…according to John
The Network and The Institute
Dear Diocesan Family,
In January 2004, the week before our Thirty-Fifth Annual Convention, the Anglican Communion Network was formed, and at our Convention we voted by about two to one to be the first Diocese to officially join it. Interestingly enough, I asked Convention four times in a row to refer that decision to the Diocesan Board, but the Convention determined to do so anyway! (Moments like that help a Bishop to understand the limits of his authority!)
Eventually, nine other Dioceses became member Dioceses, along with several hundred parishes across the country.
The very first article of the Network’s Constitution was a commitment to work within the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church.
However, so very much has happened in the ensuing four and a half years! The Network is now made up of far more people who have left The Episcopal Church than those who remain inside it. Scores of parishes have experienced the same kinds of splits and “disaffiliation” of some of their clergy and parishioners that we have experienced here. One Diocese, San Joaquin in California, has voted to secede from The Episcopal Church and join the Southern Cone of South America! And several others are in various stages of attempting to do the same thing. (Whether these attempts will ultimately succeed will be determined by the courts.)
And, at a meeting of the “Network Bishops” in Chicago in April, it became very clear that while five of the ten of us remain committed to working within the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church, the others no longer hold that commitment.
Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, the Moderator (president) of the Network, is clearly committed to attempting to form “a new ecclesial structure” in North America, hoping to draw together such groups as the Anglican Mission in the Americas (Rwanda), the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (Nigeria), the Reformed Episcopal Church, and various other groups associated with African or South American jurisdictions.
I respect those efforts, and I do pray for a coming together of the splintered fragments of Anglican Christianity. But, as I outlined in my Pastoral Letter two months ago, I remain committed to working as faithfully as possible from within The Episcopal Church and in full communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
A month ago I expressed to the Diocesan Board my increasing discomfort with the secessionist direction of the Network, and the Board asked the Finance Committee to reexamine the whole matrix of our “alternative giving” - how the monies are directed that might otherwise have gone to The Episcopal Church.
At today’s meeting of the Board (6/19) the Finance Committee unanimously recommended, and the Board unanimously approved the redirection of our support from the Anglican Communion Network to a similarly named organization, the Anglican Communion Institute.
I want to tell you a little about the Institute. Its president is a priest of this Diocese, Dr. Chris Seitz, professor of Old Testament at Wycliffe College in Toronto. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, was the initial Chairman of the Board. The Institute’s current Chairman is Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the West Indies, and I sit on its Board.
The Anglican Communion Institute “is a resource for the furtherance of the Anglican Communion, through consultation, theological education, and international collaboration. Its Board is comprised of Primates, Bishops, theological educators, Rectors, and dedicated lay leaders.”
In my opinion, the Anglican Communion Institute has inherited the original vision of the Network: to work to promote orthodoxy within The Episcopal Church, and to maintain our relationships with the broader Anglican Communion.
The Institute sponsored the several meetings of “Camp Allen Bishops” which produced the “Camp Allen Principles” that were referred to in the Primates’ Communique from Dar es Salam in February 2007.
The ACI has sponsored and produced the “Communion Partners Scheme” that has been reported in The Living Church and elsewhere.
And I want to share with you the “promo” for the Institute’s Conference Series:
“The Anglican Communion Institute is sponsoring a series of conferences on the theme 'Anglicanism -- A Gift in Christ'. The first will be held at St. Paul's Bloor Street, Toronto, November 25 - 27. The conferences will serve as a context for producing a 14-speaker DVD series, on various topics of theological, Biblical, liturgical, and missionary significance, for adult education in Anglican congregations. The Toronto conference will look at New Testament, Old Testament, Hymnody, Christian Witness in the Muslim world, and the Parish as the Centre of Christian renewal. Our speakers are the Rt. Rev. N.T. Wright (Durham, UK), the Rev. Dr. Jo Bailey Wells (Duke University), Dr. Edith Humphrey (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary), the Rt. Rev. Josiah Iduwo-Fearon (Province of Nigeria), and Principal George Sumner (Wycliffe College). The conference will begin with a buffet supper at 6 PM Tuesday evening, to be followed by Bishop Tom Wright's discussion of the New Testament in Anglican contexts. He is also to speak briefly on his own work on Wednesday morning, and field general questions related to New Testament studies and his contribution to the field. The other speakers will address their topics Wednesday, with the conference concluding Thursday at noon. Lunches will be served and coffee and light breakfast and refreshments will be offered. A regular schedule of worship services will also be held at St. Paul's Anglican Church. We will also use the occasion to speak more generally about our life in the Anglican Communion at present.”
Can you tell I am excited about this? I truly think it is the brightest spot on the Anglican horizon as of this moment, and I am delighted to share it with you as we move into the building and rebuilding of this Diocese.
With warmest regards in our Lord,
