US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has endorsed a programme of alternative Episcopal oversight brought to her by a group of conservative American bishops.The ‘Anglican Bishops in Communion’ seeks to merge the Primates’ Dar es Salaam pastoral council scheme with the ‘Episcopal Visitor’ programme created by Bishop Schori in a bid to hold the fissiparous elements of American Anglicanism together until an Anglican Covenant is agreed.
“This is a step forward, albeit a small one,” the Bishop of Central Florida, the Rt Rev John W Howe noted, that permits freedom of conscience for traditionalists while preserving good order in conformance to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.
However, critics charge there is nothing in the plan to compel a liberal bishop to permit alternative oversight, while spokesmen for the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Fort Worth told The Church of England Newspaper they were unable to comment on the merits of the plan as they had not been consulted in its creation and were unaware of the details.
At their February 2007 meeting in Dar es Salaam, the Primates of the Anglican Communion called upon the US Church to adopt a Pastoral Council with members appointed by both the Presiding Bishop and Dr Williams and the Primates that would provide episcopal oversight for traditionalists unable to accept the ministrations of their bishops, and for dioceses at odds with the Presiding Bishop.
The US House of Bishops dismissed the proposal at their March meeting, saying it violated the church’s unique ‘polity’ by giving control of appointments to those outside the Episcopal Church, and was the thin end of the wedge leading to the creation of a parallel traditionalist jurisdiction.
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