EPISCOPAL CHURCH HOUSE OF BISHOPS REJECTS PRIMATES' ULTIMATUM

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
3/21/2007

The Episcopal Church House of Bishops has finally fallen on its sword. It has declared its independence from the Anglican Communion. By rejecting the Primates ultimatum set out in the communique in Tanzania that it must be in full accord with the Windsor Report, it has chosen to walk apart.

Earlier in the week we were told by the national church's news service that the TEC would "talk but not act". We were clearly mislead. A news blackout was lifted yesterday when the House of Bishops issued three mind of the house resolutions affirming that The Episcopal Church desired to remain a part of the councils of the Anglican Communion; that the TEC's actions are determined solely by the General Convention of The Episcopal Church and its canons and constitutions, and finally rejecting the Pastoral Scheme of the Dar es Salaam Communique (Feb.19, 2007) declaring it "injurious to The Episcopal Church."

The House of Bishops also declined to enter into any pastoral initiative designed by the primates to care for congregations and dioceses who, for reasons of conscience, cannot accept the episcopal ministry of their bishop or primate. QED.

The HOB slapped the faces of orthodox priests saying "the number of those who seek to divide our Church is small," and then concluded with an upbeat report saying "our Church is marked by encouraging signs of life and hope."

On hearing the news The Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin, and whose diocese might well be the first to leave The Episcopal Church, told VOL that he was not surprised at all by what the HOB did, but only the speed with which it happened. "I thought the HOB would meet prior to Sept. 30, but they dismissed the Primates call out of hand. Now they have the gall to ask for the Archbishop of Canterbury to spend three days in prayer with them! Who are they kidding!"

"I think what the HOB did is arrogant, incredible, and they claim that they desire to be a part of the Anglican Communion, but what they are basically saying is we want do it in our way and in our time."

This is going to have a profound affect on orthodox Episcopalians throughout the US, said Schofield, "People are going to scramble to do their best with this news, but we are already seeing a falloff. Orthodox folk are leaving orthodox priests and even an orthodox diocese like mine because of the apostasy of the church. People are pulling in their horns and they don't want to be counted. It is having an effect on faithful Episcopalians and they are saying they want no more even with an orthodox bishop...it is having an effect on small parishes and hamlets...we experiencing a loss of people."

Schofield said that when the HOB makes this statement that it only affects a small minority of people, they just don't get it. The parishes might be few in number but the human losses are huge.

Asked about what he thinks his diocese will do between now and the next Diocesan Convention in October when the diocese could vote to leave the TEC, the Anglo-Catholic bishop said anything could happen. "I am not going to predict what will happen. I am still stunned and amazed that the HOB acted so quickly. I did not attend the meeting, so I cannot comment on any of the inner workings or discussions. However, it is now clear to all of us that the HOB has no intention of adopting the moratoria requested by the Primates. Many of us knew that much before they met at Camp Allen!

The Rt. Rev. Jack Iker, Bishop of the Diocese of Ft. Worth told VOL that he was disappointed at these recent HOB statements. "It is my hope that the Archbishop of Canterbury proceeds with the appointment of the Primatial Council, as planned, and that Katharine goes ahead and appoints her two members to the Council, as she agreed she would in Dar es Salaam. The Windsor Bishops will soon nominate a Primatial Vicar and the Pastoral Scheme will begin to function. If the HOB is interested in reconciliation and mission, they will not try to block it, but to cooperate with it."

The Anglo-Catholic bishop concluded his statement and said this: "The statement adopted at Camp Allen seems to say that TEC is going to have an Anglican Communion on its own terms, whether the rest of the world likes it or not."

The Rt. Rev. William Wantland, former Bishop of Eau Claire had this to say: "First, I am deeply disturbed by the action of a number of heterophobic bigots, who encourage homosexuals to engage in a practice which is cruel and deadly. 91% of all male homosexuals engage in anal sodomy. Regular practice of anal sodomy will shorten human life an average of 26 years, even without factoring in AIDS. These people, purporting to act in the name of the Church, are as evil as those who would give whiskey to alcoholics. What 815 2nd Ave. (the national church's headquarters in New York City) is urging is death on a grand scale, and calling it care and support of their victims, without any regard for what they are doing. Don't ever say that TEC cares for or loves its homosexual members.

