The plan is scheduled to be publicly released on Dec. 3 in Chicago at a gathering of the Common Cause Partnership, a coalition of conservative Anglicans who oppose moves within the Anglican Church of Canada toward blessing same-sex unions and the ordination of an openly gay man as an Episcopal bishop in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s quite disturbing, in my opinion, about this proposal is the determination to create a province based on theological grounds,\u201d\u009d Archbishop Hiltz said Nov.17. \u201cThe creation of provinces, as I have always understood it, is based on mission. It is based on a commitment to embrace and give flesh to an expression of the gospel in a particular context. There is a geography associated with that context, there is a set of cultural needs, a set of social needs.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
He also noted that the Anglican Consultative Council is the only body of the church that can create a province, and it does so, only after \u201cafter a long period of discernment and testing the viability and capacity for the province to maintain itself in the spirit of mission.\u201d\u009d The Anglican Consultative Council is also the only body of the church that includes bishops, clergy and laity.<\/p>\n