Posted on 03/09/2005 6:12:04 PM PST by sionnsar
The Primates Communiqué has been released. It asks the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church in Canada to voluntarily withdraw its members from the Anglican Consultative Council for the period leading up to the next Lambeth Conference in 2008. These two churches are given time to consider their place within the Anglican Communion and to respond through their relevant constitutional bodies to the questions specifically addressed to them in the Windsor Report. For ECUSA, this will mean some response is expected from its next General Convention, which meets in Columbus, OH in 2006. During this time, and in order to give the offending churches space to consider their response, the Primates committed themselves neither to encourage nor to initiate cross-boundary interventions. Meanwhile, the communiqué encourages the Anglican Consultative Council to organize a hearing at its June 2005 meeting in Nottingham, England, at which representatives of ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada may have an opportunity to set out the thinking behind the recent actions of their Provinces, in accordance with paragraph 141 of the Windsor Report.
Initial reactions to the Primates Communiqué from various bishops in the two churches as reported by the Episcopal News Service can be found here. They range from Presiding Bishop Griswold’s and Bishop Chane’s emphases on being given time and space to allow for various perspectives to Bishop Duncan’s highlighting of the breathtaking clarity with which the Primates have spoken. More reactions can be found here at the Lent and Beyond web site.
Who can say what all this means? Is repentance demanded? (Yes.) Must it come in the form of moratoriums on blessing of same-sex relationships and consecrations of practicing homosexuals as bishops? (Yes.) What will the two North American provinces do? (Nothing, other than stall, pontificate and charge ahead based on the direction reinforced in August 2003.) If they choose not to repent, what will the diocese of Alabama do? (Go with the flow.) Is our diocese's refusal to use the word “repentance” in its two resolutions at the 174th diocesan convention regarding the Windsor Report any indication of how it will respond? (Absolutely.) Assuming no repentance is shown, will each individual, parish, and diocese have to make a choice between staying with the Anglican Communion or staying with ECUSA? (No doubt about it.)
Now is the time to prepare for the future of Anglicanism in North America, whatever that looks like. There is hope for orthodox Anglicanism in this country! Where will this hope come from, and how can you prepare for it?
First, read these five recommendations from Bishop Robert Duncan, bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and the moderator of the Anglican Communion Network. Some background on the Common Cause partnership he refers to is here.
Second, contact us at Stand Firm Alabama to see how these recommendations can be applied to your specific situation.
Third, get informed. Please consider attending one or more of the following events in the next few weeks:
Rev. Canon Mary M. Hays, Cathedral Church of the Advent, Birmingham, AL, March 6-9
Very Rev. Dr. Paul Zahl, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Jackson, MS, March 12
Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon and others, St. John's Episcopal Church, Tallahassee, FL, March 11-12
From Surviving to Thriving: Anglicans in the 21st Century, Hylton Chapel, Woodbridge, VA, April 1-2
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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