"Second, the action is also based on a blindness to history. How dare they say that TEC is totally autonomous, and that TEC is not answerable in either liturgy or canon to others in the Anglican Communion. Do they not know how PECUSA came into existence? When an American Book of Common Prayer was first proposed in 1785, it was submitted to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for approval. The Archbishops found it unacceptable, and the Americans were told to make a number of changes. Likewise, in proposed Constitution and Canons, the process for electing Bishops was unacceptable. So, in 1789, when General Convention met, it approved a BCP acceptable to the Archbishops, and a canonical process of electing Bishops that conformed to the demands of the Archbishops. There was absolutely NO claim of autonomy and the right to do as Americans pleased. But now, TEC has become an imperial force, answerable to no one.

"TEC is no longer a Catholic body. It is no longer even a Christian one. It is simply an embodiment of a corrupt, historically inaccurate, spirit of this age. And if the Anglican Communion does not see TEC for what it really is, even that Communion will be on its way to be a miserable footnote in Christian history."

The bishops did not address the key issues on which the primates have requested a response-namely, whether TEC will abide by the Communion's standard of teaching on human sexuality (as expressed in Lambeth Resolution 1.10) by giving its assurance that it will not permit rites for same-sex blessings or consent to bishops living in same-sex unions.

Canon David C. Anderson, American Anglican Council president and CEO had this to say: "Without even addressing the deeper issues of belief and practice, the House of Bishops has answered the primates with a resounding 'no' to the question of whether or not the church is willing to abide by the mind of the Anglican Communion. If they cannot accommodate on the structural points of the primates' requests - which left TEC with considerable power - I do not see how they will ever turn back on the theological points. The church's desire for complete power and autonomy goes hand in hand with its rebellion against Scriptural authority."

The Rev. Greg Brewer, rector of the Church of the Good Samaritan, the evangelical/charismatic priest of one of the largest parishes in the Northeast U.S., wrote to his parish saying the ball is now in the court of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other Primates as to how they will respond to the Episcopal Church's clear stance of non compliance.

"The response of the Episcopal Church indicates that, barring a dramatic miracle, the Episcopal Church's participation in the Anglican Communion will be severely diminished- at best; and the impaired state of communion between bodies within the global Anglican Communion will become the norm. In other words, the break within Anglicanism will now move to some sort of official status. The question remains as to what will happen to the various parishes and dioceses within the Episcopal Church who want to remain in full communion with the rest of Anglicanism by complying with all of the requests found in the communique."

"I want you to know that I consider the response of the House of Bishops to the communique to be unbiblical, arrogant and unduly nationalistic. The very nature of being an international Communion requires that particular conflicts that are internal to a portion of the Communion be resolved within the context of the entire Communion- a Communion that still considers submission to Holy Scripture to be foundational to its identity. It is disingenuous for one part of the Communion to try to try to claim full membership in the Communion, and –at the same time- rebel against the clear teaching of that Communion! Besides, a global Communion must be internally cohesive if it is going to have any internal integrity or any common witness in the eyes of the rest of the world."

Brewer, whose parish still remains in the Diocese of Pennsylvania under its revisionist Bishop Charles E. Bennison, said that while some conservatives and liberals may rejoice that the break within Anglicanism seems to be moving full speed ahead, he was not one of them.

"I consider this state of affairs to be deeply tragic. In some ways this feels similar to the choice that was before many American families in the heat of the Civil War. Opposition to slavery and a commitment to national unity on the one hand, and the support of slavery and the right of the confederacy to determine its own governance on the other, split families and friends. The price the United States paid was very high indeed, and the wounds from that war still scar the psychological landscape of our country. As the Communion splits, no one within the Communion will come out of this conflict unscathed."

END

As more comments from Bishops and Archbishops become available, VOL will add them to new stories.