HOUSE OF BISHOPS APPROVES INADEQUATE OVERSIGHT PLAN

By Cynthia P. Brust, Director of Communication,

American Anglican Council

(March 24, 2004)

The House of Bishops has proven once again their dysfunction and inability to acknowledge, much less address, the crisis of the Episcopal Church. From a format of “process”, small group discussion and multiple revisions, they have produced a plan for episcopal oversight that is undeniably and woefully inadequate.

“Adequate” oversight must be determined by those who are seeking it. The House of Bishops considered the effect of their plan upon the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Presiding Bishop, individual bishops and their House as a whole; but the voices of the people in desperate need of AEO were not heard. The plan is designed to be viable only where it is unnecessary—that is, in the few dioceses where bishops agree to AEO. It gives no relief to orthodox beleaguered Episcopalians. It gives no recourse to those whose very constitutional rights of freedom to associate are threatened. It gives no hope for those who feel abandoned by their church.

This meeting was couched in terms of “reconciliation,” but it is impossible to achieve reconciliation without repentance. The call of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates has been flagrantly ignored; the deep division in ECUSA has been ignored; the outcry from the Anglican Communion has been ignored; the condemnation of the larger Christian Church has been ignored.

We cannot embrace unity at the cost of faithfulness. We cannot ignore the exhortation of the Primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion:

“to make adequate provision for episcopal oversight of dissenting minorities within their own area of pastoral care in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury on behalf of the Primates.”

We will proceed as we must, seeking to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Scripture and the apostolic faith and practice which lies at the heart of Anglicanism. We stand in solidarity with those in beleaguered dioceses, and we pledge our support of senior bishops who courageously and compassionately seek to minister to those in need of adequate episcopal oversight.

(Detailed analysis sections on definitional, chronological, and functional flaws omitted for brevity but retained in spirit above.)