An important announcement from the Episcopal Church ...

... since I am not in the land of Wilkes right now I don't know how St Paul's is reacting to this, but at our last meeting of the Episcopal Book Club we discussed the future of the Church on exactly this issue. The international Anglican Communion has been very very unhappy with us American Episcopalians because of our stand on homosexual bishops and priest. Consequently they have taken, or have attempted to take, us to the woodshed on several occasions.

That is no longer an option, according to a 'communication' of the The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church meeting in Texas. Here is a taste of it:

With great hope that we will continue to be welcome in the councils of the family of Churches we know as the Anglican Communion, we believe that to participate in the Primates' Pastoral scheme [aka 'the woodshed'] would be injurious to The Episcopal Church for many reasons.

First, it violates our church law in that it would call for a delegation of primatial authority not permissible under our Canons and a compromise of our autonomy as a Church not permissible under our Constitution.

Second, it fundamentally changes the character of the Windsor process and the covenant design process in which we thought all the Anglican Churches were participating together.

Third, it violates our founding principles as The Episcopal Church following our own liberation from colonialism and the beginning of a life independent of the Church of England.

Fourth, it is a very serious departure from our English Reformation heritage. It abandons the generous orthodoxy of our Prayer Book tradition. It sacrifices the
emancipation of the laity for the exclusive leadership of high-ranking Bishops.
And, for the first time since our separation from the papacy in the 16th century, it replaces the local governance of the Church by its own people with the decisions of a distant and unaccountable group of prelates.

Most important of all it is spiritually unsound.

If you are interested in the Episcopal Church in America, you might want to read the whole thing.

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