Posted on 02/26/2005 4:44:00 PM PST by sionnsar
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates indicated that a sufficient statement of regret/repentance had yet to be received from ECUSA, and that such needed to be forthcoming;
1. In terms of one Instrument of Unity (The Lambeth Conference) ECUSA’s status is currently ambiguous. It must consider its place within the Anglican Communion and, before it meets in 2008, signal that it is committed to the interdependent life of the Communion set out in the opening sections of the Windsor Report.
2. In terms of a second Instrument of Unity (The Anglican Consultative Council), which is the next Instrument to meet, ECUSA is asked to withdraw its members and not to participate for the period leading up to the Lambeth Conference, although the ACC are asked to invite it to send a group to explain its theological position on sexuality;
3. In terms of the third Instrument of Unity (The Primates’ Meeting), no announcement of a next meeting was made, and one can conclude that the kind of response ECUSA makes over the next period will be determinative in respect of its ongoing involvement;
4. It was clear from most reports that the Instrument of Unity which actually gathered outside of Newry, Ireland, this past week, the Primates Meeting, is already under severe strain, and that its normal patterns of functioning have been altered. This is partly due to the actions of provinces in North America (e.g., strained eucharistic fellowship) but also because it has acted in line with past Lambeth Resolutions and recommendations in the Windsor Report to take enhanced authority within the Communion and in relation to the other Instruments.
5. Given the seriousness with which the North American churches were treated at Newry, it was agreed that further extra-territorial incursions should not be encouraged or initiated by provinces or dioceses outside ECUSA or Canada;
6. However, a ‘panel of reference’ is to be formed as a matter of urgency, and Alternative Episcopal Oversight arrangements are to be considered for difficult circumstances in the ‘withdrawal’ region of North America. It is clear that in these two provinces it cannot now be ‘business as usual’ and we urge those Bishops in the ECUSA able to comply with The Windsor Report to avail themselves of this important development.
We further note that ECUSA was not ‘suspended’ (in a quasi-legal sense). Rather, consistent with arguments made by the ACI, ECUSA has by its own actions jeopardized its status as an invited member to Communion affairs, undertaken by the Instruments of Unity. It remains fully possible that the Archbishop of Canterbury would decide to withdraw invitation entirely, should the steps asked of ECUSA not be taken.
The Anglican Communion Institute
26 February 2005
ON READING THE PRIMATES’ COMMUNIQUE
“The important final paragraph of TWR (para 157) reads “There remains a very real danger that we will not choose to walk together. Should the call to halt and find ways of continuing in our present communion not be heeded, then we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart. We would much rather not speculate on actions that might need to be taken if, after acceptance by the primates, our recommendations are not implemented. However, we note that there are, in any human dispute, courses that may be followed: processes of mediation and arbitration; non-invitation to relevant representative bodies and meetings; invitation, but to observer status only; and, as an absolute last resort, withdrawal from membership. We earnestly hope that none of these will prove necessary. Our aim throughout has been to work not for division but for healing and restoration”
It is now clear that the recommendations have been accepted by the primates and in some cases strengthened. It is also clear that the primates have seen no sign that ECUSA and the Anglican Church in Canada are ready to halt and walk together. That refusal appears this week to have taken the Communion to the very edge of the precipice. In drawing back from it, the Primates have, in relation to the ACC – the next council of the Communion – got as close as they can to carry out some of the measures that TWR says would have to follow non-implementation: ‘non-invitation to relevant representative bodies and meetings’ and ‘invitation, but to observer status only’. Indeed, regarding that instrument of unity, the two provinces have effectively been asked to effect a temporary and voluntary ‘withdrawal from membership’ (para 14).
In an interesting omission there is no reference in the communiqué to attendance at future Primates’ Meetings. This is at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury (TWR, para 110). It appears inconceivable without compliance with TWR that either the Primate of Canada or ECUSA’s Presiding Bishop could be invited if the Archbishop of Canterbury wishes to ‘safeguard, and take counsel for, the well-being of the Anglican Communion”. Rather, without compliance with TWR, invitation would have to be on “restricted terms at his sole discretion” because we are clearly now – given the wording of this communiqué and its request in relation to the ACC – in circumstances “where full voting membership of the Conference is perceived to be an undesirable status, or would militate against the greater unity of the Communion”.
