Communion Partners

The Advisory Committee of Communion Partners Clergy welcomes and humbly receives the Pentecost 2010 Letter of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to the Anglican Communion. The letter entitled “Renewal in the Spirit” reminds us that the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is always building up the church in unity, strengthening our love of Christ as Lord, and empowering our witness to Him in the world. We respect the Archbishop’s wise understanding and articulation of Anglican ecclesiology once more evident in this letter.

We also appreciate his gracious clarity in defining current divisions within the Anglican Communion as well as suggesting consequences of the continuing actions by The Episcopal Church that have “not brought us nearer to full reconciliation” as the body of Christ. As members of The Episcopal Church, we humbly accept the consequences that may result, such as our provincial representatives and leaders being asked to step down from various roles on Communion bodies and commissions. Furthermore, as members of The Episcopal Church, we are not seeking escape from these thoughtful and loving judgments long-contemplated as far back as the Windsor Report and clearly held forth before the Communion in recent years. Rather we stand firmly with the Archbishop of Canterbury in desiring to safeguard the integrity and witness of the Communion. With him and with Anglicans throughout the world, we also yearn for a “more coherent Anglican identity.” We are steadfastly committed to the principles of the Windsor Report and Lambeth Resolution 1.10 for the parishes and dioceses we serve. In addition we continue to call for the adoption of the Anglican Communion Covenant as a means of deepening our ties to one another and furthering Christ’s mission for the world.

Here is a good article by Father Tony Clavier at the Shreds And Patches blog All seems oddly quiet on this day when Canon Mary Glasspool will be ordained and consecrated as a Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles.  Yet the consequences may well be graver than ensued after the Bishop of New Hampshire was elected [...]

A fellowship of American Episcopal clergy is urging Asian and African Anglican primates to ratify a major proposal meant to increase unity and accountability among Anglicans divided over recent moral and theological innovations.

Representatives from 20 provinces of the 80-million member Anglican Communion meet April 19-23 in Singapore, where members of the U.S.-based Communion Partners Group recommend they adopt the Anglican Communion Covenant, a document finalized last December and endorsed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

The question I repeatedly get from those who are interested in the Communion Partner Plan is, “What is it that the Plan will enable us to do?” This is a question of purpose, of vision and of strategy. Since our emphasis in Communion Partners has not been on developing alternative Episcopal structures and we have intentionally avoided defining ourselves over-and-against others, some have interpreted our approach as a passive waiting game. This misperception has only been exacerbated by our chosen strategy which is to be a witness to traditional Anglicanism and biblical Christianity within the Episcopal Church. Again, the idea of witness appears far too passive for many 21th century American Christians. We are a people of action and it is difficult for us to see the value in presenting an alternative way of being the Episcopal Church in the midst of the current church.

I think, when we approach the articulation of the vision of the Communion Partner Plan we really need to start with our understanding of the identity of the Church. One of the best and certainly most succinct descriptions of the Church I have read is that of the Gospel in Our Culture Network, which was developed under the influence of the Church of Scotland missionary, Lesslie Newbigin. From their missional perspective, the church is the community whose purpose is to announce and demonstrate the purpose and direction of God in the world through Jesus Christ. Thus the doing is built in. We witness by announcing and demonstrating the Gospel. Such actions cannot leave the world, or the church, unchanged. It is here that we might begin to see that the radical transformation we are seeking has more to do with spiritual renewal than institutional re-formation.

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 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.”

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.

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.