wfn.org | ACNS3680 Episcopal oversight debated in New Westminster

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

ACNS 3680     |     CANADA     |     21 NOVEMBER 2003 

Episcopal oversight debated in New Westminster

by Matthew Davies

The Chairman of the Anglican Communion in New Westminster (ACiNW) - a
coalition of 11 parishes that oppose the Diocese's decision to bless
same-sex unions - has written to the Primate of the Anglican Church of
Canada thanking the House of Bishops for their search "for a resolution
of the problem we are experiencing in the Diocese of New Westminster".

In his letter, which was copied to the Primates, the Revd Dr Trevor
Walters has offered a number of considerations and proposals in relation
to the Primates' request for adequate "episcopal oversight". The
statement that emerged from the Primates' Meeting at Lambeth Palace last
month specified that "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 make adequate provision for episcopal
oversight of dissenting minorities within their own area of pastoral
care...."

Notifying the Canadian House of Bishops that they "should be aware that
the crisis in New Westminster has deepened as a result of the Bishop's
participation in the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New
Hampshire", Dr Walters has called for the appointment, within a month,
of the Rt Revd Bill Anderson, Bishop of the Diocese of Caledonia, or
another Bishop acceptable to the ACiNW, in order to "provide true
episcopal oversight on an interim basis". This comes nearly two weeks
after the Rt Revd Terrence Buckle, Bishop of the Diocese of Yukon,
withdrew his own offer of episcopal oversight.

Responding to the request the Bishop of New Westminster, the Rt Revd
Michael Ingham, has said that the attitude of the leadership of the
dissenting congregations in the Diocese of New Westminster is making
reconciliation "almost impossible".

"Their demand for the appointment of Bishop Anderson, after the House of
Bishops has repeatedly urged the withdrawal of Bishop Buckle,
illustrates a continuing lack of understanding not only of the mind,
role, and powers of the House, but also of the process of episcopal
appointment within the Canadian Church," Bishop Ingham said in a
statement. "Bishops are elected in the Canadian Anglican Church, not
appointed. What they propose is not possible in our system, and neither
is it desirable."

A task force, set up on October 31 by the House of Bishops, will examine
how to care for minorities who disagree with church policies. Bishop
Ingham has said that he and the leadership of his diocese will
co-operate with this task force to try to find a way to hold the church
together.

"It is clear, however, that the intransigence of the leadership of the
dissenting group may force our negotiations to focus on structural
separation rather than reconciliation," he said.

The ACiNW have requested that they be consulted in the nomination of the
House of Bishops Task Force, to ensure "fair representation and good
faith".

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