More Episcopal Bishops to Discuss Future of U.S. Church

A large group of diocesan bishops are gathering in Texas for a consultation this week to discuss the relationship between the U.S. Episcopal Church and other church leaders within the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The consultation at Camp Allen, Texas, will see nearly two dozen diocesan bishops contemplate the future of the Episcopal Church, USA. It has been reported that the number of bishops who support the objectives of the meeting is expected to grow rapidly after details become public, according to several people involved in planning.

The meeting, which will take place Sept. 19-22, is being organized by the Bishop of Texas, the Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly, for diocesan bishops, according to the Living Church Foundation.

In a statement posted on the diocesan website, Wimberly said the purpose of the consultation is to provide individual bishops and their dioceses with a way to maintain an “unimpaired relationship” with the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and the other primates within the worldwide denomination.

“Since this summer’s General Convention, I have sought a way in which I might help lead our diocese and, with other bishops, The Episcopal Church through the circumstances facing our Church today,” the bishop stated.

“My intention is to stay within The Episcopal Church and remain a part of the Anglican Communion even though I don’t believe General Convention’s response to the Windsor Report was sufficient.”

According to Wimberly, two members of the Church of England’s House of Bishops will help oversee the gathering. The Rt. Rev. Michael Scott-Joynt, Bishop of Winchester, and the Rt. Rev. N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, will attend with the blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Since the conclusion of the 75th General Convention in June, Dr Williams has been consulting widely about the adequacy of the General Convention’s response to the Windsor Report.

In response to the July Convention, the archbishop has said the Episcopalians had “not produced a complete response” to Anglican concerns.

In fact, the General Convention, rather than allaying fears and divisions, actually increased tensions when the June meeting elected Katharine Jefferts Schori - an outspoken supporter of gay relationships – as the Church's next presiding bishop.

Since then, seven conservative dioceses, including Pittsburgh and Fort Worth, have rejected Jefferts Schori's leadership and asked Williams for oversight from elsewhere.

Some individual parishes have also announced plans to leave the American Episcopal Church, which has about 2.3 million members.

Dr Williams has already proposed a new two-tiered system for the Communion to keep those churches with the traditional biblical views on homosexuality as full members and to offer a lesser role to those with new ideas on the matter.

Though the proposal has received praise from some corners of the Communion, there is still a large proportion of the Church who say they cannot accept being in “communion” with those promoting Scripture in a way that is in complete contrast to their own beliefs.

Daniel Blake
Christian Post Correspondent