bradenton, Florida

The Rev. Richard H. Elwood
Rector, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
Fredericksburg, Texas

The Rev. Andrew S. Faust
Rector, The Church of St. Luke and St. Peter
St. Cloud, Florida

The Rev. Frank E. Fuller
Rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Beaumont, Texas

The Rev. Jacob C. George, Jr.
Priest, Church Planter-Grace Episcopal Church
San Antonio, Texas

The Rev. Ronald E. Greiser, Jr.
Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

The Rev. Geoffrey C. Gwynne
Priest-in-Charge, Christ the King Episcopal Church
Harrisonburg, Virginia

The Rev. Laurens A. Hall
Rector, St. John the Divine
Houston, Texas

The Rev. John F. Hardie
Rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Corpus Christi, Texas

The Rev. Theodore E. Hervey, Jr.
Rector, Epiphany Episcopal Church
Burnet, Texas

The Rev. John M. Himes, OSF
Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church
Marshall, Texas

The Rev. Charles L. Holt
Rector, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
Lake Mary, Florida

The Rev. Robert Horowitz
Rector, Church of the Redeemer
Greenville, South Carolina

The Rev. Thomas S. Hotchkiss
Rector, Church of The Advent
Nashville, Tennessee

The Rev. Robert T. Jennings
Rector, St. Francis in the Fields
Harrods Creek, Kentucky

The Rev. Bennett G. Jones, II
Rector, St. Paul Episcopal Church
Munster¸ Indiana

The Rev. Timothy Jones
Sr. Associate Rector, St. George’s Episcopal Church
Nashville, Tennessee

The Rev. Canon Robert Brien Koehler, SSC
Rector, Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The Rev. Jerome A. Kramer
Rector, Church of the Annunciation
New Orleans, Louisiana

The Rev. Gerald W. Krumenacker, Jr.
Rector, Christ Church
Dallas, Texas

The Rev. Ronald James LeBlanc
Priest-in-Charge, Church of the Incarnation
Lafayette, Louisiana

The Rev. John S. Liebler
Rector, St. Andrew’s Church and Academy
Fort Pierce, Florida

The Rev. Ramiro E. Lopez, Jr.
Rector, St. George Episcopal Church
San Antonio, Texas

The Rev. Daniel H. Martins
Rector, St. Anne’s Episcopal Church
Warsaw, Indiana

The Very Rev. Dr. Jean McCurdy Meade
Rector, Mount Olivet Episcopal Church
New Orleans, Louisiana

The Rev. Mark A. Michael
Rector, Christ Episcopal Church
Cooperstown, New York

The Rev. Joel J. Morsch
Rector, Christ Church
Bradenton, Florida

The Rev. Elizabeth L. Myers
Rector, St. Francis of Assisi
Lake Placid, Florida

The Rev. David G. Newhart
Rector, St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church
Sebastian, Florida

The Rev. John Newton
Rector, Messiah Episcopal Church
Saint Paul, Minnesota

The Very Rev. Timothy C. Nunez
Rector, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Belleview, Florida

The Rev. Jennie C. Olbrych
Vicar, St. James Santee Episcopal Church
McClellanville, South Carolina

The Very Rev. Dr. Jacob W. Owensby
Dean, St. Mark’s Cathedral
Shreveport, Louisiana

The Rev. Robert P. Price
Rector, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church
Houston, Texas

The Rev. Dr. Darrel D. Proffitt
Rector, Church of the Holy Apostles
Katy, Texas

The Rev. Fredrick Arthur Robinson
Rector, The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida

The Rev. Bruce M. Robison, D.Min.
Rector, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Right Reverend Ed Salmon
Interim Rector, All Saints Episcopal Church
Chevy Chase, Maryland

The Rev. Mark Seitz
Rector, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
Wheeling, West Virginia

The Rev. John Thomas Sheehan
Rector, The Church of Our Redeemer
Aldie, Virginia

The Rev. Dr. Jerry Smith
Rector, St. Bartholomew’s Parish
Nashville, Tennessee

The Very Rev. Canon Harold L. Trott, SSC
Vicar, Church of Our Saviour
Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Rev. Eric W. Turner, Sr.
Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church
Melbourne, Florida

The Rev. Timothy J. Vellom
Rector, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
Universal City, Texas

The Rev. Guido Verbeck
Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Shreveport, Louisiana

The Very Rev. Dr. Edward A. Weiss, OSB, APC
Rector, Church of Our Saviour
Okeechobee, Florida

