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Press Release From: Date: March 1, 2004; for immediate release "Via Media" Groups to Meet in Atlanta Schenectady, NY; Canton, NY; Charleston, S.C.; Orlando, FL; San Diego, CA; Fort Worth, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; Fresno, CA; Springfield, IL; Dallas, TX; Sante Fe, NM In response to actions in our dioceses that threaten our common life in the Episcopal Church , eleven groups have formed in ten dioceses. Called by a variety of names, but often described collectively as "Via Media" organizations, we believe that God’s desire for the church is to remain in communion and dialogue in times of conflict and disagreement. We are interested in preserving our church and its traditional openness to differing interpretations of scripture, tradition and reason in forming the moral conscience of Christian persons. We are pleased by the interest shown by the press about our meeting of representatives on March 25–27 in Atlanta. The Atlanta meeting is not, and was never intended to be, a public gathering. We have extended no general invitations to attend. The get-together is a retreat for leaders of the various "via media" groups that have formed spontaneously in our dioceses. Our goals are to meet each other, to build relationships in Christ, and to seek the guidance of the Spirit for our common future together in the Episcopal Church. Because there has been so much interest in this event, we have scheduled a time for meeting with the press following our closing Eucharist. All are invited to celebrate the Eucharist with us on Saturday, March 27 at 11:30 AM at All Saints’ Episcopal Church. The press time will follow at 12:30 PM . Working committee meetings and retreats of most organizations are not generally public meetings, and we hope that, given the nature of our gathering, you will respect our wish for privacy prior to the midday public events of March 27. Contact: Barbi Click, Press Contact Press Release From: Date: March 1, 2004; for immediate release "Via Media" Groups to Meet in Atlanta Schenectady, NY; Canton, NY; Charleston, S.C.; Orlando, FL; San Diego, CA; Fort Worth, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; Fresno, CA; Springfield, IL; Dallas, TX; Sante Fe, NM In response to actions in our dioceses that threaten our common life in the Episcopal Church , eleven groups have formed in ten dioceses. Called by a variety of names, but often described collectively as "Via Media" organizations, we believe that God's desire for the church is to remain in communion and dialogue in times of conflict and disagreement. We are interested in preserving our church and its traditional openness to differing interpretations of scripture, tradition and reason in forming the moral conscience of Christian persons. We are pleased by the interest shown by the press about our meeting of representatives on March 25-27 in Atlanta. The Atlanta meeting is not, and was never intended to be, a public gathering. We have extended no general invitations to attend. The get-together is a retreat for leaders of the various "via media" groups that have formed spontaneously in our dioceses. Our goals are to meet each other, to build relationships in Christ, and to seek the guidance of the Spirit for our common future together in the Episcopal Church. Because there has been so much interest in this event, we have scheduled a time for meeting with the press following our closing Eucharist. All are invited to celebrate the Eucharist with us on Saturday, March 27 at 11:30 AM at All Saints' Episcopal Church. The press time will follow at 12:30 PM . Working committee meetings and retreats of most organizations are not generally public meetings, and we hope that, given the nature of our gathering, you will respect our wish for privacy prior to the midday public events of March 27. Contact: Barbi Click PRESS RELEASE From: Since Wednesday, January 14, when the Washington Post revealed the contents of a confidential letter from the Rev. Geoff Chapman of the American Anglican Council (AAC) Committee on Adequate Episcopal Oversight, the AAC and its members have been issuing one disingenuous statement after another, trying to create a smoke screen that would prevent people from seeing the clear meaning of the letter. With the AAC handling arrangements for the organizational meeting this week of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes NACDP), the timing of the Post story could not have been worse for the AAC. The Chapman letter offers advice to parishes seeking to remove themselves from oversight by diocesan bishops who supported the decisions of the 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, USA (ECUSA), and the subsequent consecration of V. Gene Robinson, a homosexual living in a committed same-sex relationship, as Bishop of New Hampshire. Primarily, the letter illuminates and addresses the AAC-affiliated parishes' overriding desire -- to keep their property and avoid any obligations to the national church. Chapman advises a two-phased strategy by which parishes would request oversight from an AAC-approved bishop, join the NACDP and then seek to transfer their