ALBANY: Episcopal Diocese Endorses Bishops Statement on the Polity of The Episcopal Church

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
5/8/2009

Delegates to the recent (June 5-7) Diocese of Albany Convention passed a resolution re-affirming its loyal membership in Province II and to The Episcopal Church, recognizing the legislative authority of General Convention governing the Episcopal Church.

Delegates further said they would endorse the Bishop's Statement on the Polity of the Episcopal Church promulgated by the Anglican Communion Institute. The endorsement was passed overwhelmingly.

Recently, a group of bishops of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion Institute issued a statement on the polity of the Episcopal Church saying that their understanding of the seat of authority in the Episcopal Church, as elaborated by the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, resides at the diocesan level.

They said TEC by its structure was "that of a voluntary association of equal dioceses." They said the Constitution and Canons of the Church make no provision for either a central hierarchy or a Presiding Bishop with metropolitan authority.

Furthermore, they said General Convention was an administrative role for the convention leadership, with voting members of the leadership themselves drawn from the diocesan deputations. In addition, the ordinal does not contain any language acknowledging or committing to submit to any metropolitan or central hierarchal authority.

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