The Rev. John T. Wells
Rector, Episcopal Church of The Holy Spirit
Waco, Texas

The Rev. Ted Welty
Interim Rector, Christ Episcopal Church
Tyler, Texas

The Rev. Stockton Williams, Jr.
Rector, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
Kerrville, Texas

The Rev. Dr. Kenneth A. Wolfe
Rector, Christ Episcopal Church
Fitchburg, Maryland

The Rev. Michael Wyckoff
Rector, St. Luke’s on the Lake
Austin, Texas

Communion Partner Associates:

The Rev. Raymond E. Cole, Jr.
Priest, Retired
San Antonio, Texas

The Rev. Betty Fuller
Chaplain, All Saints Episcopal School
Beaumont, Texas

The Rev. Richard Kew
Priest in Residence, Tennessee

The Rev. Ian Montgomery
Missionary, Peru

104th Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace
London, England
SE1 7JU

Your Grace:
You will be sent a hard copy of this letter, statement and the list of signatories, but because of our desire to put this material in front of you soon, we are e-mailing this correspondence as well.  We must share with you that this letter will also be made public via the trusted websites of the The Livng Church and The Anglican Communion Institute.

Enclosed, please find a statement of the Communion Partner Rectors who welcome and declare our appreciation for the witness of the over 30 Episcopal bishops who have signed the minority statement read in the House of Bishops at the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Anaheim, California on Thursday, July 16, 2009.

Though we have been in touch with you throughout the last year and a half, we simply reiterate our deep desire and commitment to remain constituent members of the greater Anglican Communion.  We, as we believe it to be well documented now, concur with your leadership, and that of Lambeth Conference and the ACC that the road to stronger bonds of affection amongst the members of the Communion is our shared commitment to our Lord and His Church, the instruments of Communion and the parameters and councils set forth in the Windsor Process, the three (at present) requested moratoria, the most recent Lambeth Conference, Lambeth Resolution 1.10 and the unfolding Covenant Process, to which we are fully committed.

We do not concur with any action taken that would be interpreted by the larger Communion as divisive, dismissive of our larger Anglican Communion or schismatic.  The outgrowth of the decisions of the General Convention has yet to be ultimately determined as to its impact on our common bonds of affection that we should all share, and honor, as part of the worldwide Anglican family.

Some will clearly share the assessment of His Grace, Bishop N.T. Wright that The Episcopal Church has, by its most recent actions, chosen to “walk apart.”  It would be our hope that if you share that assessment, that you would also share Bishop’s Wright’s counsel to “…not forget the ‘Communion Partner’ bishops, who doggedly loyal to their church, and to the Windsor Report as expressing the mind of the wider Communion, voted against the current resolution.  Nor should we forget the many parishes within revisionist dioceses (and, for that matter, worshippers within revisionists parishes) who take the same stance,” (The Times, 15 July, 2009).  Again, let us categorically state, that we believe our ties to both the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion must remain solid and unfettered by any action, resolution or statement that would in any way further tear the very fragile fabric that is now our Anglican family; and therefore would not support any such action, resolution or statement.

Lastly, we reaffirm our pledge of support for the unfolding Covenant process and it is our hope that Part IV of the Ridley Draft will soon be revisited and approved as a pathway for not simply Provinces, but Bishops, Dioceses and individual parishes to renew their commitment not only to the Anglican Communion, but to those vital pillars that in the end, draw us all together, rather than cause further division.

Toward that end and toward all of these matters, we pledge our prayers and support to you, to our Communion Partner Bishops and those Bishops who joined them in signing the Anaheim Statement, and to those Bishops who have made similar statements to their own Dioceses.  Please let us know how we can further support you.

Faithfully, on behalf of the attached list of Communion Partner Rectors,

The Advisory Committee of the Communion Partner Rectors

The Reverend Dr. Charles Alley, Rector, St. Matthews, Richmond, Virginia
The Right Reverend Anthony Burton, Rector, Church of the Incarnation, Dallas, Texas

The Very Reverend Anthony Clark, Dean, St. Luke’s Cathedral, Orlando, Florida
The Reverend S. Brooks Keith, Rector, Church of the Transfiguration, Vail, Colorado
The Reverend Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr. Rector, St. Martin’s, Houston, Texas
The Reverend Leigh Spruill, Rector, St. George’s, Nashville, Tennessee

The Communion Partner Rectors’ Statement:

