Posted on 03/01/2006 5:02:03 PM PST by sionnsar
There has been a good deal of panic/anxiety lately over recently posted talks/reflections by bishop Stanton of Dallas and bishop Duncan of Pittsburg.
I think it has been overblown.
Both bishops said what they have said from the very beginning. The orthodox are not leaving. They are standing. If you read back over Network speeches and sermons you will see the same theme repeated time and time again. The decisions of GC2003 represent a departure from Christian faith and practice. From the very beginning AAC and Network leaders have said that they will stand within the clear stream of the scriptures and Christian tradition stretching back to the Apostles and Christ himself and not follow ECUSA into the brackish waters of heresy.
At the Hope and a Future Conference, ++Akinola challenged the Network bishops to make a decision. Are you ECUSA or are you Network? In context, his words pointed not to an immediate decision (as some have suggested) but toward decisions to be made after GC2006 when (barring divine intervention) ECUSA decides to reject the Windsor Report as it has been amended and approved by the primates.
Since that time the Network has made some bold and brilliant moves in keeping with ++Akinola’s challenge. As I argued here, I think that these moves, especially the creation of the 7th Convocation, set the stage for a de facto parallel province to be fully realized and established sometime after the fateful decisions in June.
+Stanton’s and +Duncan’s words have been interpreted as some sort of backtrack primarily because they’ve been read and considered apart from the concrete context of Network action.
Just one question (phrased in a number of ways) for you to ponder:
What would happen (and I’m speaking in both legal and ecclesial terms) if the entire Network defected in place?
What would happen if ACN parishes, diocese, ceased all cooperation/communication/communion with parishes and diocese connected to 815 while simultaneously claiming to remain within (or to be) the Episcopal Church?
In other words, what would happen if the Network behaved in every way as a separate, independent province, yet all the while not actually “declaring” independence?
What if we all essentially up and joined the 7th Convocation?
What would happen if the Network were, actually, to stand rather than leave?
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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