property and financial support to the diocese of the AAC-supplied Bishop. The letter also outlines a plan for clusters of parishes to leave the ECUSA and "realign" with the Network. Chapman confidently asserts that by the end of 2004, the heads (primates) of other regional churches in the Anglican Communion will recognize the NACDP as the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and negotiate property settlements between ECUSA and the Network parishes. If the primates fail to negotiate such settlements, then "disobedience of canon law on a widespread basis may be necessary." Since the Post broke the news of the strategy, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, AAC Vice President, Chairman of the Network of Anglican Bishops, and the appointed Moderator of the NACDP; the Rev. David Anderson, President of the AAC; the Rev. Kendall Harmon, Diocese of South Carolina Canon Theologian; and the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner of the Anglican Institute, a conservative church think-tank in Colorado, all have claimed that there was "nothing new" in the letter, and reiterated that they are working within the ECUSA to effect the changes they desire. Early reactions portrayed the letter as just about episcopal oversight. But the reading public could see that the letter covered much more. The most recent "explanation," offered in a letter to AAC members by Anderson, tries to shift responsibility and blame to everyone but the AAC. It is notable, however, that none of those associated with the AAC or the organizers of the new Network (except for Bishop John W. Howe of Central Florida) have disassociated themselves from any of the plans laid out in the letter. The letter speaks for itself. Property, not piety is keeping dissident parishes in the Episcopal Church. In the longer term, the AAC expects to use foreign intervention to trump American law and the Episcopal Church Constitution and Canons. Its leaders are assuring dissident parishes that the Anglican primates, a consultative body with no governing authority or standing in the United States, will ride to the rescue of Network parishes, negotiate property settlements and transfer the assets of 2.3-million-member church to a group representing perhaps a tenth of that body. The Chapman letter reveals the AAC's "realignment" for what it really is -- the overthrow of the Episcopal Church by extra-legal means. Delegations from several dioceses have been in Plano meeting behind closed doors to approve a structure for the NACDP. The closed doors are sadly symbolic of the participants' vision for the Episcopal Church. Oversight by an alternative bishop does not require a "network." The formation of the Network is essential to AAC plans because the Anglican Communion is structured around autonomous regional provinces (churches), not around individual dioceses or bishops. The AAC wants the Network to be recognized at the sole official Anglican body in the United States. Certainly, it wants to avoid the ecclesiastical limbo of dissident factions that have left the Episcopal Church over the years. The AAC expects its supporters among the foreign primates either to pressure the Archbishop of Canterbury to withdraw recognition from the Episcopal Church, or to use a recently appointed Anglican Communion commission to advocate radical reorganization of the communion by giving the primates coercive authority over national churches. The supporters of the AAC among the primates have frequently condemned the Episcopal Church for not heeding the non-binding resolution on human sexuality issued by the 1998 Lambeth Conference without acknowledging that the homophobic statements of some of their number are clearly contrary to the same resolution. The AAC has justified its actions on the grounds that, by consecrating a homosexual as a bishop, the Episcopal Church has been unfaithful to church doctrine, thus violating its own constitution and canons. However, this is a disputable point in a church that embraces varying interpretations of Scripture and whose official statement of belief is the Nicene Creed. Meanwhile, the AAC plans for episcopal oversight are in clear violation of multiple sections of the Episcopal Church Constitution and Canons, which forbid the transfer of property between non-contiguous dioceses and require that bishops have the permission of the diocesan bishop before acting within that diocese. The plans are also contrary to a covenant passed overwhelmingly by the House of Bishops in 2002 that outlined a plan for "supplemental episcopal care," the plan now being implemented by the ECUSA to address the needs of dissident conservative parishes. Chillingly, the Chapman letter assures parishes that there are AAC bishops ready to ignore the canons. Despite all of the efforts of the AAC to divide the Episcopal Church and polarize its membership, faithful Episcopalians are defending the treasured "via media," the middle ground of the church where multiple viewpoints and Biblical interpretations are respected. The organizations that have jointly issued this statement are representative of that middle ground. We call on loyal Episcopalians throughout