Ken Layne, a blogger who used to be interesting until he was debilitated by a devastating case of Bush Derangement Syndrome, once made an observation about the modern information world to the effect that, "This is the Internet. We can fact-check your ass." ENS's Matthew Davies really should keep that in mind. His story on the consecration of two American Episcopal priests as suffragan bishops by the Archbishop of Kenya(covered extensively here) begins:
Kenya’s Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi consecrated two former Episcopal priests -- William Murdoch and Bill Atwood -- as suffragan bishops of All Saints Cathedral Diocese on August 30.
The new bishops, Nzimbi said, will "assist with providing ... oversight and Episcopal care ... for the congregations and clergy in the USA under Kenyan jurisdiction."
This is, of course, The Worst Thing That Has Ever Happened In The History Of The Christian Church.
Such events have been described as "interventions" or "boundary crossings" by official councils or representatives of the Anglican Communion. Despite calls by the Instruments of Communion, including the Primates themselves, for such interventions to cease, some Anglican leaders continue to cross provincial boundaries and exercise authority over congregations in the U.S. without necessary consultation or consent from the leadership of the Episcopal Church. Atwood, from Carrollton, Texas, is general secretary of The Ekklesia Society, which describes itself as "an international society committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ." Formerly canonically resident in Dallas, he was transferred to the Province of the Southern Cone by Bishop James Stanton in July, 2006.
And then Davies steps in it. Big time.
The Anglican Primates, at their February meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, acknowledged that interventions by bishops and archbishops of some Provinces have heightened "estrangement between some of the faithful and the Episcopal Church [and] this has led to recrimination, hostility and even to disputes in civil courts."
As I read the above paragraph, Matt thinks that at Dar es Salaam, the primates "acknowledged that interventions by bishops and archbishops of some Provinces have heightened 'estrangement between some of the faithful and the Episcopal Church [and] this has led to recrimination, hostility and even to disputes in civil courts.'" As I read the Dar es Salaam Communiqué, however, the primates said nothing of the kind.
It is also clear that a significant number of bishops, clergy and lay people in The Episcopal Church are committed to the proposals of the Windsor Report and the standard of teaching presupposed in it (cf paragraph 11). These faithful people feel great pain at what they perceive to be the failure of The Episcopal Church to adopt the Windsor proposals in full. They desire to find a way to remain in faithful fellowship with the Anglican Communion. They believe that they should have the liberty to practice and live by that expression of Anglican faith which they believe to be true. We are deeply concerned that so great has been the estrangement between some of the faithful and The Episcopal Church that this has led to recrimination, hostility and even to disputes in the civil courts.
I may be at a disadvantage since I'm only fluent in the English language but it looks to me as if the primates believe that "estrangement between some of the faithful and The Episcopal Church ...recrimination, hostility and even...disputes in the civil courts" are entirely the fault of the Episcopal Church's refusal to "adopt the Windsor proposals in full." But wait a minute, Johnson. Doesn't the very next paragraph in the Communiqué state that the interventions aren't helping?
The interventions by some of our number and by bishops of some Provinces, against the explicit recommendations of the Windsor Report, however well-intentioned, have exacerbated this situation. Furthermore, those Primates who have undertaken interventions do not feel that it is right to end those interventions until it becomes clear that sufficient provision has been made for the life of those persons.
Keep reading. What do the primates think needs to happen before the crossings should stop?
Second, those of us who have intervened in other jurisdictions believe that we cannot abandon those who have appealed to us for pastoral care in situations in which they find themselves at odds with the normal jurisdiction. For interventions to cease, what is required in their view is a robust scheme of pastoral oversight to provide individuals and congregations alienated from The Episcopal Church with adequate space to flourish within the life of that church in the period leading up to the conclusion of the Covenant Process.
And that "robust scheme of pastoral oversight" was declared dead-on-arrival last March. I'm disappointed, Matt. I expected much better ENS spin than this.
Posted on 9/1/2007 1:46:08 PM
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