AN OPEN LETTER
TO THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS
OF
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH U.S.A.
Within the next week you, our Bishops, will meet for the purpose of responding to The Windsor Report and the recent statement of the Meeting of the Primates. The Primates, among other things, have called for (1) an expression of regret on the part of ECUSA for the harm done to the Anglican Communion by the recent actions of its House of Bishops and its General Convention; (2) a moratorium on the consecration of people in same gender unions and on the blessing of such unions; (3) the voluntary withdrawal of ECUSA’s representatives to the next meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council; and (4) the deliberated decision as to whether ECUSA will “commit” itself to the Windsor Report’s articulation of “inter-dependent life” within the Anglican Communion.
As you consider how to make a Godly response to the Primates’ statement we pray that you will keep certain points at the center of your deliberations. If these considerations are not given due weight, the Episcopal Church will, in all probability, find itself no longer a member of the Anglican Communion, with all the chaos of disordered mission and ministry to which this will give rise. Because of the seriousness of the crisis in which our church now finds itself, we pray that the following points will provide the focus of your discussions and decisions.
1. The Primates request that ECUSA’s representatives to the next meeting of the ACC be withdrawn indicates that ECUSA’s status as a member of the Anglican Communion is already, given actions deemed grave and injurious by the Primates, provisional. The request also indicates that a failure on the part of ECUSA to comply with the Primates’ request will be taken by the Primates as an indication that ECUSA has in fact decided to walk apart from the rest of the Communion.
2. There is a danger that the seriousness of the Primates’ request will be missed because of a failure on the part of ECUSA’s leaders to grasp the fact that the center of gravity of the Anglican Communion has now shifted to the so-called Global South. The largest part of the Anglican Communion now lies around or below the equator; and the Provinces from this part of the world consider ECUSA’s recent actions both as yet another example of American unilateralism and, more important, contrary to the moral requirements of Christian belief. A tectonic shift has occurred within our Communion that means that people from the global north no longer control the shape of the Anglican Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury has clearly recognized this shift and has given his support to it. We fear the deleterious effects both on our church and the Anglican Communion as a whole if our leaders fail to take the meaning of this shift into account.
3. There is good reason to believe that there are some within ECUSA who are content, in the words of the Windsor Report, to “walk apart,” and in so doing claim a degree of autonomy that the Primates consider incompatible with membership in a communion of churches. A decision that either actively or passively takes our church in such a direction will cut the taproot from which our church grows and from which it receives nourishment. Such a decision would also effectively mean that ECUSA has become simply another American denomination with no credible ability to present itself as an expression of Catholic Christianity with a worldwide presence. The Primates themselves have underlined the connection between our shared teaching and discipline as a Communion, with our ability to witness to the very nature of God within the world (par.12 and 22).
4. It is tempting to react in fear to this shift within our Communion. Some of our bishops are deeply committed to the inclusion of gay persons in our church’s leadership and liturgical approbation, and recognize with trepidation the limitations the Primates would place upon this desire. But in fact the shift to a disciplined communion life presents ECUSA with an opportunity to grasp more fully than ever it has what it means to enjoy koinonia within the body of Christ. A decisive commitment by our bishops to the Communion, on Windsor's terms, does not decide the ultimate fate of gay persons in the church's life; rather it places the discernment of this matter squarely within the Communion's common life and discipline. ECUSA bishops have every capacity and ecclesial right to "press the point” with sister churches; but not the authority to preempt the discernment and decisions that common life and discipline demand. Through a considered, charitable, and clear response to the requests of the Primates, ECUSA will in fact be able to provide leadership within the communion as to what the principle of “mutual responsibility and interdependence,” first articulated by our own Bishop Stephen Bayne, actually means.
5. If, however, ECUSA decides to ignore or disparage the requests of the Primates, we may be sure that two results will follow. ECUSA’s status within the communion will become either “asymmetrical” or non-existent, and ECUSA itself will shatter. Some will take the bit between their teeth and move toward complete autonomy. Others will have to find new ways to be related to the See of Canterbury and the Primates. The shameful prospect of bitter public conflict and litigation lies before our church if our response of the Primates is inadequate.
6. As bishops you have the responsibility and authority to take a decisive lead in our church’s collective response. You have been made stewards of a “universal ministry” and of its gifts within the larger church (par. 11), and you represent a primary instrument within ECUSA’s “constitutional bodies” delegated with the duty of leading the people of God in this church (cf. par. 14). You need not, indeed you cannot afford to defer or postpone your leadership at this time to some elongated or future process of discernment. Already an international “panel of reference” is being formed to supervise the character of your own oversight of communion-committed members within your dioceses, and it is clear that from the standpoint of Canterbury and the Primates as a whole ECUSA does not have the luxury of delaying its decision on this matter.
These six points seem to us clearly implied by the Primates’ request of ECUSA. It is our prayer that they will be ever before your minds as you consider the future of our church and the integrity of the episkope you represent. Our church and the Anglican Communion as a whole now stand at a crossroads. Will our church remain a part of this communion or will it decide to walk apart? This is a question that we dare not ignore and a decision we dare not postpone. We have placed these considerations before you with respect for your office and out of love for our church and the Anglican Communion. Please be assured of our prayers and our awareness of the fearful and sacred decisions that lie before you.
Yours in Christ.
The Rev. Donald Armstrong,
The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
The Rev. Prof. Christopher Seitz
The Very Rev. Dr. Philip Turner
Officers of the Anglican Communion Institute
