I had to make a judgment call, and my judgment, after reflection and prayer, was that I had to join the intervention, because to allow such a false read of TEC polity to potentially help form legal precedent constitutes a danger that could bring harm to the church for decades to come, and resisting this outcome trumps my other concerns.<\/p>\n
As an illuminating case in point, I would draw your attention to a resolution we will be considering next week in Indianapolis, A101, Convene Consultation on Diocesan Effectiveness. This resolution asks for a study of \u201cthe potential for re-aligning dioceses to maximize their effective witness and ministry.\u201d\u009d While this may be a relatively small thing in itself, and might actually make good sense, if the top-down (with General Convention as the \u201ctop\u201d\u009d) hierarchical model is accepted, then it sets in motion a potential chain of events that could end with General Convention imposing redrawn boundaries on dioceses without their consent. At a time when the Episcopal Church is shrinking, especially in more sparsely populated areas of the country, this is not idle speculation. If the interpretation of our polity offered by the attorneys for the Episcopal Church in Quincy and Fort Worth is allowed to prevail, there is nothing at all that could prevent such a scenario. It’s one thing if two or more dioceses decide they want to shuffle and re-deal the cards voluntarily. It’s quite another for that to be imposed on them. It would not be anything that our forebears in this church would recognize.<\/p>\n
I respect those who have a contrary understanding of our polity. While it is always possible that I could be mistaken\u201d\u201dit has happened several times\u201d\u201dI am at present confident in the correctness of the view I hold. I recognize that taking this discussion into the secular courts certainly escalates tension and raises the stakes, which is regrettable. My chief concern is that a very particular property dispute in Texas not become the vehicle for supporting an erroneous understanding of the polity of the church to which I am committed, the constitution and canons of which I have freely vowed to uphold, and to which my diocese freely accedes.<\/p>\n