wfn.org | Anglican bishops in Europe propose

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

June 6, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1783
Anglican bishops in Europe propose forming 
a separate province

by James H. Thrall
   (ENS) Anglican churches in mainland Europe should eventually form
a separate province, the College of Anglican Bishops in Continental
Europe has suggested.
   "After several years of growing fellowship we have come to believe
that the future will involve the establishment of an Anglican Province of
Continental Europe," the bishops wrote to the 1998 Lambeth Conference
in a letter drafted at a meeting in Worth, England, May 23-34. The
Lambeth Conference is an international gathering of nearly all Anglican
bishops held every 10 years.
   "We now seek the support of the 1998 Lambeth Conference in our
desire to move towards closer relations with each other as a contribution
to the unity of the church as a whole," the bishops wrote.
   Currently four Anglican jurisdictions overlap on mainland Europe.
The Church of England's Diocese in Europe coexists with the Spanish
Episcopal Reformed Church and the Lusitanian Church in Spain and
Portugal, as well as with the Convocation of American Churches in
Europe (Episcopal Church in the United States of America) in Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
   "In these countries, as in the rest of Europe where only the Diocese
in Europe has parishes, formal jurisdiction is no guide to the composition
of parishes," the bishops noted. "All our parishes are `Anglican
Episcopal' and typically contain a wide international membership."
   The bishops signing the letter--John Hind, diocesan bishop of
Gibraltar (Diocese in Europe-Church of England); Henry Scriven,
suffragan bishop (Diocese in Europe-Church of England); Jeffery
Rowthorn, bishop in charge of the Convocation of American Churches in
Europe (ECUSA); Carlos Lopez Lozano, diocesan bishop of the Spanish
Episcopal Reformed Church; and Fernando Soares, bishop of the
Lusitanian Church of Portugal--represent the four jurisdictions.

Broader ecumenical concerns
   As ties have been forged increasingly with other denominations, a
move to form a new Anglican province might have ecumenical
implications as well, the bishops said. "Account must also be taken of
other churches in communion, namely the Old Catholic Churches in
Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland
and Switzerland, and the `Porvoo' churches in the Nordic and Baltic
region," their letter adds. "We believe that ultimately the future shape of
Anglicanism on mainland Europe can only be determined properly within
the wider context of Anglicanism in Europe a whole (including Great
Britain and Ireland)." 
   The bishops said that they have begun to consult with clergy and
laity in their jurisdictions, with the heads of their respective churches,
such as Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning of ECUSA, and with the
Anglican Consultative Council, an international body of clergy and laity
drawn from throughout the Anglican Communion. Their interest in a
single province, they said, grows out of earlier steps to cooperate and
share in each others' ministries. The bishops of the four Anglican
dioceses, for example, already serve as assistant or assisting bishops in
one another's jurisdictions.
   The bishops stressed that "the process of becoming a province cannot
be hurried," and noted that "it will require a gradual growing together of
clergy and congregations, an increased sharing of resources and insights,
and the securing of adequate funding."
   At the same time, they wrote, "there is a timeliness about the
proposal and we believe it right to seize the opportunity which is
currently offered to us."

--James H. Thrall is deputy director of news and information for the
Episcopal Church.