On Friday The 13th, Bishop Peter James Lee sent the following letter out to twenty one clergy whose congregations, following the Diocese of Virginia Protocol, voted to separate from the Episcopal Church, and whom he inhibited following his sudden cancellation of his own Property Committee as well as the stand-still agreement – all designed to negotiate amicably.<\/p>\n
Notice that Bishop Lee introduces a new phrase, a new organization, in his Friday the 13th Letter. It’s called The Communion of The Episcopal Church (as opposed to the Anglican Communion). Since the inception of the Episcopal Church, when churches won recognition from the Archbishop of Canterbury himself and then went to form dioceses, the word “communion” has meant the Anglican Communion.<\/p>\n
Church of the Apostles, Fairfax, was able to call a New Zealand priest to be their rector because he was an Anglican priest. Bishop Lee is “in communion” with the Anglican bishops in New Zealand and so the clerical orders are recognized. That is what “communion” means. It means that all these clergy and bishops have orders that are valid to celebrate the Eucharist….<\/p>\n