wfn.org | Presiding bishop's letter "for the primates" regarding AMiA consecrations

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2001-155

June 19, 2001

For the Primates

My dear brothers:

Grace and peace be with you from God Our Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the interest of our ongoing good communication, I am writing you today 
about a number of matters.  First of all, I must repeat what I said to many of 
you at our Primates Meeting last March: the Episcopal Church is flourishing with 
a renewed sense of mission and the overwhelming majority of its clergy and members, 
who represent a broad spectrum of points of view, are utterly committed to sharing 
with one another the life which is ours in Christ bestowed in baptism and nourished 
in the Eucharist.  Scripture, the historic faith of the Church set forth in the Creeds, 
and submission to the Holy Spirit who draws from the riches of Christ and guides us
 into all truth, supply the ground upon which we all stand.  It is ground that we share 
with fellow Anglicans around the world.  I send this assurance not only because it is a 
sign of hope, but as a counter to the distortions about our church that from time to 
time are put forth in some quarters.  Fortunately, the reality of our life has been 
experienced by Anglican brothers and sisters around the world including - I am 
happy to say - a number of you. 

At Kanuga we agreed about the importance of sustained pastoral care.  This is for
me a continuing concern and commitment.  I can report that very few congregations 
have asked for episcopal ministry other than that of their own bishop.  In several of 
our dioceses bishops have provided for some form of extended episcopal ministry 
drawing upon assistance from other bishops whose views are more in accord with 
the perspectives of certain congregations.  In two of our one hundred domestic dioceses 
there has been tension between the bishop, and one or more congregations in which 
the bishop has indicated a willingness to welcome bishops from outside the diocese, 
as long as the congregations in question allow the bishop of the diocese to visit the 
congregations on some other occasion in order to ensure that the bond between the 
diocese and the congregation is maintained.  

In the spirit of our pastoral letter, I have been working with particular bishops 
and more broadly with my Council of Advice, made up of bishops elected by 
the nine geographic provinces, to explore and to ensure that episcopal ministry
is exercised with care and concern for all the baptized, regardless of their
 particular points of view.  

Most recently attention has been focused upon one congregation in the Diocese 
of Washington which has called as its rector a priest opposed to the ordination 
of women.  The bishop of the Diocese pro tempore is a woman.  Certain groups 
have described this as an issue of gender, but the bishop, who maintains positive
relations with other priests within the diocese who do not accept the ordination 
of women, has made it clear that the issue is not the ordination of women but the 
priest's previously stated public declarations about the Episcopal Church. Taken 
at face value his statements appear to encourage schism.  I have been in contact 
with the several parties and am seeking a resolution which honors the concerns of 
all. This may or may not be in the offing.  As many of you are aware, the Presiding 
Bishop of the Episcopal Church has no metropolitical authority.  I can strongly urge, 
encourage dialogue, and recommend, but I cannot compel.

This brings me to my final concern: the proposed ordination of four men on June 24 
by Emmanuel Kolini and Yong Ping Chung to serve as bishops for a group called 
the Anglican Mission in America.  The ordinations are to take place in Colorado.  
Not only are the proposed ordinations a further invitation to schism, but they also 
involve two fellow primates who, without informing me and certainly without my 
permission, are planning to enter this province with the express purpose of acting 
contrary to a basic principle of the Communion that no bishop is to perform episcopal 
acts in the diocese of another bishop without obtaining the bishop's permission.  
Predicated upon what I consider to be a deeply flawed and highly biased judgement 
of ECUSA, the proposed action by our two brothers is a profound violation of what 
it means to live in communion and could have drastic and negative effects within our 
Anglican fellowship.  There is nothing that I can add to the very clear and forthright 
letter to Emmanuel and Ping Chung from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who bears 
in a particular way an enormous responsibility for the unity of the Anglican Communion. 

One final word is simply to share with you my sadness that such actions take energy
and attention away from the overwhelming burdens so many of you have to bear, 
issues quite literally, of life and death.  Please know of my prayers for each of you 
and the ministries you carry out in faithfulness to the gospel.  

Your brother in Christ,
Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate