Anglican Communion Institute (ACI)

Same-sex Blessings, Toronto, and the Anglican Communion

The Bishop of Toronto recently issued a set of "Pastoral Guidelines for the Blessing of Same-Gender Commitments". Some of the basic theological contradictions and destructive pastoral confusions involved in these guidelines have been pointedly disclosed by Catherine Sider Hamilton and F. Dean Mercer (see their "Response", posted on the ACI website on November 9, 2010).

A Response to the "Pastoral Guidelines" and the September 14 Ordination in the Diocese of Toronto

On September 14, 2010, Archbishop Colin Johnson ordained priest in the Diocese of Toronto a woman married (by civil law) to another woman. On November 3, the College of Bishops issued "Pastoral Guidelines" for the formal and liturgical blessing of same gender commitments in the Diocese of Toronto. These actions are problematic both in their content and in their form. The first action contradicts the doctrine, discipline and worship of the church and disregards its marriage canon. The second does one of two things.

What Is A Cross Border Intervention And When Is A Moratorium Indeed a Moratorium

REFLECTIONS ON KENNETH KEARON'S LETTER TO BISHOP TITO ZAVALA OF THE SOUTHERN CONE The Anglican Communion News Service has posted a notice from the Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) stating that he has written Bishop Tito Zavala who represents the Province of the Southern Cone on the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO). In his letter the Secretary General withdrew Bishop Zavala's membership in that body, but asked him to continue on as a consultant.

Can the Instruments of Unity Be Repaired?

When the turmoil surrounding Gene Robinson's consent and consecration arose in 2003, everyone knew that the Anglican Communion was in for some rough times. But even more pessimistic observers believed that these times would be relatively limited, and that somehow the Communion would muddle towards some stabilizing resolution. Few could have imagined how quickly and how completely the organizations that held the Communion together would fragment and crumble.

Ordination Vows: Do Bishops Pledge to Conform to Unconstitutional Canons?

It has become commonplace for those supporting the current majority in The Episcopal Church to claim that a bishop's ordination vow, particularly what is called the "Declaration of Conformity," is a vow to accept the majority's interpretation of TEC's polity that would grant unfettered supremacy to General Convention's actions. For example, Fr.

Title IV of The Episcopal Church revisions: Unmasked

Alan Runyan is a partner in Speights & Runyan, Beaufort, South Carolina. He has been a practicing trial attorney for 33 years and he is counsel for the Diocese of South Carolina.

Mark McCall is a member of the New York bar and former partner of an international law firm where he practiced in the firm’s New York, Washington and Paris offices.

Introduction

Proposed Statement Of Clarification For Adoption Of The Covenant

As we have noted several times in recent months, the final text of the Anglican Covenant assigns important tasks defined in Section 4 to a committee designated the "Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion." There is currently no committee in the Anglican Communion bearing that title or capable of performing those tasks. The ACC standing committee was briefly referred to by the Section 4 title, but that name was not given it by the ACC.

The New ACC Articles: Procedural Issues

The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner Mark McCall, Esq. Michael Watson, Esq. Although we have written before of our concerns over the substance of the new Articles of Association of the Anglican Consultative Council, until now we have said little about our concerns over the procedures followed by the Anglican Communion Office in managing the development of these Articles.

The ACC Articles of Association: Questions Remain

The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner The Reverend Dr.

The Way TEC Does Business: Let The Buyer Beware!

The meeting of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council (hereafter the Standing Committee) has just finished its deliberations. It was reported in The Standing Committee Daily Bulletin that Dato' Stanley Isaacs had proposed, "The Episcopal Church (hereafter TEC) be separated from the Communion." This proposal was rejected because it was believed, "Separation would inhibit dialogue on this and other issues among Communion Provinces." This brief notice is yet another signal that the Anglican Communion stands in unparalleled danger.