Church of the Word
BISHOPS' SUMMIT TO DISCUSS APO

Bishop Iker: Bishops' Summit May Provide Clarity
08/18/2006

The request for alternate primatial oversight (APO) is likely to be a significant topic of discussion during a meeting that the Archbishop of Canterbury has asked Virginia Bishop Peter Lee and Southwest Florida Bishop John Lipscomb to convene next month in New York City, according to Fort Worth Bishop Jack L. Iker who said he was in regular contact with Lambeth Palace prior to the Aug. 18 statement announcing the meeting.

Both Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori have been invited. The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, will be the facilitator, according to a report by Episcopal News Service, which quoted Canon James M. Rosenthal, director of communications for the Anglican Communion Office.

“The Anglican Communion Office has been responsible for many of the meetings and committees that have been given the portfolio for concerns of church unity in the midst of our diversity,” Canon Rosenthal said. “This meeting could well be an important step in that continuing work.”

On June 19, the day after the election of Bishop Jefferts Schori as the 26th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Bishop Iker and the standing committee in Fort Worth simultaneously informed the 75th General Convention that the diocese had appealed “in good faith” to the Archbishop of Canterbury for alternate primatial oversight. Over the next several weeks, the bishop and standing committees in six other dioceses made similar requests. These were consolidated into a single 14-page request and sent in a confidential communiqué to the Most Rev. Rowan Williams on July 20.

“Obviously I have my reservations about how productive a meeting like this can be,” Bishop Iker told The Living Church. “I think it is significant that I have heard nothing from either the Presiding Bishop or Katharine Jefferts Schori since General Convention. To me this indicates that he [Archbishop Williams] is trying to respond to a pastoral situation and they are trying as hard as they can to ignore it.”

Bishop Iker said he was first contacted by Lambeth Palace more than two weeks ago and asked if he would be willing to participate in a meeting designed to “facilitate a solution” to the current controversy and division within The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. In addition to bishops Iker, Lee and Lipscomb, invitations to the mid-September meeting in New York have been extended to Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, Dallas Bishop James Stanton, the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr., acting Bishop of South Carolina, and the Rt. Rev. Don E. Wimberly, Bishop of Texas.

Bishop Wimberly previously called for a consultation in Texas of all bishops who are willing to stand firmly with the recommendations of the Windsor Report. The consultation is scheduled to begin after the meeting in New York City.

“Four of the seven bishops who asked for APO will be there,” Bishop Iker said. “I believe everyone should see the consolidated APO request before the meeting and I would hope we could come away with a clear statement of what APO should look like as well as an assurance that it will be provided.”

Bishop Lee did not return a message left for him prior to publication. In an article published Aug. 18 on the website of the Diocese of Southwest Florida, Bishop Lipscomb said it was too early to discuss possible outcomes.

“It is my hope that this meeting will be a step in furthering the cause of reconciliation in the life of our Church,” Bishop Lipscomb said. “I would ask for the continued prayers on behalf of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion and please pray for those who are coming together for this meeting.”

Steve Waring

Statement from Bishop Iker to the Clergy of the Diocese of Fort Worth

At the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Robert Duncan and I have agreed to participate in a two day consultation next month that will address the controversies and divisions in the Episcopal Church that are impacting the entire Anglican Communion. The meeting will be co-chaired by Bishop Peter Lee of Virginia and Bishop John Lipscomb of Southwest Florida. The Presiding Bishop and the Presiding Bishop-elect will also participate. Archbishop Rowan Williams will be represented by Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.

In accordance with the Archbishop’s instructions, we are each to bring along another Bishop to share in these deliberations, and we have asked Bishop Ed Salmon of South Carolina and Bishop James Stanton of Dallas to join us. All four of us are member Bishops in the Anglican Communion Network and our dioceses have requested alternative primatial oversight from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

We are grateful to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his efforts to broker a cease fire in our current conflicts and to assist us in finding a way to work through the impasse we have reached. If things go well at this initial meeting, additional dates have been set aside to continue our deliberations in the future. Your prayers are asked for the participants as we seek a way forward for a church in crisis.

The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker
Bishop of Fort Worth

Aug. 18, 2006

This article comes from The Living Church Foundation
http://www.livingchurch.org/

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