Church of the Word
BISHOPS REQUEST EMERGENCY MEETING

ECUSA: Orthodox Bishops request emergency meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury

4/20/05

Approximately one-fifth of the Episcopal Church’s diocesan bishops have requested an emergency meeting for late May in London with Archbishop Rowan Williams. In a second letter written to Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, the bishops ask for creation of a bi-partisan commission to see if it is possible to address “the question of our ability to walk together with one another and in a wider Communion.”

“We believe a realistic appraisal of the life of our Church is critical,” the Bishops wrote to Archbishop Williams on April 6. “At the recent meeting of our House of Bishops, several of us spoke with Bishop Griswold concerning what we believe to be ‘irreconcilable differences’ in the life of our Church. His response was to note the language of ‘irreconcilable differences’ is ‘faithless.’ We believe, however, it is precisely contradictory, mutually exclusive positions regarding essential matters of faith and practice dividing our Church and threatening the unity and mission of the Anglican Communion.” Citing examples from the dioceses of Kansas, Lexington, Los Angeles and Pennsylvania, the bishops described to Archbishop Williams an Episcopal Church in “continued decline” with average Sunday attendance expected to drop “below 800,000 in 2004.”

The bishops were not confident the Episcopal Church could address the causes of the decline on its own. “Those within ECUSA who continue to act in opposition to the normative teachings of the Anglican Communion” on homosexuality “make healing and reconciliation within ECUSA and the communion all the more difficult.”

Eighteen diocesan bishops, including all six from Texas, endorsed the letter. The signatories include:

• The Rt. Rev. James Adams of Western Kansas
• The Rt. Rev. David Bane of Southern Virginia
• The Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith of Springfield
• The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh
• The Rt. Rev James Folts of West Texas
• The Rt. Rev. Bertram N. Herlong of Tennessee
• The Rt. Rev. Daniel Herzog of Albany
• The Rt. Rev. John W. Howe of Central Florida
• The Rt. Rev Jack L. Iker of Fort Worth
• The Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little of Northern Indiana
• The Rt. Rev. John B. Lipscomb of Southwest Florida
• The Rt. Rev. Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana
• The Rt. Rev. C. Wallis Ohl of Northwest Texas
• The Rt. Rev. Edward Salmon of South Carolina
• The Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton of Dallas
• The Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield of San Joaquin
• The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Steenson of the Rio Grande
• The Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly of Texas

Writing to Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold on the same day, the bishops asked “for an immediate and compassionate conversation to provide for the welfare of all the members of the Episcopal Church. We ask you to establish a commission composed of those among us who dissent from and those who support the request of the Windsor Report and the primates’ communiqué?.” Joining the 18 diocesans in this letter were 3 suffragans: the Rt. Rev. David Bena of Albany, the Rt. Rev. Henry Scriven of Pittsburgh and the Rt. Rev. William Skilton of South Carolina.

The exchange of letters between the bishops, Lambeth Palace and the Episcopal Church Center began shortly after the March House of Bishops Meeting at Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas [TLC, April 3].

“Along with my colleagues who were signatories, I consider the letters personal and, therefore, as ethics and courtesy dictate, I have no further comment other than to say that I believe the communiqués speak for themselves,” one bishop said when contacted about the letter. That response was essentially identical to the ones received from the other four bishops who responded.

A spokesman for Lambeth Palace said on April 20 the Archbishop of Canterbury would neither confirm nor deny that a meeting had been scheduled.

END

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