In short, the Primates have asked these two provinces to step aside from the next significant meeting in Communion life and to consider whether they really do wish to ‘walk together’. They have made clear that to “walk together” those provinces need to walk the path of reconciliation laid down in TWR and to embrace the Report’s vision of life in communion.
The ball is now firmly in the court of the constitutional authorities of ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada. We wait to see if they wish to play according to the now clearly defined rules of the game or whether they wish to leave and to play another game elsewhere.“
Read it all.
Irish Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) members comment on recent devlopments in the Anglican Communion
As the two elected members of the Anglican Consultative Council for the Church of Ireland, we wish to raise concerns about the request made by the Primates’ meeting to the Episcopal Church (USA) and Anglican Church of Canada to withdraw their members from the ACC until the next Lambeth Conference (2008).
The ACC is truly the most representative of the Anglican Instruments of Unity – the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates and the Lambeth bishops are all in episcopal orders. For the ACC, a genuinely synodical international gathering, to have its membership and atmosphere adjusted essentially at the behest of the Primates’ meeting would severely damage the balance of dispersed authority within Anglicanism. There is a real danger that the crisis of to-day will give way to the centralised curialisation of to-morrow.
As indicated in their press release the Primates themselves clearly found that discussing issues such as tsunami relief and the AIDS crisis renewed the fellowship of those otherwise inclined to disagree. If the Anglican Church of Canada and Episcopal Church (USA) representatives on the ACC are only admitted to the Nottingham meeting in June to express their views on one issue, their churches will be precluded from participating in other important discussions which could both enhance fellowship and create perspective. What better way both to cement division and to compromise the independence of the ACC?
We are more than aware of the gravity of the present situation and the sensitive language in which the Primates have couched their suggestion. While it seems to us that it is the ACC itself (or at least its Standing Committee), rather than the Primates, which should – if appropriate – seek the withdrawal of particular members, we do not see the value in this decision at whatever level it is made. The Primates meeting also requested that the Anglican church of Canada and Episcopal Church (USA) “respond ….. to the questions specifically addressed to them …. as they consider their place within the Anglican Communion” – do we expect them to do this while not in conversation and fellowship with the rest of the Anglican Communion, in particular through the meeting of its most synodical body the ACC? Moreover, at the last ACC meeting (Hong Kong, 2002), the Canadian Church more than fully explained the canonical background to events in New Westminster.
We know that within the Church of Ireland which we represent at the ACC there are - as in Anglicanism generally - many shades of opinion concerning sexuality and same-sex relationships. Our concerns here, however, are essentially ecclesiological. The Windsor Report, for all its wisdom, is in danger of becoming a Trojan horse. For the moment, the supremely important thing is that members of the dysfunctional Anglican family somehow keep talking and listening and in so doing learn to make more charitable judgements concerning one another’s motives if not deeds.
Given that the Primates’ meeting took place in Ireland we feel it is especially important that our personal, courteous misgivings concerning some of its conclusions are heard, not least by our diverse global ACC colleagues.
Michael BURROWS Kate TURNER
Apologies only for Consequences Won’t Suffice for Some Primates
Anglican Essentials Canada Speaks in Response to the Primates Meeting
Mark Lawson: Sadly, Rowan Williams is the Harold Wilson of Anglicanism
Church Times Editorial: “Fall-out from the Primates’ Meeting”
(Quote: " It is debatable whether one Anglican in 100 has even heard of the ACC..." Quote: "From another perspective, however, consulting and advising is the level at which Anglicanism works. There are no rules to enforce, no powers to wield: consultation is all there is, and to be excluded from the foremost representative council in the Communion is a serious hindrance, especially in the three years leading up to a Lambeth Conference."
Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane’s Statement on the Primates meeting
(Liberal South African if I remember correctly. Quote: "Therefore, I believe there is an urgent and pressing need to convene a large and comprehensive ‘Anglican Gathering’ before the next meeting of the Lambeth Conference in 2008. We need to bring people together, to share their stories, and collectively explore what it means to be Anglicans today - with the rich tapestry of our varied experiences and our many differences, yet woven together in a common understanding of faith.")
“Conservative Anglicans Elated and Cautious”
(As Kendall Harmon says: "Elated and cautious...?")
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. I am convinced that only by excluding the AINO's (Anglican's in name only) can the church grow. A clear message of faith and adherence to judeo-christian values and law attracts many more than it repels.
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