OHIO: STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDING BISHOP'S COUNCIL OF ADVICE

A statement from the Presiding Bishop's Council of Advice March 16, 2004

We, the elected members of the Presiding Bishop's Council of Advice, on the eve of the spring meeting of our House of Bishops, are moved to express our strong disapproval of the action taken by five retired bishops of our church who have violated our Constitution and Canons by performing episcopal and sacramental actions in the Diocese of Ohio without first securing the permission of the Bishop of Ohio.

We affirm our Presiding Bishop's statement of March 15 in which he says "the claim that their [the five bishops] action was pastoral and in accordance with a mandate from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Anglican Communion is contradicted by the statement of the Primates last October which states quite clearly that they, 'reaffirm the teaching of successive Lambeth Conferences that bishops must respect the autonomy and territorial integrity of dioceses and provinces other than their own...'"

We also note that this action - being in violation of our Constitution and Canons - is contrary to the Archbishop of Canterbury's understanding of how we are to move forward. As he said in a recent letter to our Presiding Bishop regarding the forthcoming meeting of the House of Bishops: "My hope and prayer is that this meeting will offer generous and constructive ways forward within the constitutional and canonical structures of ECUSA that will guarantee Episcopal care for all and avoid further fragmentation, and the consequent distraction from our main task of proclaiming Christ."

As members of the Council of Advice we represent different points of view and are not all of one mind regarding the rightness of certain actions taken at last summer's General Convention. We are, however, completely one in our commitment to working together as fellow bishops in our common mission, which is to proclaim the reconciling love of God made known in Christ to a broken and divided world.

Through our life in Christ we are bound together in a common ministry of oversight and "care for all the churches." We believe that these bonds, grounded in common prayer, are far stronger and more enduring than the forces at work which seek to sow the seeds of division. It is our earnest hope and prayer we will be guided and upheld by God's grace in the days ahead as we move forward together in the service of the gospel.

The Rt. Rev. Chilton R. Knudsen Province I, Diocese of Maine

The Rt. Rev. Jack M. McKelvey Province II, Diocese of Rochester

The Rt. Rev. Robert W. Ihloff Province III, Diocese of Maryland

The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Jenkins, III Province IV, Diocese of Louisiana

The Rt. Rev. Wendell N. Gibbs Jr. Province V, Diocese of Michigan

The Rt. Rev. James L. Jelinek Province VI, Diocese of Minnesota

The Rt. Rev. Bruce D. MacPherson Province VII, Diocese of Western Louisiana

The Rt. Rev. Harry B. Bainbridge Province VIII, Diocese of Idaho

The Rt. Rev. Lloyd Allen Province IX, Diocese of Honduras

The Rt. Rev. Richard S.O. Chang Vice President, House of Bishops Province VIII, Diocese of Hawaii