Communion Partner Response to the Consent for Consecration in Los Angeles

From Covenant Communion:

It is with profound sorrow that we, the Communion Partner Bishops and Rectors, express our deepest regret to our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion for the action of the majority of the diocesan bishops and standing committees of the dioceses of The Episcopal Church in voting to consent to the consecration as a bishop of a woman living in a sexual relationship outside Christian marriage. Unfortunately, where restraint was respectfully requested by the leadership of the Communion, it has been ignored. Where the General Convention has counseled study of the Anglican Covenant, this action has rendered that counsel moot.

Therefore, we disassociate ourselves from this action and grieve the state of separation that exists in The Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. This separation is a witness to the need for the Anglican Covenant as the means through which dioceses and congregations in The Episcopal Church can affirm their commitment to the Anglican Communion.

The Rt. Rev. John C. Bauerschmidt
Bishop, Diocese of Tennessee

The Rt. Rev. Peter H. Beckwith
Retired, Diocese of Springfield

The Rt. Rev. William C. Frey
Assisting bishop, Diocese of the Rio Grande

The Rt. Rev. Francis Gray
Retired, Diocese of Northern Indiana

The Rt. Rev. John W. Howe
Bishop, Diocese of Central Florida

The Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little
Bishop, Diocese of Northern Indiana

The Rt. Rev. William H. Love
Bishop, Diocese of Albany

The Rt. Rev. Russell E. Jacobus
Bishop, Diocese of Fond du Lac

The Rt. Rev. Paul E. Lambert
Bishop, Diocese of Dallas

The Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson
Bishop, Diocese of Western Louisiana

The Rt. Rev. Michael G. Smith
Bishop, Diocese of North Dakota

The Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton
Bishop, Diocese of Dallas

The Communion Partner Advisory Committee

The Rev. Dr. Charles D. Alley
Rector, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
Richmond, Va.

The Rt. Rev. Anthony Burton
Rector, The Church of the Incarnation
Dallas, Texas

The Very Rev. Anthony Clark
Dean, Cathedral Church of St. Luke
Orlando, Fla.

The Rev. Dr. Russell Levenson, Jr.
Rector, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
Houston, Texas

The Rev. Brooks Keith
Rector, Church of the Transfiguration
Vail, Colo.

The Rev. Leigh Spruill
Rector, St. George’s Episcopal Church
Nashville, Tenn.