Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Friday, November 29th, 2013
An “Ecclesiology Committee” committee advising the House of Bishops has released a “Primer” on polity prepared with the assistance of various consultants identified at the end of the document. The identity of those preparing this document””most have participated as counsel or witnesses or have been listed as potential witnesses in the various lawsuits””makes obvious that the primary purpose of this document is its perceived usefulness in litigation. ACI principals have also appeared as witnesses in this litigation. This is our response to the claims asserted in this Primer.
1. Claim:
“Final authority in matters concerning all was vested in General Convention and, in due course, Executive Council between Conventions [5]”¦. From the beginning until now, [the General Convention] has limited its decisions with respect to specific local situations, but in making decisions for the whole church, its authority is supreme [9]”¦. Episcopalians have, since 1785, consistently assigned final authority and function in our church to the General Convention itself [10].”
ACI Response:
It is likely that the sole purpose of this Primer is to make these two (related) claims about final authority and supremacy. We note the following:
”¢ As first written and submitted to the House of Bishops this document read: “”˜Metropolitical authority’ (see below) was vested in General Convention and, in due course, Executive Council between Conventions”¦ [5]” and “Episcopalians have, since 1785, consistently assigned the metropolitical authority and function of our church to the General Convention itself [10].” But this language met considerable objection from the bishops who reviewed it in September and it had to be deleted. A vague “final authority in matters concerning all” was subsequently substituted by the drafters of the document, one implication of which is that “final authority” concerning diocesan matters rests with the diocese. And the history of this document and its drafting demonstrate that even the assembled bishops cannot agree with their own “Ecclesiology Committee” as to the nature of TEC polity. In any event, none of the terms “supreme,” “metropolitical authority,” or “final authority” is found in TEC’s Constitution.
”¢ Many in TEC assert and sincerely believe these claims about General Convention’s authority, but others do not. This is not new. The nature of TEC’s polity has been the subject of debate for two centuries. TEC’s own expert witness, Bruce Mullin, testified at the recent trial in Quincy that “the question, of course, is how hierarchical it is, and that’s a long-standing debate”¦.”
Personally, I imagine KJS blew a gasket when she read that the bishops thought metropolitan authority was to be found anywhere other than her office, and that was what got the line changed, not some sudden show of backbone by bishops in table discussions led by Delphi trained facilitators. Clearly, since she can depose anyone she wants, sue anyone she wants, and accept “renunciations” that were never made, the PB is the one with metropolitan powers. Indeed, although the Archbishops in Britain and Australia claim to be metropolitans, they have no real authority at all, while KJS has accumulated dictatorial powers to her office, which constitutionally is only vested with the authority of the gavel at HoB meetings.
I should have begun by thanking the “3 guys with a website” (perhaps I should say 4, since Mark McCall’s brief from the Quincy trial plays a large part in the analysis and provides many of the references) for giving up some of their family time over the last couple days to address this so promptly. They did their usual thorough and excellent analysis.
It shouldn’t but it continues to absolutely stun me at the amount of resources – time, talent an treasure – that the national church and Mrs. Schori are willing to expend on their project to rewrite history.
#3 My priest this morning preached on the unbelievable gift of God as a child. One thing he said was, if Jesus were coming today, none of us would hear about it because we are rich. Garrison Keillor used to say the shepherds were the 1st century equivalent of illegal alien parking lot attendants. The point is, none of the wealth being expended on the current religious warfare will do any of us any good at the foot of the cross. Buildings,trappings and endowments are an impediment to salvation for all of us.
The spiritual corruption of TEC’s hierarchy is why I left, and will never again be a member of a hierarchical church.