From the Irish Gazette:
Following the debate on the Anglican covenant process at the meeting of the Church of England General Synod earlier this month in York, the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, told the Gazette that if the bishops of The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States do not meet the demands of the Dar es Salaam Primates’ Meeting required by next September’s deadline, and if the bishops of the Global South decline to attend next year’s Lambeth Conference, as many as six in ten Church of England bishops could be considering their own positions about attending the ten-yearly episcopal gathering.
However, Bishop Scott- Joynt added that such bishops would feel “constrained” by their loyalty to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who personally invites the bishops.
Bishop Scott-Joynt also said that if the US bishops were not attending and the Global South bishops were, his estimated four in ten minority among the English bishops would be facing similar considerations to those of the majority in the opposite situation.
Following the debate on the Anglican covenant process at the meeting of the Church of England General Synod earlier this month in York, the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, told the Gazette that if the bishops of The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States do not meet the demands of the Dar es Salaam Primates’ Meeting required by next September’s deadline, and if the bishops of the Global South decline to attend next year’s Lambeth Conference, as many as six in ten Church of England bishops could be considering their own positions about attending the ten-yearly episcopal gathering.
However, Bishop Scott- Joynt added that such bishops would feel “constrained” by their loyalty to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who personally invites the bishops.
Bishop Scott-Joynt also said that if the US bishops were not attending and the Global South bishops were, his estimated four in ten minority among the English bishops would be facing similar considerations to those of the majority in the opposite situation.
OK, so what he is saying is that 60% of the C of E Bishops would have a difficult decision to make regarding Lambeth attendance if TEC doesn’t comply with DeS. And 40% of the C of E Bishops would have a difficult decision to make regarding Lambeth attendance if TEC doesn’t attend. That seems like a wild guesstimate to me.
“That seems like a wild guesstimate to me.”
Brian, I think you’re probably right. The reason this is news, however, is that it shows that there are more authority figures in the Communion other than the Africans who think the American province’s innovations should be stopped. It goes to show just how deep the divisions are in this crisis the reappraisers have created. The numbers are probably arbitrary, but the anger towards TEC isn’t.
#2
These guys are predictable. It works both ways, though. No doubt there is anger towards TEC; there is also plenty of anger on the other side.