July 22, 2009

We, the undersigned clergy in good standing in the Episcopal Church welcome and declare our appreciation for the witness of the bishops who signed the minority statement read in the House of Bishops in Anaheim, California on Thursday, July 16, 2009.  We also express our on-going support for all the reaffirmations listed in that document, which read as follows:

• We reaffirm our constituent membership in the Anglican Communion, our communion with the See of Canterbury and our commitment to preserving these relationships.
• We reaffirm our commitment to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them (BCP 526, 538).
• We reaffirm our commitment to the three moratoria requested of us by the instruments of Communion.
• We reaffirm our commitment to the Anglican Communion Covenant process currently underway, with the hope of working toward its implementation across the Communion once a Covenant is completed.
• We reaffirm our commitment to “continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship” which is foundational to our baptismal covenant, and to be one with the apostles in “interpreting the Gospel” which is essential to our work as bishops of the Church of God.

We are committed along with said bishops to be a positive force for the spread of God’s Kingdom in this world; to pray for Christ’s Body, the Church, the Anglican Communion, The Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, all bishops and other ministers.  We hold that as Christ’s Body, the Church is to be a “pillar and buttress of truth,”  (1 Timothy 3:15) through which the Gospel is held high in witness and proclamation, and we pray for the reconciliation of all humankind through the saving life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

For more information about the Communion Partner Rectors, contact CPRectors@stmartinsepiscopal.org

The Rev. Dr. Charles Alley
Rector, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
Richmond, Virginia

The Rev. Christopher L. Ashmore
Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church
Jacksonville, Illinois

The Rev. John D. Badders, Jr.
Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church
McAllen, Texas

The Rev. Phyllis Bartle
Rector, St. Jude’s Episcopal Church
Orange City, Florida

The Rev. Milton E. Black, Jr.
Rector, Church of the Good Shepherd
Corpus Christi, Texas

The Rev. Christopher Andrew Bowhay
Rector, St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church
Houston, Texas

The Rt. Rev. Anthony J. Burton
Rector, Church of the Incarnation
Dallas, Texas

The Rev. William J. Cavanaugh
Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany
Richardson, Texas

The Very Reverend Anthony Clark
Dean, The Cathedral Church of St. Luke
Orlando, Florida

The Rev. Anthony F. M. Clavier
Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
La Porte, Indiana

The Rev. C. Carter Croft
Rector, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Silver City, New Mexico

The Rev. Joseph N. Davis
Rector, Church of the Resurrection
Franklin, Tennessee

The Very Rev. Canon Richard C. Doscher, Sr.
Rector, St. Alfred’s Episcopal Church
Palm Harbor, Florida

The Rev. Mifflin Dove, Jr.
Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Katy, Texas

The Rev. Robert G. Eaton
Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church
Tulare, California

The Rev. Theodore W. Edwards, Jr.
Rector, St. George’s Episcopal Church
Bradenton, Florida

The Rev. Richard H. Elwood
Retired Rector, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
Fredericksburg, Texas

The Rev. Frank E. Fuller
Rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Beaumont, Texas

The Rev. Ronald E. Greiser, Jr.
Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church
Portsmouth, Virginia

The Rev. Laurens A. Hall
Rector, St. John the Divine
Houston¸ Texas

The Rev. John F. Hardie
Rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Corpus Christi, Texas

The Rev. Theodore E. Hervey, Jr.
Rector, Epiphany Episcopal Church
Burnet, Texas

The Rev. John M. Himes, OSF
Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church
Marshall, Texas

The Rev. Charles L. Holt
Rector, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
Lake Mary, Florida

The Rev. Robert Horowitz
Rector, Church of the Redeemer
Greenville, South Carolina

The Rev. Thomas S. Hotchkiss
Rector, Church of The Advent
Nashville, Tennessee

The Rev. Robert T. Jennings
Rector, St. Francis in the Fields
Harrods Creek, Kentucky

The Rev. Bennett G. Jones, II
Rector, St. Paul Episcopal Church
Munster, Indiana

The Rev. Timothy Jones
Senior Associate Rector, St. George’s Episcopal Church
Nashville, Tennessee

The Rev. Stuart Brooks Keith III
Rector, Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration
Vail, Colorado

The Rev. Jerome A. Kramer
Rector, Church of the Annunciation
New Orleans, Louisiana

The Rev. Gerald W. Krumenacker, Jr.
Rector, Christ Church
Dallas, Texas

The Rev. Ronald James LeBlanc
Priest-in-Charge, Church of the Incarnation
Lafayette, Louisiana

