wfn.org | ACNS3641 A Word to the Church: A message from Presiding Bishop

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3641     |     USA     |	  18 OCTOBER 2003 

A Word to the Church: A message from Presiding Bishop Frank T Griswold

[ACNS source: Episcopal News Service] I have just returned several hours
ago from the meeting of the Primates in London. It was a difficult but
very truthful meeting in which our understanding of one another's
contexts and the burdens each one of us must bear were made abundantly
clear. I have ever greater respect and affection for these brothers of
mine and for the ministry they carry out, often in the most difficult
and seemingly hopeless circumstances.
The effects for our Anglican brothers and sisters of our action taken at
General Convention giving consent to the ordination and consecration of
the bishop coadjutor-elect of New Hampshire were described in very stark
terms. Many spoke about ridicule they had received within their
provinces and the threat to their ability to proclaim the gospel,
particularly in places where other religions are dominant.

The statement issued from our meeting reflects hours of intense
conversation and confrontation, always in the spirit of mutual respect.
It is too soon to draw out all the implications contained in the
statement or to see exactly how its provisions might best be
articulated. I will have more to say at a later time.

One paragraph of the statement reads as follows: "Whilst we reaffirm the
teaching of successive Lambeth Conferences that bishops must respect the
autonomy and territorial integrity of dioceses and provinces other than
their own, we call on the provinces concerned to made adequate provision
for episcopal oversight of dissenting minorities within their own area
of pastoral care in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury on
behalf of the Primates." 

On this coming Monday I will be meeting with the Pastoral Development
Committee of the House of Bishops to begin to consider how best we can
honor this concern, building on the already expressed willingness of our
bishops to make provision for extended episcopal ministry in particular
circumstances.

I returned home with a sense of gratitude for all of the members of our
church, regardless of our various points of view. I am grateful even for
our struggles in which we so openly and honestly engage. I pray they may
be a gift. I believe that what has occurred in the Episcopal Church is
the work of the Spirit. As difficult as this moment may be, if this is,
in fact, a work of the Spirit it will contain some yet to be revealed
way in which communion in that same Spirit is made stronger and deeper.
This is my hope and my prayer.

This brief word to the church comes with my love and my blessings.

The Most Revd Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate

___________________________________________________________________
ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London, is
distributed to more than 7,000 journalists and other readers around
the world.  For subscription information please go to:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/acnslist.html