the church to defend the traditional "middle way" by opposing any actions that advance the strategy outlined in the Chapman letter. We join with Bishop Don Johnson of West Tennessee in calling on Episcopalians to stop defending the AAC, to resign membership in that organization and to repudiate affiliation with the NACDP. We further call on Episcopalians to support and join the efforts of those individuals and organizations working for church unity. References: Contacts: The Rev. John Sorensen Ogden Brandt Dottie Pagliaro Barbi Click The Rev. Rick Matters The Rev. Dr. Richard W. Murphy Press Release Date: January 16, 2004: For Immediate Release Groups Praise the Strong Leadership of Bishop of West Tennessee Schenectady, NY; Charleston, S.C.; Orlando, FL, Fort Worth, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; Fresno, CA; Jacksonville, FL Bishop Don Johnson of West Tennessee has acted with laudable promptness and firmness in responding to the disclosure of the confidential plans of the American Anglican Council (AAC) to dismantle the Episcopal Church, U.S.A. Bishop Johnson did not vote in favor of consecrating Bishop Gene Robinson (the first openly homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church), and he has been a conservative voice working within the church and encouraging others to do likewise. But Bishop Johnson knows disloyalty when he sees it. The recent publication by the Washington Post of the letter from the Reverend Geoff Chapman, a member of the AAC "Committee on Adequate Episcopal Oversight," provided evidence of a secret agenda that the Bishop could not ignore. He has called on all within his diocese to disassociate themselves from an organization that he says intends "to methodically create anarchy in the Church" and "to destroy The Episcopal Church as it currently exists." As expected, supporters of the AAC have attacked Bishop Johnson for his actions, but we urge him to stay the course. We applaud Bishop Johnson's courageous stance and hope that other Bishops will take similar stands in their own dioceses. Further Information: John Sorensen Andrew Grimmke
Concerned Episcopalians of the St. Lawrence Deanery Dottie Pagliaro Leslie Poole Barbi Click The Rev. Rick Matters Earl M. Barker, Jr. Press Release From: Albany Via Media, Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, Fort Worth Via Media: Date: December 16, 2003 Anglican Mainstream Christmas Petition Effort Criticized as DeceptivePittsburgh, PA; Schenectady, NY; Fort Worth, TX, U.S.A.: When you see the Anglican Mainstream Christmas announcement claiming One Million signatures supporting the call for a "Network of Confessing Dioceses and Parishes", DON'T BELIEVE IT. To us, the petition campaign(www.anglican-mainstream.net/million.htm) uses a dubious signature counting method that does not meet any Christian ethical standard for honesty or truth-telling. Questionable counting. Most petition signatures are assembled the old-fashioned way, one signature at a time. Electronic websites now permit worldwide sign-up, such as this world-wide effort. Still, one should be able to assume that each signature represents one person. But in this counting, it seems one signature can sign up the whole family, a whole parish, or a whole diocese. Is this honest? Do all members of such communities really want to be counted? By December 4, the Anglican Mainstream online campaign had already counted 393,205 signatures. Since then, more worldwide "signatures" have been gathered as the American Anglican Council joined the effort. But as an example of questionable counting, just two bishops accounted for 168,000 people: Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth and Rt Rev Stephen K Nyorsok of the Diocese of Kitale, Kenya, together claimed their whole dioceses. In these cases a single individual has acted on behalf of the individuals thus counted in the signatures. We believe that those counted have not personally signed the statements in the "petition." Many may not even know that they are being counted as supporters. It matters not whether a bishop has limited the numbers of "signatures" to the proportion he believes support his position. The count was made without asking the individuals where they stood on this statement. Such "mass signatures"account for over 97% of the total signatures on this "petition." The Anglican Mainstream is a coalition of worldwide Anglicans uniting to support conservative US Episcopalians in their efforts to create a separate network of "confessing" parishes and dioceses, with Pittsburgh Bishop and AAC member Bob Duncan as convener. We call on our Diocesan Bishops Herzog, Iker and Duncan, who belong to both the Anglican Mainstream and to petition co-sponsor the American Anglican Council, to uphold the Ten Commandments and not "bear false witness" when seeking support for their network. For further information contact: Albany Via Media http://www.albanyviamedia.org/ Fort Worth Via Media Albany Via Media, Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh and Fort Worth Via Media are organizations of laity and clergy within their respective dioceses dedicated to remaining within the Episcopal Church. |