Anglican Cleric comes to the rescue of US network

The Church of England Newspaper

A dramatic, late-night intervention by Michael Green saved the proposed alliance of traditionalist Anglicans in America from collapse.

Canon Green, who was Archbishop George Carey's Evangelism Advisor, rallied 14 bishops and over 100 lay and clerical delegates and observers behind a charter that will keep the group within Anglicanism.

The result meant the formal establishment of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDP) at its organising convocation in Texas on Jan 19-20.

The NACDP "will operate within the constitution of the Episcopal Church and in full fellowship with the vast majority of the Anglican Communion," stated its Moderator, the Rt Rev Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh.

"There is now no reason for orthodox Episcopalians to leave Anglicanism," he told the media at the close of the gathering held at Christ Church, Plano, Texas.

The NACDP is not "a church within a church" stated the Rt Rev Peter Beckwith of Springfield, and is "in, but not of" the Episcopal Church of the United States noted South Carolina delegate, the Rev Canon Kendall Harmon.

The 10-point charter adopted by the NACDP commits its members to the "propagation of the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ" and to the aid of traditionalists seeking alternate or "Adequate Episcopal Oversight" who are opposed to the innovations of doctrine and discipline represented by the consecration as Bishop of New Hampshire of a divorced man living in a homosexual relationship.

The convocation offered an olive branch to participants from Forward in Faith, adopting a statement of latitude on the question of the ordination of women that pledges to "honour the positions and practices on this issue of others in the Network."

"The most significant" aspect, however, of the convocation noted Dr Harmon "was that we passed [the charter] unanimously."

The genesis of the NACDP arose from a meeting between the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and four American bishops on Oct 17 at Lambeth Palace. The Rev Jonathan Jennings, Lambeth Palace Press Officer, told The Church of England Newspaper, "Dr Williams encouraged [the bishops] to pursue any questions of oversight firmly within the context of their relationship with ECUSA, along the lines envisaged by the Primates' meeting."

Thirteen American diocesan bishops responded to the Primates' challenge and released a theological statement in December justifying their dissatisfaction with the course taken by Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and the American General Convention. The convocation that followed, however, opened under a cloud of uncertainty and fear following a series of attacks that labeled the proposed Network "schismatic" and "fundamentalist".

Though the public face of the meeting was polite and calm, disagreement arose over how and when to act. Several bishops were unwilling to back calls for alternative Episcopal oversight unless and until they had the full backing of their dioceses.

Others raised concerns over the canonical implications of crossing diocesan boundaries to provide alternative Episcopal oversight.

The convocation had reached its nadir over canonical wrangling when Bishop Duncan invited Canon Green to address the stalled gathering. Canon Green reminded the convocation why they were there and what they had been called to do. The eyes of the Anglican Communion were on the convocation, Canon Green said, pleading for "boldness" and "courage", asking if now was not the time to act, when would it be, and if they were not the ones to act, who would be?

"You can talk until the cows come home, but there has got to be some action," Canon Green told The Church of England Newspaper the next day.

"It was as if a dam burst," Canon Harmon told us. Various participants later described Canon Green's words as "electric", "Churchillian", and as an "outpouring of the Holy Spirit" upon the group.

Canon Green also urged the NACDP to put aside differences with the Anglican Mission in America making a "heartfelt plea for reconciliation," one participant noted. The AMiA, Canon Green later told us, "is fully Anglican".

As the Network reconvened on the second day, the delegates united behind Canon Green's call for action confidently resolving differences over alternative Episcopal oversight and the ordination of women and unanimously endorsed the final document.

A copy of the charter and minutes from the meeting, a spokesman for the NACDP said, were being sent to Dr Williams and Bishop Griswold.