The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr.
Rector, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
Houston, Texas

The Rev. John S. Liebler
Rector, St. Andrew’s Church and Academy
Fort Pierce, Florida

The Rev. Ramiro E. Lopez, Jr.
Rector, St. George Episcopal Church
San Antonio, Texas

The Rev. Daniel H. Martins
Rector, St. Anne’s Episcopal Church
Warsaw, Indiana

The Very Rev. Dr. Jean McCurdy Meade
Rector, Mount Olivet Episcopal Church
New Orleans, Louisiana

The Rev. Mark A. Michael
Rector, Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church
Sharpsburg, Maryland

The Rev. Joel J. Morsch
Rector, Christ Church
Bradenton, Florida

The Rev. Elizabeth L. Myers
Rector, St. Francis of Assisi
Lake Placid, Florida

The Rev. David G. Newhart
Rector, St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church
Sebastian, Florida

The Rev. John Newton
Rector, Messiah Episcopal Church
Saint Paul, Minnesota

The Very Rev. Timothy C. Nunez
Rector, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Belleview, Florida

The Rev. Jennie C. Olbrych
Vicar, St. James Santee Episcopal Church
McClellanville, South Carolina

The Rev. Robert P. Price
Rector, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church
Houston, Texas

The Rev. Dr. Darrel D. Proffitt
Rector, Church of the Holy Apostles
Katy, Texas

The Rev. Fredrick Arthur Robinson
Rector, The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida

The Rev. Bruce M. Robison, D.Min.
Rector, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Rev. Mark Seitz
Rector, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
Wheeling, West Virginia

The Rev. John Thomas Sheehan
Rector, The Church of Our Redeemer
Aldie, Virginia

The Rev. Dr. Jerry Smith
Rector, St. Bartholomew’s Parish
Nashville, Tennessee

The Rev. Leigh Spruill
Rector, St. George’s Episcopal Church
Nashville, Tennessee

The Very Rev. Canon Harold L. Trott, SSC
Vicar, Church of Our Saviour
Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Rev. Eric W. Turner, Sr.
Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church
Melbourne, Florida

The Rev. Guido Verbeck
Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Shreveport, Louisiana

The Very Rev. Dr. Edward A. Weiss, OSB, APC
Rector, Church of Our Saviour
Okeechobee, Florida

The Rev. John T. Wells
Rector, Episcopal Church Of The Holy Spirit
Waco, Texas

The Rev. Ted Welty
Interim Rector, Christ Episcopal Church
Tyler, Texas

The Rev. Stockton Williams, Jr.
Rector, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
Kerrville, Texas

The Rev. Dr. Kenneth A. Wolfe
Rector, Christ Episcopal Church
Fitchburg, Massachusetts

The Rev. Michael Wyckoff
Rector, St. Luke’s on the Lake
Austin, Texas

The Rev. Andrew S. Faust
Rector, The Church of St. Luke and St. Peter
St. Cloud, Florida

The Rev. Canon Robert Brien Koehler, SSC
Rector, Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The Rev. Jennie C. Olbrych
Vicar, St. James Santee Episcopal Church
McClellanville, South Carolina

The Very Rev. Dr. Jacob W. Owensby
Dean, St. Mark’s Cathedral
Shreveport, Louisiana

The Rev. Raymond E. Cole, Jr.
Priest, Retired
San Antonio, Texas

The Rev. Betty Fuller
Chaplain, All Saints Episcopal School
Beaumont, Texas

The Rev. Richard Kew
Priest in Residence
Diocese of Tennessee

The Rev. Ian Montgomery
Missionary, Peru

A group of Bishops of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion have issued a statement on the polity of the Episcopal Church with which we as Rectors of churches in the Episcopal Church are in full agreement. Our understanding of the seat of authority in the Episcopal Church, as elaborated by the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, is consistent with that elaborated in the Bishops’ statement. We also find the arguments supporting the statement to be compelling and worthy of intentional study by the sundry dioceses, bishops, deputies, clergy and laity of the Episcopal Church.

The authority of the Episcopal Church resides at the diocesan level. This is witnessed to by the structure of the church as “that of a voluntary association of equal dioceses.” Also, the Constitution and Canons of the Church make no provision for either a central hierarchy or a Presiding Bishop with metropolitan authority. Furthermore, our General Convention representation is as dioceses and not as communicants, with only an administrative role for the convention leadership, the voting members of the leadership themselves drawn from the diocesan deputations. In addition, the ordinal does not contain any language acknowledging or committing to submit to any metropolitan or central hierarchal authority. Read the rest of this entry »

A meeting of Communion Partner Primates, Bishops and Rectors is scheduled for April 16-17, 2009 at St. Martin’s in Houston, Texas. Will you join us? Communion Partners is a way to identify with the missionary and the theological distinctives of the Anglican Communion of Churches.

