wfn.org | Episcopal Synod declares intention

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

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

97-1918
Episcopal Synod declares intention to form a separate province

by James Solheim
     (ENS) Not everyone left the 72nd General Convention in
Philadelphia with a smile. Members of conservative organizations already
are declaring the July meeting a "disaster," citing the decision to make
the canons on women in the priesthood mandatory in all dioceses and
several resolutions that express further acceptance of gays and lesbians in
the church.
     At a three-day meeting in a suburb of Philadelphia, the Episcopal
Synod of America (ESA) issued an open letter that said the General
Convention "refused to uphold orthodox doctrine and restore godly
discipline, while acting to persecute the faithful." The ESA, an eight-
year-old coalition of conservative congregations, institutions and
individuals, deplored the convention's decisions to further study the
blessing of same-sex unions and to offer insurance coverage for domestic
partners. Its statement also criticized the convention for ignoring attempts
to require "sexual fidelity within marriage and abstinence from sexual
relations outside it."
     According to the open letter, the convention "provided canonical
authority for the persecution of those who cannot accept the ordination of
women as priests and bishops, contradicting the basic Anglican principle
that the church cannot demand of her people what cannot be proved from
Scripture."
     Approximately 100 ESA delegates attended the meeting held at
the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania

Call for new province
     To protect orthodox belief and believers, the open letter said that
the ESA would further its work on "a new province, a structure which
would proclaim true doctrine and allow us to go forward with the work
God has given each of us." It did not define or describe the new
province, however, and also stated, "We are not leaving anything or
going anywhere." Yet Bishop William Wantland of Eau Claire told the
meeting that the Episcopal Church could "find itself bereft of the right to
be the institutional church in America and we will grow to become the
Anglican Church in America."
     According to the statement, the "centerpiece" and "core" of the
non-geographic province would be dioceses "who have declared with
whom they are in communion," including those whose bishops are "faced
with canons which violate their informed consciences," namely the canon
on women's ordination. One of those bishops, Jack Iker of Ft. Worth,
has already said that he will "actively resist" the canon's implementation.
The bishops of Quincy (Illinois), San Joaquin (California), and Eau
Claire (Wisconsin) have also expressed frustration over attempts to force
them to provide access to the ordination process for women in their
dioceses.
     According to delegates at the meeting, dioceses that affiliate with
the new province could stop financial contributions to the national church
while parishes that affiliate could refuse to recognize the authority of
their diocesan bishops and cease financial support of their dioceses.
     Bishops of the ESA and of the American Anglican Council
(AAC), a year-old network of conservative organizations, would offer
episcopal oversight to member parishes located in non-sympathetic
dioceses. "We acknowledge that some parishes may find it necessary to
seek corporate separation from the institutional church, and pledge our
solidarity with them," the letter states.
     The AAC also attacked many of the convention's actions in a
press release that raises concerns about "divisions that may appear
serious enough to constitute an impaired communion with the Episcopal
Church and between it and other provinces of the Anglican Communion."

May consecrate bishops
     The ESA delegates also adopted resolutions calling for the
consecration of new bishops "who uphold our theological convictions,"
hopefully through the proper canonical route but declaring that, if that is
not possible, they would be "compelled to act anyway" by consecrating
their own. 
     Another resolution called for a registry of all clergy ordained by
female bishops because in the delegates' eyes those ordinations are
invalid. It announced plans to create a fund to assist parishes or priests
who suffer financially for breaking from the Episcopal Church USA.
     "We are trying to make it clear to our opponents that if they
choose to press their agenda, there will be consequences," ESA executive
director Sam Edwards told a reporter.
     In the meantime, the synod will appeal to Archbishop of
Canterbury George Carey and Presiding Bishop-elect Frank Griswold,
asking them to "assist us in our efforts to maintain our continued
witness."

~James Solheim is director of news and information for the Episcopal
Church.