Anglican Communion Institute (ACI)

Statement On South Carolina

In his recent address to his diocese, Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina identified a challenge confronting both his diocese and the wider Episcopal Church: an entirely new challenge has surfaced: A constitutional question about the ability of a diocese to govern its common life in a way that is obedient to the teaching of the Bible, the received heritage of The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America, and in accordance with The Constitution & Canons of The Episcopal Church.... It is a challenge to how for over two hundred years The Episcopal Church has carried ou

The Making and Re-Making of Episcopal Canon Law

In order to weigh current arguments about the structure of The Episcopal Church and its relationship to the other members of the Anglican Communion, it may be useful to reflect on earlier periods in which the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church have changed significantly. It could be argued that the three most important such periods in the history of The Episcopal Church in which such change took place were: the American Revolution, the early 20th century, and the 1960s.

Communion, Order, And Dissent Or "The Revenge of Puss And Boots"

"The Anglican Covenant: Where Do We Go From Here?": A further comment

There is general agreement, I would guess, amongst more traditional Anglicans, that the current set-up for the implementation of the Covenant is flawed, and that especially the ordering of the ACC's Standing Committee in this implementing process is so confused and liable now to engendering such further distrust amongst churches as to demand rethinking. That is what ACI has argued in its paper "The Anglican Communion Covenant: Where Do We Go From Here?" (1.31.10). What we have not argued is that we need to start the whole process of writing a Covenant over again; or that some party must co

The Anglican Communion Covenant: Where Do We Go From Here?

The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner Mark McCall, Esq. We have learned today from Bishop Mouneer Anis that he has submitted his resignation from the former joint standing committee. Following so closely the release in December of the final text of the Anglican Communion Covenant, this resignation underscores the extent to which the Anglican Communion is at a major crossroads.

The New Season: The Emerging Shape of Anglican Mission

Advent now shifts into the manifestation of God's good will in the Nativity feast. So too the church takes its self-scrutiny and penitence, and turns in hope to the gift of God's own and new life among us.

Committing to the Anglican Covenant:An analysis by the Anglican Communion Institute

1. Now that the final text of the Anglican Covenant has been sent to the member churches of the Communion, it is useful to outline the procedures by which member churches and other churches enter into the Covenant. In reviewing these procedures, it is important to be mindful of the distinction between committing to the Covenant, which churches may do at any time through affirmation or adoption, and formal recognition of that fact by the other Covenant churches or the Communion Instruments. 2. Section 4 of the Covenant specifies two procedures by which churches may enter the Covenant.

What We Say And How We Say It: A Response to Fr. Harris' Attack on Bishop Stanton

In recent days, Fr. Mark Harris has published a comment on Bishop Stanton's address to the Convention of the Diocese of Dallas (link) entitled "Bishop Stanton barks up the wrong tree so that we won't notice the bite." (link) The comment demands response because it shows so clearly the dubious nature of both the substance and manner of argumentation within our church. Fr. Harris takes issue with almost everything Bishop Stanton has to say save for one important point. With the Bishop he holds that individual dioceses have a right to sign onto the proposed Anglican Covenant!

Response to Bonnie Anderson

The Diocese of South Carolina received a letter from Bonnie Anderson, the elected President of the House of Deputies. It was followed by a second statement saying that it was her practice to send such letters to each Diocese before their conventions. In what follows we pay attention to sections of the first letter, where the President of the House of Deputies spoke at some length of her interpretation of the resolutions to be voted on at the South Carolina Diocesan Convention.

Diocese and Covenant: Reflections on Dallas, its History and Future

"Every Diocese is an independent and sovereign state, held in the unity of the Catholic Church by its Episcopate, according to the rule of St. Cyprian." With these words, Bishop Alexander Charles Garrett - our first Bishop and,be it noted, once the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church - addressed the organizing Convention of the Diocese of Dallas in 1895.