Please contact CPRectors@stmartinsepiscopal.org if you wish to be associated with Communion Partners. Bishops may contact CPBishops@diowla.org.

See what others have said about the Communion Partners.

“The Communion Partner Rectors met at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston November 5-7. Forty rectors were able to be present. We were supported by the Bishop of Texas, Western Louisiana, Western Kansas and Central Florida, who were able to be present as representatives of the sixteen bishops involved with Communion Partners.”
- The Rev. Dr. Christopher Seitz

“I think the Communion Partners Plan is the best way forward during the current challenges we are facing. For the first time, we have a fellowship not only of bishops, but rectors as well; and we have need your support for a long time.”
- The Rt. Rev. Don A. Wimberly, Bishop of Texas

“…We are spending a great deal of time defining what we are not, and we need to spend more time telling people who we are – firmly committed to the developing Covenant and Windsor principles and mindful of the proper parameters of the Episcopal Church, but not limiting our work – nor our relationships – to TEC alone.”
- The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, who serves on the advisory group of rectors and is rector of St. Matthew’s, Richmond

“…it seems to be widely agreed in the [Lambeth] Conference that internal pastoral and liturgical care, strengthened by arrangements like the suggested Communion Partners initiative in the USA…are the way we should go if we want to avoid further ecclesial confusion…” [from his 'Lambeth Presidential Address' on 3 August, 2008]
- Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

“I believe that Communion Partners is, in this season, the way of solid Anglican witness to Christ’s Gospel in the United States: faithful, peaceable, steadfast, and bound to the full mission of the Anglican Communion.”
- Ephraim Radner, Professor of Historical Theology Wycliffe College, University of Toroto

“I am delighted to support the work of the Communion Partner plan, which exists to seek a solution to the breakdown in the Anglican Communion by dialogue, friendship and understanding.”
- George Leonard Carey, the Rt. Rev. and Rt. Hon. The Lord Carey of Clifton, 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury

“The Communion Partner Plan is perhaps the last great hope for keeping what is left of the Episcopal Church out of the opposing trenches of relativistic revisionism or schism…noting that the Church fathers said the two great enemies of faith were heresy and schism – the did not say one was better that the other – that both were tools of the devil to break apart the family of God. The Communion Partner Plan is one answer of getting the church back in the middle of the road and keeping it from the ICU that awaits them in either of these trenches.”
- The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr., St. Martin’s, Houston

“As one of the three Communion Partner primates of the Communion Partners Plan, our role is to give dioceses, parishes, and provinces pastoral guidance and care…to create a strong link/bridge between the members of the Anglican Communion. The Communion Partners Plan, with its growing list of primates, bishops and rectors, is a positive way forward through the present crisis of division that we face in the Anglican Communion. As per our vow to the Windsor principles and Anglican Covenant, this allows us to strengthen a common fellowship centered on the biblical teachings of the Gospel. I am happy to offer it my support and give full respect and love to our brothers and sisters, let alone the comprehensive and objective share of ideas and views. This gives a very positive and good hope for the future of the Anglican Communion.”
- The Rt. Rev. Valentine Mokiwa, The Fifth Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Tanzania

The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz
The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner
The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner
Mark McCall, Esq.

In recent months ACI has asked with increasing urgency whether the Presiding Bishop is willing and able to comply with the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. Her most recent canonical misadventure is purporting to remove from the ordained ministry a bishop in the Church of England canonically resident and working in England and subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Her canonical overreaching has now extended into the heart of the Church of England, placing in serious question the extent to which the Presiding Bishop continues to perceive herself as in communion with that church and its primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

On January 15, 2008, the Presiding Bishop purported to accept the “renunciation” of ordained ministry by Bishop Henry Scriven. It is now sadly evident that an actual renunciation is no longer a prerequisite for the Presiding Bishop’s “acceptance” of such an extraordinary action by a bishop of the church. In her zeal to remove from office those with whom she disagrees what started only two years ago as the canonically appropriate, if misguided, procedure of using presentments under the disciplinary canons of Title IV quickly evolved into abuse of the “abandonment of communion” canon in order to avoid the procedural protections afforded to those charged with presentment. But even the summary procedures of the abandonment canon require some process, including a vote in the House of Bishops by a majority of the bishops in TEC entitled to vote. The fact that she has been repeatedly unable to assemble such a majority has not stopped the Presiding Bishop from using this canon, most recently in the case of Bishop Duncan, who at the time he was purportedly deposed for “abandonment of communion” was still actively performing his duties as the Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. After her widely criticized handling of Bishop Duncan, however, the Presiding Bishop dispensed with canonical process altogether and since then has simply adopted the tactic of “accepting” renunciations that were never given. Bishops of the church are removed with nothing more than the stroke of a pen.

