TEC Bishops tell Primates to go take a running jump
Remember that Primates meeting last month? The one where the Primates issued a Communique and a list of Recommendations in order to bring TEC back into the life of the Communion? One of those recommendations was that the TEC House of Bishops would announce a unanimous moratorium on consecrating as Bishops those who were in a same-sex union and to introduce a Primatial Vicar to oversee orthodox dioceses and parishes. Here’s the response of the House of Bishops:
Resolved, the House of Bishops affirms its desire that The Episcopal Church remain a part of the councils of the Anglican Communion; and Resolved, the meaning of the Preamble to the Constitution of The Episcopal Church is determined solely by the General Convention of The Episcopal Church; and Resolved, the House of Bishops believes the proposed Pastoral Scheme of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué of February 19, 2007 would be injurious to The Episcopal Church and urges that the Executive Council decline to participate in it; and Resolved, the House of Bishops pledges itself to continue to work to find ways of meeting the pastoral concerns of the Primates that are compatible with our own polity and canons.
What I absolutely love though is this phrase in their second resolution:
Although we are unable to accept the proposed Pastoral Scheme, we declare our passionate desire to remain in full constituent membership in both the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church.
Ummm… did they not understand that accepting the proposed Pastoral Scheme was the designated way to declare their “passionate desire to remain in full constituent membership in both the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church”.
Shut the door on the way out please TEC.
So – they’ve really no idea what’s about to hit them have they?
ECUSA abandons GOD would be a more effective headline – if they hadn’t done that years and years ago.
Rumour from the meeting is that the network & FiF bishops all left in disgust long before this came out – and furthermore, that San Joaquin, South Carolina and Pittsburgh at least are scambling to organise Diocesan conventions as soon as their canons permit :-)
Time to go!
Any divorce lawyer will be familiar with this procedure. Your client has committed adultery and now wants a divorce. Problem: it is not possible to petition for divorce on the grounds of your *own* adultery. So what to do, what to do?
Easy: you petition on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour” – i.e. the unreasonable behaviour of your spouse that *drove* you to adultery.
It’s basically the same manoeuvre going on here: it’s TEC’s own “adulterous” actions that has actually shattered the Anglican Communion, but now they want to say the problem was the “unreasonable behaviour” of everybody else. They get to flounce off but feeling like *they* were the innocent, wronged party. Everyone’s a winner. *sigh*