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Today several bishops of The Episcopal Church joined The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc. ("ACI"), in submitting an amicus curiae brief to the Texas Supreme Court in the lawsuit arising out of the withdrawal of the Diocese of Fort Worth from The Episcopal Church. All of these bishops and all of the officers and directors of ACI remain in The Episcopal Church and have submitted this brief solely because they disagree with the characterization of the governance of The Episcopal Church as submitted in support of the motion for summary judgment that the trial court granted in this case. As is...
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By "¨The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner "¨Mark McCall, Esq. This weekend's news that Title IV "complaints" have been lodged against nine bishops brings together two matters that have long concerned ACI. The first is the polity of The Episcopal Church. For several years ACI has advocated the same understanding of TEC governance as the accused bishops. Indeed, the three ACI clergy submitted the same affidavits as did the bishops in Quincy and signed the same amicus brief as did the bishops in Texas. In addition, since...
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Hello, General Convention! Here's the answer I would give; and it doesn't appear to be that hard: Define the Gospel of Christ in terms of the smallest social unit and interest possible (e.g. homosexuals and their right to sexual affirmation) Define the episcopacy according to the smallest unit possible (e.g. New Hampshire and its gay bishop) Drive out anybody who has a larger vision - traditional Christians, evangelicals, Bible-readers, people who study Christian lives and thought earlier than 1968 and farther afield than NY and LA. Spend as much money as you can doing this instead of anything...
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by Ephraim Radner Who are the predominantly younger theologians and priests clustering around The Living Church's Covenant blog? Or "A Tribe Called Anglican"? Or those who read more individual blogs like "Creedal Christian" or "The Conciliar Anglican"? Or those who have contributed to the recent book Pro Communione? Or who attend seminaries like Wycliffe College or Duke Divinity School? They are the future of Anglicanism in North America, that is who; and they are the reason why I am not so much worried about The Episcopal Church as eager simply to see the inevitable fruit of faithfulness...
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By Jordan Hylden The passing of Resolution A049 to authorize rites of blessing for same-sex couples was a cause of joy for many, and a cause of sadness for others. But one way or the other, the resolution has created something of a theological puzzle"”for what does it mean to "authorize" rites that declare God's blessing upon same-sex unions, while at the same time stipulating that those rites are "provisional," and cannot be performed without the permission of the diocesan bishop? What status does such a rite possess when it manifestly has not reached the level of consensus within even the...
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Every bishop, priest and deacon undertakes at ordination "to conform to the doctrine, discipline and worship of The Episcopal Church." The recent action by General Convention purporting to authorize bishops to authorize a rite for blessing same sex couples raises in an acute way the question of what exactly is the worship of The Episcopal Church to which all clergy promise to conform. We look carefully at this question below. Our conclusions can be summarized as follows: The authority to define the worship of the Church is spelled out with precision in Article X of the Constitution. Subject...
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The recent General Convention passed two resolutions calling for fundamental review of the new Title IV. Resolution C116 called for a review of the "Constitutionality of Certain Provisions of Title IV," including: the constitutionality of the power granted therein to the Presiding Bishop to restrict the ministry of a Diocesan Bishop [and] the constitutionality of the creation of a charging and trial system applicable to Presbyters and Deacons in violation of Article IX of the Constitution which provides that Presbyters and Deacons shall be tried by a Court instituted by the Convention of the...
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Bishop Pierre Whalon's recent essay, "Polity Politics," offers a critique of the amicus curiae brief submitted to the Texas Supreme Court by ACI and seven bishops of The Episcopal Church. Surprisingly, there is much with which we agree in this essay, especially the conclusion Bishop Whalon reaches at the mid-point that "on the face of it, the seven bishops are right." He goes on to assert that although we are right "on the face of it," we are nonetheless ultimately wrong in light of his interpretation of TEC's history, Constitution (which he never quotes) and ordination vows. While we...
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It is becoming increasingly apparent as we witness developments unfolding in The Episcopal Church that secular litigation objectives are paramount, trumping other principles such as the fundamental norms of Christian conduct, the canonical integrity of the church, ancient standards of catholic ecclesiology and even the pastoral care of TEC’s own people. Proof of this startling proposition abounds, including the inexplicable disciplinary charges brought against nine bishops for joining ACI in filing an amicus brief asking the Texas courts to refrain from deciding complex questions of TEC polity...
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The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner Mark McCall, Esq. In the first part of this article we addressed questions of good faith and canonical integrity arising from TEC's actions in South Carolina. We concluded that those actions raise troubling questions about the good faith of many church leaders in their dealing with Bishop Lawrence, including the Presiding Bishop, the Disciplinary Board, other TEC bishops and some diocesan clergy. We also concluded that TEC's position is canonically incoherent: either its actions in...
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