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Bishops offer plan to address alternative oversight requests

Based on reports from Episcopal News Service and Anglican Communion News Service.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and other bishops developed a proposal during a meeting in New York Nov. 27 that could provide a response to bishops and dioceses that have requested oversight from someone other than the presiding bishop.

The plan would provide for the appointment of a “primatial vicar” by the presiding bishop who would be her designated pastor to dioceses that have requested such oversight. Seven dioceses currently have made this request.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said he would give careful consideration to what he called “some imaginative proposals which represent, potentially, a very significant development.” Representatives of conservatives groups in the Episcopal Church don’t agree, calling it “unacceptable and unworkable” and falls short of what they requested.

Vicar to preside
The primatial vicar, who would be a bishop, could preside at consecrations of bishops in these dioceses and also could serve the dioceses on any other appropriate matters, either at the initiative of the presiding bishop or the request of the petitioning dioceses.

That person, who would be appointed by the presiding bishop in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, would be accountable to the presiding bishop.

He or she would report to an advisory panel composed of people selected by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the presiding bishop and the president of the House of Deputies, along with a bishop of the Episcopal Church selected by the dioceses involved.

The proposal makes clear that the advisory panel will function in accordance with the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.

The plan is provisional in nature, beginning Jan. 1, 2007, and continuing for three years. It has been submitted to the Archbishop of Canterbury and to the bishops of the petitioning dioceses.

The meeting at which this proposal was drafted followed one in September called to address this issue. That meeting ended without agreement on a way to deal with the requested alternative oversight.

Participants then included some of the bishops who had requested the alternative oversight; none of them attended the November meeting.

The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion, was present at the September meeting and was invited to the one in November.

Williams, others reply
An official reply to the primatial vicar concept came from Lambeth Palace on Dec. 1, saying Archbishop Williams gave “a cautious welcome to proposals outlined by the Episcopal Church in the United States to offer alternative forms of oversight to dissenting parishes and dioceses.

“Dr. Williams said that the proposals would contribute to the process of determining future relationships.”

The statement then quoted Williams as saying about the proposals, “I hope that they will mark a step forward in the long and difficult process of working out future relationships within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion in a manner faithful to the gospel requirements of forebearance and generosity.”

The Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, a group that advocates for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the Episcopal Church, commended the proposal as “protecting the polity of The Episcopal Church while offering a pastoral response to those who hold a minority theological opinion.”

She went on to say, “Integrity urges those dioceses that have requested alternative primatial oversight to accept this proposal so we can all get on with the work of the Gospel.”

‘Not what was asked’
Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, head of the Anglican Communion Network, a conservative group that includes the dioceses that requested the oversight, said in a statement Nov. 30 that the plan was “obviously not what was asked for.”

He said it was “neither primatial, nor oversight, nor is it an alternative to the spiritual authority of one who, by both teaching and action, has expressly rejected the Windsor Report and its recommendations.”

He did say the group would continue to study the proposal and reiterated his commitment to find a mediated solution to the crisis in The Episcopal Church.

Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth, one of the requesting dioceses, said he could not accept the plan in its present form.

He said, “This new proposal is deficient in that it seeks to reinforce the PB’s authority over us rather than provide an acceptable alternative. We cannot accept a Primatial Vicar appointed by her and accountable to her, who ‘could’ function for her only when so delegated by her.”

The Rev. David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, was also critical of the proposal, which he said “keeps all the power in her hands,” referring to Jefferts Schori. “Thus she makes all the decisions. It is a non-starter.”

Provides some space
Bishop Peter Lee of Virginia, co-convenor of the meetings that drafted the response said, “The group was conscious of the need to respond quickly to the needs of parishes and dioceses which felt themselves to be under pressure and sought a proposal which could be put into place without delay.

“Accordingly, this is a provisional measure that is entirely within the discretion of the Presiding Bishop and requires no canonical change nor any action by the General Convention. It is intended to provide some space for dioceses and congregations that feel they need it while the Anglican Communion sorts out more lasting measures to deal with differences. Those of us who drafted it hope it will be received and used in good faith.”