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 meld 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 traditionalist 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.
On Sept 20, Bishop Schori revisited the issue on the opening day of the US House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans, ultimately appointing 12 Episcopal Visitors to serve as her surrogates to traditionalists.
The 12: Bishops Frank Brookhart of Montana, Clarence Coleridge of Connecticut (retired), Philip Duncan of the Central Gulf Coast, Duncan Gray of Mississippi, Dorsey Henderson of Upper South Carolina, Rayford High suffragan of Texas, John W Howe of Central Florida, Gary Lillibridge of West Texas, Rodney Michel of Long Island, (retired), Michael Smith of North Dakota, James Stanton of Dallas, and Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island were delegated the authority to visit dioceses on behalf of the Presiding Bishop.
However, the Presiding Bishop retained the authority to “take order” for ordaining and consecrating bishops and to oversee the discipline of bishops. As of mid-February, no diocese had taken up her offer for an Episcopal Visitor.
However, Bishop Stanton of Dallas, working with leaders of the Anglican Communion Institute and the Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, took the Episcopal Visitor programme forward. Led by Prof Christopher Seitz, the team sought to meld the needs articulated by traditionalists with the structures suggested by the Primates and the Presiding Bishop.
On Jan 31 Dr Williams met with Archbishop Gomez, Bishop Stanton, Prof Seitz and Dr Ephraim Radner and gave his backing to the emerging “Anglican Bishops in Communion” project, agreeing to issue invitations to the primates of the West Indies, Burundi, Tanzania, the Indian Ocean and Jerusalem and the Middle East to offer primatial pastoral oversight to the Episcopal Visitors.
The Presiding Bishop was briefed by Bishops Stanton of Dallas, Smith of North Dakota, Howe of Central Florida, and Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana on Feb 21, giving her “nihil obstat” to the Communion plan, one participant reported.
While the details of oversight have not been finalized, the plan keeps the authority of naming Episcopal Visitors with the Presiding Bishop. These visitors would be linked pastorally with the five overseas primates. The plan does not envision the Presiding Bishop relinquishing her authority over the disciplinary process, but would permit visitations on her behalf. The authority to consecrate bishops would be held by the Presiding Bishop, but it is understood that this power could be delegated.
The draft plan seen by The Church of England Newspaper states the Communion plan would “provide a visible link” for traditionalists to the wider Church. “Many within our dioceses and in congregations in other dioceses seek to be assured of their connection to the Anglican Communion. Traditionally, this has been understood in terms of bishop-to-bishop relationships. Communion Partners fleshes out this connection in a significant and symbolic way,” it said.
The plan would provide a “forum” for “fellowship, support and a forum for mutual concerns between bishops” and would “provide a partnership to work toward the Anglican Covenant and according to Windsor principles.”
“The Bishops will work together according to the principles outlined in the Windsor Report and seek a comprehensive Anglican Covenant at the Lambeth Conference and beyond,” it said.
There will be no “formal structure” or “charter” for the programme, but each participating bishops and primate would be “committed to non-boundary-crossing: the relationships will be governed mutual respect and proceed by invitation and cooperation.”
The relationships established would be governed by transparency, with activities reported to the Presiding Bishop and Dr Williams, while also respecting the “canonical realities, integrities and structures of the Episcopal Church and other Churches,” the document stated.
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