Beckwith continued, "It tells you where they are, and I'm not there. I think it's clear the Episcopal Church has departed from the Christian faith as its been received and we're making it up as we go along, and we're not going to change,"

He called TEC "a province that's embracing heresy and apostasy."

Beckwith said the resolutions don't change anything for Springfield. "We are an orthodox diocese and we're going to continue in that direction."

In similar statements to the Peoria-based Journal Star newspaper, Quincy Bishop Keith Ackerman also expressed his disappointment with the "Mind of the House" resolutions saying the resolutions are "an absolute rejection of everything that was envisioned in the communique."

Ackerman, surprised action was taken, said, "What is very, very sad, though, is that first of all they had indicated they would not make a decision at this meeting but wait until the September meeting."

The Quincy bishop, based in Peoria, also said that the resolutions say, in essence, say that "we want to be a part of the Anglican Communion, now here are the conditions by which we're willing to be in the Anglican Communion."

Ackerman said Quincy's leadership would not take any action in response to the resolutions since the statements don't have legislative power. "It would be unwise for us to do anything precipitous without taking counsel from other Anglican provinces."

Neither of the central Illinois bishops attended the meeting in Texas. Ackerman said the diocese couldn't afford the nearly $2,000 cost of sending him there and that he was busy with Lenten programs. Beckwith said his position was "well-represented" by others in attendance.

The Bishop of Dallas, James M. Stanton, in a long statement at his diocesan website, asked the question, "What are we to do?" He answered by saying that the HOB document said nothing we have not known before now. "The leadership of the Episcopal Church is set on a course that will not change. This document underscores that assessment. Many will take great joy and comfort in this prospect. Many have already drawn this conclusion and departed our church."

Stanton held out some hope for his people. He said the majority of his people have exercised great patience over the past many months and years. "I believe that the great value we place in being connected to the Anglican Communion has strengthened that patience."

Stanton said he did not know how or when the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates would respond but "we must wait until then."

Stanton reaffirmed his diocese's commitment to the Windsor process "and our participation in it and what emerges from the Primates' Communique. I remain committed to the Camp Allen principles articulated by the Windsor Bishops and commended by the Primates."

The conservative bishop said he would "continue in the Apostles' teaching. We are continuing to work to plant new congregations, to evangelize our communities, to grow our congregations, to carry on mission abroad, to minister to the young, the weak, the poor and the sick."

One of the newest bishops in the HOB, the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Steenson of the Rio Grande, drew three conclusions from the resolutions passed by the HOB.

"The House of Bishops has effectively rejected a key element in the Primates' Communique (the Pastoral Council).that had been designed as an interim measure to hold together all Anglicans in the USA until the Anglican Communion Covenant could be considered by all the member churches.

"Secondly, the House of Bishops has sent a clear message to the Primates that these interventions are unwelcome and improper. The formal response to the Primates' two specific requests of us (regarding the consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships and the liturgical blessing of same-sex unions) will almost certainly come at our September meeting, before the Sept. 30 deadline in the Communique. Rejection, in my opinion, is now a foregone conclusion.

"Thirdly the request to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates' Standing Committee is obviously an attempt to find a friendlier forum to discuss the Episcopal Church's future place in the Anglican Communion than the Primates Meeting as a whole, where there is fierce criticism of the Episcopal Church."

Steenson was sanguine about the possibility that the Episcopal Church's presence at the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops might be severely limited. He even went as far to say that there might be a practical difficulty of convening the Lambeth Conference at all, because of financial shortages. "The Windsor process so many of us placed our hopes on to hold together and even strengthen the Anglican Communion is in serious trouble. Our call, as difficult as that might be, is to hear what direction may be suggested by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates before we take counsel together," he opined.

Archbishop Rowan Williams said that the response was discouraging and needs further clarification, said according to Steenson. "Our own Standing Committee and Diocesan Council have previously planned a joint retreat for mid-May, and this may be the place where a direction will begin to emerge for consideration by the Diocesan Convention in the autumn."

Steenson, who had been named to the House of Bishops Theology Committee, then said that a divorce might be unavoidable.

Central Florida Bishop John W. Howe gave a more upbeat analysis to what happened at Camp Allen, praising Mrs. Katharine Schori's leadership and said that the HOB demonstrated a strong collegiality. He described her leadership as "stunning", "even-handed" and that the meeting was far more cordial than he had dared to hope. "We were assured that no action would be taken at this meeting regarding the two major requests that were directed to us by the Primates' Communique (no more consents to the elections of partnered gay Bishops, and no more blessings of same-sex relationships)."

"There has been much discussion of both of these requests, and a number of individual Bishops have very clearly expressed their unwillingness to agree to either of them, but there has been no official action taken by the House as a whole regarding them. The tenor of the discussion makes it clear (to me) that whenever we do address them (presumably in our September meeting), there will be an overwhelming decision to say 'No'."

A number of orthodox clergy in the Diocese of Central Florida, on reading the bishop's statement, believe that Howe did not see with real clarity what did and did not happen at the HOB meeting. "We are alarmed by his upbeat analysis," said one priest, who asked not to be named.

The bishop said that Professor Katherine Grieb, of Virginia Theological Seminary, gave a brilliant analysis of the proposed Anglican Covenant, as seen through the "grid" of the Primates' Communique, which, in his opinion, NAILED the reasons why the "progressives" cannot accede to the Primates' requests. However, Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison offered a very different analysis of Professor Grieb's view, which you can read here: http://tinyurl.com/3dgevn. Her statement can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/yqkmp6

A Statement from Louisiana Bishop Charles Jenkins said this: "Having returned to Louisiana from the meeting of the House of Bishops, I reaffirm my commitment to constituent membership in the Anglican Communion, and to working positively and cooperatively in communion with other members of the Episcopal Church and sister Churches within the global Anglican community." Jenkins promised a fuller statement at a later date.

The Bishop of Western Louisiana, D. Bruce McPherson, wrote to his diocese saying that the town-hall style meetings, put forth by Mrs. Schori at Camp Allen in response to the Tanzania communique, would take place in his diocese in the context of the "reconciliation and healing" work that will be carried out on a convocational basis in late spring.

Recognizing that there might be some in his diocese who found the HOB resolutions disturbing, McPherson said this: "We must go forward in the days ahead with the process that is before us, and this will require us to continue to be patient over the next six months. I trust this is something that we will embrace together, for and to the glory of God and the ongoing life of his Church."

The Rev. Dr. Paul Zahl, president of Trinity School for Ministry said this: "It is time for all of us to give up, and give up unconditionally."

At last month's meeting of Anglican primates in Africa, the Episcopal bishops were asked to do three things: participate in the creation of a church-within-a-church for Episcopal conservatives, promise not to consecrate any more actively homosexual bishops, and promise not to conduct any more church blessings of same-sex unions.

If they did not, the African meeting clearly suggested, the Americans would, in effect, be choosing to "walk apart" from the wider Anglican Communion. At Camp Allen this past week, the bishops said they would not accede to the demands of the Primates, and would be bound by nothing beyond itself-not Scripture, not tradition, not worldwide Anglican councils, not anything. Read a fuller story here: http://tinyurl.com/356fkj It is clear that rebelliousness against any authority, other than its own, ruled the day. The HOB was clear, and defiant. The ball is now firmly in the court of the Archbishop Canterbury and the Primates. We await their word.

END