Yes, I've seen the news reports.Even THE NEW YORK TIMES is reporting "splitsville" for American Anglicans.
And I loved the headline of this Chicago Tribune blog: Schism or stunt? (Hint: "If you have ask ...")
But my favorite (so far) is this YAHOO! report ... not for the content but the illustration ... (who knew Ed Bacon was now "stock footage" for Episcopal priest in the Yahoo Universe???)
Anyway, because I've got Diocesan Convention to get ready for and a sermon to write for Sunday and a host of other bits and pieces of actual work to do, I'm going to let Uncle Mark Explain It All ... by linking to this piece by Mark Harris over at Preludium:
It appears that on Wednesday, December 3rd, some portion (or perhaps all) of the member groups in the Common Cause Partnership (CCP) will sign on to the GAFCON Jerusalem Declaration and give assurance to the GAFCON Primates that they will not let ego or territorial concerns get in the way of forming a coherent and cohesive new ecclesial entity in North America.
They will then petition the GAFCON Primates for recognition. According to BabyBlue that recognition will come the next day, December 4th, when the GAFCON Primates are meeting in London. In turn the GAFCON Primates are meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury on December 5th.The three days begin in Chicago and end at Lambeth Palace.
The thing is, when the GAFCON Primates get to the Archbishop’s digs, what’s the agenda? Was that meeting set up in order to make the case for the GAFCON Province, or was it for some other matter, such as defending GAFCON’s own case for its being a legitimate organization within the Anglican Communion?
It may be that the meeting with the Archbishop will be about GAFCON, not about the CCP. So Day Three might be unconnected with days One and Two. If so, raising the specifics of a new Anglican entity emerging in North America might be met with objection that that was not on the agenda and that the Archbishop has no intention of commenting on such a proposal or of offering any sort of encouragement.
It will be a day for the Archbishop to use his very best diplomatic skills and his most delicately worded reminder that GAFCON Primates have no special status in his court.
Read the rest here ... and do pray for the church. She clearly needs it!
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UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal seems to "get it" -- basically saying "former Episcopalians opt to start new denomination."
A collection of breakaway Episcopalians have formed a single denomination to rival the mainstream U.S. church, cementing a schism that was largely prompted by the election in 2003 of a gay bishop. The new church will seek recognition from the world-wide Anglican communion, including its leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams. It is unclear how the larger church will deal with a rival on American soil to an existing church body.
That works for me. Just leave the keys and lock the door on the way out.
4 comments:
I read the NYT article. Can you believe that +Minns asked "Why is England still considered the center of the universe?”
I guess he's mixed-up in regards to the difference between the "center of the universe" and the "center of Anglicanism."
I'm grumpin' about it all at my blog.
Hey! the word verification is laster. Dats you and me! TEC lasters!
I'm confused. These people always create that feeling. I thought they had joined the "southern cone" or "Akinola's army". Is this a NEW schism? First of many, I am sure.
And Minns+ (I will NOT move the +) has shopped himself through both of my home diocese [Rio Grande and Colorado] and couldn't get a REAL job. Give me a break.
Should we use the + at all, since he's no longer ordained clergy in the Church?
Laurie Goodstein of the new York Times says "Conservative leaders in North America say they expect to win approval for their new province from at least seven like-minded primates, who lead provinces primarily in Africa, Australia, Latin America and Asia." There will be no approval from Australia's primate who is not, as some suppose, the Archbishop of Sydney, but the Archbishop of Brisbane, the Most Revd Dr Phillip Aspinall.
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