LONDON: Six Episcopal bishops portray church's 'broad center' in meeting with Williams

By Matthew Davies
Episcopal News Service
October 23, 2009

Describing themselves as representing the "broad center" of the Episcopal Church, six bishops were welcomed Oct. 23 as guests of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at his London residence, Lambeth Palace.

"Our message was to say that the Episcopal Church is not a perfect church, but ... it is alive, it is well, it is vital, it is pursuing the mission that God has set before it," said Bishop Clifton Daniel of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina in an interview with ENS following the meeting. "I came away as thankful for the Episcopal Church at this meeting as I did for the Archbishop of Canterbury -- and I'll continue to give it everything I have to further its mission and its life."

Daniel was joined by bishops Michael Curry of North Carolina, Stacy Sauls of Lexington (Kentucky), Neff Powell of Southwestern Virginia, Assistant Bishop William Gregg and Assisting Bishop Chip Marble, both of North Carolina.

During their 90-minute meeting, the church leaders discussed a variety of topics and concerns facing the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, including the development of an Anglican covenant, cross-provincial interventions, human sexuality issues, the Millennium Development Goals, and the Episcopal Church's focus on domestic and global mission.

"The conversation was held in a framework of mutual trust, it was held in the context of openness with one another [and] it went to a level deeper than I had anticipated," Daniel told ENS. "The archbishop was gracious and forthright. He expressed again and again his deep affection for the Episcopal Church. I found that reassuring; I found that strengthening; I found that hopeful; and I go away in that very spirit."

The bishops first discussed the possibility of meeting with the archbishop about one year ago when they decided it would be helpful to increase understanding and build relationships with Williams and to offer him a sense of what it means to be the "broad center" of the Episcopal Church.

"We came away with a deeper appreciation and understanding of one another and I think we came away with a greater sense of knowledge of where he stands and his support for us as we seek to nurture the strong, broad center of the Episcopal Church," said Gregg.

"It was a profound moment for me and I think for all of us when our conversation focused in some very deep and significant ways on the needs of the world," said Curry. "One of the things I came away with was not only is the Archbishop of Canterbury a man of deep prayer, this is a man of deep and genuine compassion -- a compassion for those who the world often leaves out."

"I can echo the encouragement and hope this meeting engendered for me," said Marble. "I appreciated the archbishop's openness."

Powell said he was impressed and reassured by Williams' ability "to articulate, paraphrase and reflect the broad situation within the Episcopal Church ... in a way that I felt we were recognized and honored and respected."

Sauls said the conversation was frank and substantive. "I leave the meeting very much aware of how encouraged and hopeful I am about our life," he said.

The Oct. 23 appointment is one of many private meetings the Archbishop of Canterbury hosts at Lambeth Palace.

On Sept. 1, seven conservative Episcopal Church bishops met with Williams at his London residence. Following that meeting, bishops Mark Lawrence of South Carolina, Gary Lillibridge of West Texas, Edward Little of Northern Indiana, Bill Love of Albany, Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana, Michael Smith of North Dakota and James Stanton of Dallas released a statement saying that dioceses and congregations ought to endorse the proposed Anglican covenant, either in its current partial draft form or when a text becomes final.

The Anglican covenant is a proposed set of principles intended to bind the communion's provinces in light of recent disagreements over human sexuality issues and theological interpretation.

The Anglican Consultative Council in May postponed releasing the latest version of the covenant, the Ridley Cambridge draft, to the communion's provinces for consideration. The council asked that the draft's Section 4, which contains a dispute-resolution process, be given more scrutiny and possibly revised. A small working group is currently reviewing Section 4 and will report to the Anglican Communion's Standing Committee meeting December 15-18.

During the Oct. 23 meeting, Daniel said the bishops spoke about how seriously the Episcopal Church takes the covenant process. "We've been very attentive to what [the] Lambeth [Conference] and the primates and the archbishop have called for in this regard and I see nothing that says we're going to do anything differently about that," he said.

The bishops also discussed boundary interventions between provinces "and the pain and stress that these have caused and continue to cause in parts of our church, which sadden us greatly, especially since the Windsor Process itself called for a cessation of such interventions," said Daniel.

For Gregg, one of the most important aspects of the meeting was a conversation about "the centrality and importance of renewing and building trust among us as Episcopalians and members of the Anglican Communion."

Gregg said the bishops' promise to the archbishop "and ourselves for the good of the church and the communion is to go home and to follow up with conversations with our brothers and sisters in the House of Bishops -- not to persuade, not to convince, not to change each other into ourselves, but rather to build trusting, respectful relationships to allow us to find the common ground and engage one another with the depth and openness that builds the church."

---Matthew Davies is editor and international correspondent of Episcopal News Service