Church of the Word
BISHOPS FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT

New York Meeting of Bishops Yields No Agreement
09/13/2006

Despite producing the draft of an agreement, the group of bishops meeting in New York City from Sept. 11 to 13 failed to reach any conclusions or consensus.

“We had honest and frank conversations that confronted the depth of the conflicts that we face,” the bishops said in a statement published by Anglican Communion News Service. “We recognized the need to provide sufficient space, but were unable to come to common agreement on the way forward. We could not come to consensus on a common plan to move forward to meet the needs of the dioceses that issued the appeal for Alternate Primatial Oversight. The level of openness and charity in this conference allow us to pledge to hold one another in prayer and to work together until we have reached the solution God holds out for us.”

The group produced a draft statement last night shortly before adjourning. Afterward each side made final changes. When they met again this morning they were unable to reconcile the two versions, according to several sources who had been briefed on meeting details.

The co-conveners were Bishops Peter James Lee of Virginia and John Lipscomb of Southwest Florida. Other participating bishops were Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori and Bishops Jack Iker of Fort Worth, Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, James Stanton of Dallas, Edward Salmon of South Carolina, Mark Sisk of New York, Dorsey Henderson of Upper South Carolina, and Robert O’Neill of Colorado. Also participating was Canon Kenneth Kearon, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, who organized the meeting, issued a brief statement as the participants adjourned.

“It’s a positive sign that these difficult conversations have been taking place in a frank and honest way,” he wrote. “There is clearly a process at work and although it hasn’t yet come to fruition, the openness and charity in which views are being shared and options discussed are nevertheless signs of hope for the future. Our prayers continue.”

Anglican Communion News Service contributed to this report.

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

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