The Presiding Bishop’s problem in the case of Bishop Scriven, however, is that he was not in fact a “Bishop of this Church” as required by the canon the Presiding Bishop invoked when she purported to remove him from the ordained ministry and to pronounce him “deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority as a Minister of God’s Word and Sacraments conferred on him in Ordinations.” Those “Ordinations” of which she purports to deprive him were conferred on Bishop Scriven not by TEC but by the Church of England, including by the Archbishop of Canterbury personally. The Presiding Bishop has no authority to deprive him of the ministry conferred on him by his ordination in the Church of England.

Bishop Scriven was consecrated as a bishop in the Church of England by the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey. He initially served as Suffragan Bishop in the Church of England’s Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. At the same time, he also served as Assisting Bishop in TEC, acting in that capacity for Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning in the Convocation of American Churches in Europe.

In 2002, Bishop Scriven was again asked to serve as an Assistant Bishop in TEC, this time by Bishop Duncan and the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Under the applicable canon, III.12.5, assistant bishops may be selected from among either “Bishops of this Church” or “Bishops of a Church in communion with this Church.” For bishops in the latter category, special procedures are followed, including obtaining the consent of the church in which the bishop was consecrated and the consents of the TEC House of Bishops. Notwithstanding his prior service as an assisting bishop in TEC, Bishop Scriven’s appointment in Pittsburgh was treated as falling in this latter category in recognition of the fact that he was a bishop of the Church of England. Approval from the Church of England was given personally by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishop Scriven served as Assistant Bishop in Pittsburgh until September 2008. Under Canon III.12.5(e), the tenure of an Assistant Bishop automatically ends when the tenure of the diocesan bishop under whom he serves ends. Thus, if the deposition of Bishop Duncan was legal, Bishop Scriven’s tenure as Assistant Bishop in Pittsburgh ended on September 19 , 2008, when the Presiding Bishop pronounced the sentence of deposition on Bishop Duncan. At that moment, Bishop Scriven ceased to be a bishop of TEC. The fact that his tenure as Assistant Bishop had been terminated was recognized both by the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Bishop Scriven, and he ceased to serve as Assistant Bishop on September 19, 2008, and ceased to be a bishop of TEC at that time. At that point he became what the rules of the House of Bishops refer to as a bishop from another Church in the Anglican Communion who is resident in a TEC diocese. Under Article I.2 of TEC’s Constitution, Bishop Scriven was not eligible for membership in the House of Bishops at that point, no longer being an Assistant Bishop, but would have been eligible for membership as a collegial member or nonvoting member under the rules of the House of Bishops had he requested such membership and had it been approved by that House. Therefore, no action was required to remove him from the House of Bishops, certainly not the inappropriate action of purporting to remove him from the ordained ministry. He ceased to be a member of the House of Bishops on September 19, 2008, by operation of canon law.

To the extent Bishop Scriven continued to function in the Diocese of Pittsburgh it was with the permission of its ecclesiastical authority as a bishop consecrated by the Church of England canonically resident in another church. But on October 16, 2008, Bishop Scriven informed the Presiding Bishop, by letter copied to the Bishop of Oxford, that he was returning to the Church of England where he would become an Honorary Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Oxford and be subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford. The Presiding Bishop clearly acknowledged this fact in her letter of response, dated November 12, 2008: “I understand your request to resign as a member of the House of Bishops to mean that you will become a bishop of the Church of England, serving as assistant to the Bishop of Oxford.” Bishop Scriven has now resumed his residence in the Diocese of Oxford in the Church of England, where he is recognized as a bishop in good standing and has been asked to perform episcopal duties.

