San Antonio, Texas
The executive council of the Episcopal Church in the United States has passed its strongest condemnation yet of Anglican Mission in America, warning of possible schism and describing the existence of the right wing faction as “untenable.”
Addressing “the inherent danger which comes from schism,” members of the ECUSA executive council said that they had “followed with sadness the formation and implementation of an ecclesial body called The Anglican Mission in America,” and that they were “saddened and grieved” by the group’s ordination of bishops in Denver last year.
“We affirm with the Archbishop of Canterbury that these ordinations, like the ones in Singapore, were at best irregular,” the council’s resolution said.
The resolution says the “coexistence of parallel bodies within one province,” with both claiming communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, is “untenable.”
In addition, it says, “the consecration of bishops in ECUSA without the canonical process of nomination, election and consent confuses our people and undermines our unity.
“Further, we consider bishops of our church who participate in any irregular ordinations to the episcopate to be in violation of their ordination vows to conform to the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church and to guard our church’s faith, unity and discipline as well as its constitutions and canons,” the resolution states.
Archbishop Datuk Yong Ping Chung of South East Asia and Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, Bishops John Rucyahana and Venuste Mutiganda of Rwanda were joined by retired ECUSA bishops Alex Dickson of West Tennessee and FitzSimons Allison of South Carolina in the Denver consecrations.
Archbishop of Caterbury George Carey later condemned the consecrations.
The statement, passed unanimously, ends by calling for “dialogue at the deepest level regarding our differences.”