Friday, December 5, 2008

"They are no longer Episcopalians"

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori has commented on the formation of a new denomination by anti-TEC, anti-homosexual, anti-female-clergy men who each have exclusive access to God and the correct opinions of what the Bible actually says.

"They are no longer Episcopalians," Jefferts Schori said of those who left. "They have made that very clear in their departures.

"Those who were formally bishops in the Episcopal Church are no longer understood to be bishops in the Episcopal Church," she added in a meeting with Times reporters. "They are free to associate with whom they wish."

Leaders of the new Anglican Church in North America have taken issue with what they view as the Episcopal Church's liberal policies on the role of gays in the church. They agreed, however, with Jefferts Schori on at least one point.

"We are not Episcopalians; we are Anglicans," said Bishop Martyn Minns, whose group, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, helped create the new Anglican church.

The Episcopal Church is the American arm of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion. The global body has 38 self-governing provinces and is led by the archbishop of Canterbury.

Read it all at the LA Times.

Meanwhile, Lambeth Palace (seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the titular head of the Anglican Communion) released the following:

"There are clear guidelines set out in the Anglican Consultative Council Reports, notably ACC 10 in 1996 (resolution 12), detailing the steps necessary for the amendments of existing provincial constitutions and the creation of new provinces," the spokesperson said. "Once begun, any of these processes will take years to complete. In relation to the recent announcement from the meeting of the Common Cause Partnership in Chicago, the process has not yet begun."

Read it all at ENS.

There are a variety of comments available on blogs. Katie Sherrod at Desert's Child has a Reality Check. Other articles are available at almost all of the links in the right column on this blog.

1 comment:

PseudoPiskie said...

Anonymous: Your long comment had nothing to do with this post. In addition, it was obviously made by someone who has never read this blog and didn't take the time to even look to the right. I deleted it.