Notwithstanding these facts, on January 15, 2009, the Presiding Bishop purported to accept Bishop Scriven’s renunciation of his ministry “of this Church” and claimed to remove him from all ministry conferred in his “Ordinations.” Canon III.12.7, the canon under which the Presiding Bishop claimed to be acting, plainly applies only to a “Bishop of this Church.” The only way Bishop Scriven could have been a bishop of TEC on January 15 is if the deposition of Bishop Duncan were invalid. In such a case, Bishop Duncan would have continued to serve uninterrupted as Bishop of Pittsburgh and Bishop Scriven’s tenure as Assistant Bishop would not have ended by operation of Canon III.12.5(e). We doubt, however, that this is the theory under which the Presiding Bishop is operating.

Moreover, in addition to constituting an abuse of the canons, the Presiding Bishop’s action has profound consequences for TEC’s status as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and its communion with the Church of England. The Declaration of Removal and Release states categorically that Bishop Scriven “is deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority as a Minister of God’s Word and Sacraments conferred on him in Ordinations.” Those ordinations occurred, of course, in the Church of England. On its face, this declaration appears to prohibit a bishop in good standing in the Church of England from acting sacramentally in TEC. Since the use of Canon III.12.7 carries with it a certification that the bishop is not in violation of the constitution and canons and is not taken for causes that affect moral character, Bishop Scriven in this regard stands in no different position than any other bishop in the Church of England. If Bishop Scriven is so barred, is not the Archbishop of Canterbury barred as well?

Defenders of the Presiding Bishop’s course of conduct attempt to soften the impact of these actions by claiming that all that is being done by these acceptances of “renunciation” is the removal of a license to act in TEC. But this is clearly erroneous. All bishops, including all TEC bishops, require a license to act outside the dioceses in which they are canonically resident. Indeed, the very canon the Presiding Bishop invokes in the case of Bishop Scriven provides that “No Bishop shall perform episcopal acts or officiate by preaching, ministering the sacraments, or holding any public service in a Diocese other than that in which the Bishop is canonically resident, without permission or a license to perform occasional public services from the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese in which the Bishop desires to officiate or perform episcopal acts.” (III.12.3(e).) If all the Presiding Bishop accomplished in her Declaration of Removal of Bishop Scriven was to inform all the bishops of TEC and the other authorities to whom the declaration was sent that Bishop Scriven needs permission or a license to act in their dioceses, it was a waste of time. That was as true on January 14 as it was the next day after the declaration was issued.

What the Presiding Bishop clearly intended was not this trivial notification, but the more significant one of barring Bishop Scriven from receiving any such permission. And the sole reason for that debarment is that he returned to the Church of England, the church of his ordination and consecration to the episcopate, where he is now a bishop in good standing. The Presiding Bishop treated his return to the Church of England in precisely the same manner she treated Bishop Steenson’s move to the Church of Rome. Does the Presiding Bishop draw no distinction between the two? Has the Presiding Bishop now broken communion with the Church of England?

Thus, it appears that the Presiding Bishop has attempted to remove from the ministry—or at a minimum, bar from TEC– a bishop of the Church of England who is subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford and is working in England as director of a missionary society of the Church of England, the patron of which is the Archbishop of Canterbury. At this point, one must ask whether the Presiding Bishop is incapable of interpreting the canons or incapable instead of following them. Her abuse of the canons has now reached beyond TEC and into the Church of England itself.

We have called attention to the problems inherent in sloppy and inappropriate application of the canons and in serious departures from the Constitution of The Episcopal Church. In the case of Bishop Scriven we are witnessing a new problem: the knock-on effect of using canons for purposes for which they are not intended with the consequence of calling into question the very character of catholic life across provinces of our Anglican Communion. Perhaps this is the autonomous counterpart of the autonomous actions in respect of Gene Robinson. The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, in seeking to deal with what is regarded as a problem within her own province, has so misused the canons that it is no longer clear if The Episcopal Church understands what ordination and interchangeability of ministry in a Communion entails. Has The Episcopal Church de facto ceased to view itself and its Constitution and Canons as meaningfully related to the life of catholic Anglicanism at the most basic level and instead sees them as laws governing (it might be hoped) a national denomination and really nothing more? If so, we call on those Bishops of TEC who wish this church to remain “a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, in communion with the See of Canterbury” to call a halt to this conduct or to request that the Presiding Bishop clarify what her understanding is of the place of The Episcopal Church within the Anglican Communion.

On behalf of the Advisory Committee of the Communion Partner Rectors, and on behalf of our Bishops and Primatial colleagues, we wish to acknowledge the remarks recently published from Bishop Iker and Bishop Duncan at the Charleston conference hosted by ‘Mere Anglicanism.’ They speak of wanting the Communion Partners and Common Cause to support one another.

