Says the TEC.
But they don't get to set the law.
Do the African Bishops who are taking over agree?
Does Canterbury agree that the hierarchy ends with the TEC?
There is some legalism going on here that is too neat and too pat. Just because a legal document says so, doesn't mean it IS so. It is only so if a judge says that's what the document means.
Does CANTERBURY think that it is superior in hierarchy?
Do the Churches going to African dioceses think so?
TEC has to be straight up challenged on its assertion that it is the top. It can wave around a paper that says so, but if Canterbury says "No so fast!", or if a substantial number of the constituent members say "That is NOT what this means. TEC is twisting the meaning of the document", the issue has to be litigated.
The issue should not be conceded, because it is the whole game.
PANEL OF REFERENCE: Too little too lateTEC sets the law in the USA if the courts agree (which they haven't necessarily done).COMMENTARY
By Peter Toon
October 14, 2006We are being constantly being told that the Anglican Family ("Communion of Churches") is gradually developing a Conciliar Polity, where autonomy with interdependency (not autonomy with independence) will characterize each Province ("Church"), and where Provinces will be held together by an Anglican Covenant, that all sign, even as the "Instruments of Unity" (e.g., Archbishop of Canterbury and Primates Meeting) seek to keep relations within and between Provinces sweet and smooth.
This Conciliar Polity can only work, and will only succeed, if there is present throughout the whole Communion of Churches the presence and the exercise of the grace of patience. ...
The African bishops have no authority in the U.S. outside of the churches that have left TEC for the ABs' authority.
Canterbury does agree that the hierarchy ends with TEC. Rowan made a statement to that effect recently. He is not an Anglican pope, "merely" the foremost among the Anglican Primates and accorded this respect for being the leader of Mother Church (CofE).
I suggest also Wikipedia:
The Anglican Communion is a world-wide affiliation of Anglican Churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority, since each national or regional church has full autonomy. As the name suggests, the Anglican Communion is an association of these churches in full communion with the Church of England (which may be regarded as the "mother church" of the worldwide communion), and specifically with its primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury. With over seventy seven million members, the Anglican Communion is the fourth largest communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Pentecostal Churches.
The status of full communion means that all rites conducted in one church are recognised by the other. Some of these churches are known as Anglican, explicitly recognising the link to England (Ecclesia Anglicana means "Church of England"); others, such as the American and Scottish Episcopal churches, or the Church of Ireland, prefer a separate name. Each church has its own doctrine and liturgy, based in most cases on that of the Church of England; and each church has its own legislative process and overall episcopal polity, under the leadership of a local primate.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, religious head of the Church of England, has no formal authority outside that jurisdiction, but is recognised as symbolic head of the worldwide communion. Among the other primates, he is primus inter pares, or "first among equals." He has no jurisdiction outside his own province. Nonetheless, churches are not considered to be in the Anglican Communion unless they are in full communion with him. ...