Many of the news reports I am reading and hearing are characterizing the House of Bishops communications are a refusal of either a process to care for conservatives who cannot agree with having gay bishops or gay blessings or else what was rejected was described as a second jurisdiction.
This is inaccurate.
The Pastoral Council and the Primatial Vicar as proposed is not only about caring for dissenting dioceses and parishes. It is also about monitoring the behavior of the entire Episcopal Church. In the Communique section on the Pastoral Council, see points a, b, c, e, f, g and h (that's all but one of the bullets in that section). See also the section on the Primatial Vicar, especially point c.
The problem is not caring for conservative dioceses and parishes, we have DEPO and we have the previous proposal for a Primatial Vicar. The first was accepted by the Communion and the second was accepted by the ABC. The problem is that the dissenting churches, certain groups and some Primates want a process wherein there is no accountability to the Episcopal Church.
Let's be very clear about what was responded to and why.
(See ACNS #4253, February 19, 2007.)
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