Anglican Communion Institute (ACI)

What I Have Learned These Past Five Years: Reflections in Advent, 2008

The last few years of struggle within the Episcopal Church (TEC) and within the Anglican Communion have taken their toll on many persons and congregations, and on our common life in a larger way. Every day brings some new report on the impending or already achieved "break-up" of Anglicanism and on the spectacle of "global schism", even while Anglican leaders insist that this hasn't happened yet. Many congregations in the United States, and some in Canada, have left their denominations for other forms of Anglican relationship.

Descent Into Canonical Chaos: The Presiding Bishop's Response to Bishop Iker

By The Reverend Professor Christopher Seitz The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner Mr.

The Subversion of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church: A Response to my Critics

I am pleased that my article "The Subversion of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church" has generated the discussion it has. A number of the responses simply display the toxic atmosphere that sadly prevents the blogs from realizing their potential for furthering genuine debate. There have, however, been a number that are serious in their intent and deserve a measured response. I would particularly like to thank those who, like Bishop Pierre Whalon, recognize that the very survival of both The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Communion is at issue in the crisis brought on

Anglican Conservatives - Different Strategies or Different Goals?

The terms "inside and outside strategies" have been bantered about the blogosphere and the print media with a bit of abandon. Such a nomenclature assumes that those forming a new province in North America and those remaining in TEC are working toward the same goal in two different manners. As with all assumptions, no clear understanding can be realized without clarity of what exactly it is that is being assumed. In short, the question we must honestly answer is whether we do indeed have the same goal in mind.

Subversion of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church: On Doing What it Takes to Get What You Want

I Introduction Recent actions of The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the matter of Gene Robinson have sent shock waves throughout that church and indeed throughout the Anglican Communion. These actions present both TEC and the Communion unprecedented challenges to their forms of order and governance. Indeed, an underlying assumption of this essay is that neither TEC nor the Anglican Communion as a whole at present has instruments and forms of governance capable of coping with a crisis of this magnitude. As a result, solutions (if the

A New "Province" in North America: Neither the Only Nor the Right Answer for the Communion

A new "province" for North American Anglicans is now promised to be "up and running" in the next month or so. It will comprise the 3-4 dioceses that have voted to leave TEC; the associations of various congregations that have left TEC (e.g. CANA) and those started outside of TEC from departing groups; it will also include congregations and denominations within the Anglican tradition that have formed over the past decades in North America. All of these groups now form part of an association called Common Cause. The formation of this new "province" appears to be a fait accompli.

Statement on the "Sentence of Deposition" of Bishop Duncan

Prior to the meeting of the House of Bishops last week The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc. warned that the "proceeding against Bishop Duncan clearly belong[s] to a larger effort to create an office of Presiding Bishop, and a way of proceeding in the present season, at odds with the constitution and canons of this church." Following the questionable vote, ACI noted that "the legitimacy of the House's action and the Presiding Bishop's leadership has been placed in serious question before the eyes of the Communion and the larger public.

Press Release: Communion Partner Rectors

The list of Bishops and Rectors associated with the Communion Partners Plan continues to grow, and is in the embryonic stages of planning opportunities to offer mutual support and strengthen its among Partner Rectors and Bishops, but also a growing number of Archbishops from around the Anglican Communion. At present, fourteen Bishops from around the Episcopal Church continue to build bridges of communication and support with over 35 rectors, with a constituent baptized membership of over 35,000. With the support of the Communion Partner Bishops*, an advisory Board for the Plan is guided by C

Fatal Flaws: A Response to Dr. Joan Gundersen

The full version of this article, with footnotes can also be downloaded here (PDF Format) I would like to thank Dr.

Letter From Bishop Bruce MacPherson

Friday morning, September 19, 2008 Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury To the Clergy of the Diocese, the Standing Committee, and members of Diocesan Council Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: This is being sent to you from the House of Bishops meeting in Salt Lake City , and is to provide preliminary words from me about what has transpired here. Many have no doubt read the House of Bishops voted yesterday to depose the Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt. Rev'd Robert W.