For our part we will continue to pray for solid progress at the level of Covenant Design Committee work and for the Instruments of Communion, especially the Primates Meeting shortly to commence. We cannot know how the efforts associated with Common Cause will turn out, including the idea of building a ‘new province,’ but we note with interest that recent news indicates the Archbishop of Canterbury has suggested ways for this endeavor to move forward in relationship to the Instruments of Communion. Together with ACI, we have been concerned that failure to attend to the integrity of Dioceses which see women’s ordination a matter still in reception, is creating unnecessary stress and strain. We ask that the wider Anglican Communion offer guidance here, as a variegated polity elsewhere appears to be both possible and charitably negotiated.

We do not know how the proposal for a new province will be received nor are we entirely clear what its proponents are proposing; that is probably unavoidable given the hardships all around. We understand that many see the situation as demanding this option. For our part, we accept the promise of those associated with this movement that they will honor our own commitments. Communion Partners will pray for the Common Cause proponents and will assume that promise of cooperation entails a charitable acceptance that another way forward is to be honored and that we can move forward on parallel tracks and not ‘recruit’ from each others’ daily purpose, honoring the jurisdictional integrities of respective bishops. God will be in charge of the next season, as He has always been.

When the Primates meet in February we anticipate that our separate ways of moving forward will be acknowledged and honored. We pledge our prayers for all involved and ask God’s blessing on all of us in a very difficult time. With gratitude for his grace and mercy, again this 2009 Epiphany we remain, yours in Christ, on behalf of Communion Partners,

(The Rt Revd) Bruce MacPherson, Communion Partner Bishops
(The Revd Dr) Russell Levenson, Communion Partner Rectors
(The Revd Canon Professor) Christopher Seitz, Communion Partners and ACI

The list of Bishops and Rectors associated with the Communion Partners Plan continues to grow, and is in the embryonic stages of planning opportunities to offer mutual support and strengthen its among Partner Rectors and Bishops, but also a growing number of Archbishops from around the Anglican Communion.

At present, fourteen Bishops from around the Episcopal Church continue to build bridges of communication and support with over 35 rectors, with a constituent baptized membership of over 35,000.

With the support of the Communion Partner Bishops*, an advisory Board for the Plan is guided by Communion Partner Rectors, The Reverend Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr., rector of St. Martin’s, Houston; The Right Reverend Anthony Burton, Rector, Church of the Incarnation in Dallas; The Reverend Dr. Charles Alley, Rector, St. Matthews, Richmond, Virginia; The Very Reverend Anthony Clark, Dean, St. Luke’s Cathedral, Orlando, Florida and The Reverend Leigh Spruill, Rector, St. George’s, Nashville.

As stated previously, Communion Partner Bishops and Rectors appreciate the serious challenges of this present season in our greater Communion and The Episcopal Church, and we understand that for some conservative constituents, another path may have been chosen. But we pledge our prayers, our concern and hope that the Partners Plan will be a movement of keen Communion allegiance both within the Episcopal Church and the greater Anglican Communion at a time when the Episcopal Church (USA) will be considering its role within the wider Communion. In brief, we are a group of rectors who share a common commitment to the authority and traditional interpretation of Holy Scripture, the creedal and historic faith, orthodox theology with an evangelical fervor to faithfully live and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. We are also firmly committed to remain in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, respecting and honoring the proper authority of our Bishops and working in concert with them to strengthen our voice within the Church. We wish to be on record in our enthusiasm for the Windsor and Covenant way forward, as the best means to extend and further the Communion as God has thus far blessed it throughout the world.

The first gathering of Communion Partner Rectors will be held at St. Martin’s in Houston, Texas on November 6th and 7th, 2008. At this time, the meeting is only open to those rectors who have committed to participation in the Partners Plan. We strongly encourage inquiring rectors to consult with their Bishop and vestries before agreeing to be a Communion Partner Rector; however, participation is certainly open to all rectors who are committed to the common vision shared above. For more information, to become a Partner Rector or make plans to attend the fall event, please inquire with your full contact information at CPRectors@stmartinsepiscopal.org.

*Among the Communion Partner Bishops are included the Bishops of Western Louisiana, Tennessee, Western Kansas, Central Florida, Fon Du Lac, South Carolina, West Texas, Albany, North Dakota, Dallas, Texas and Rhode Island.