 
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
2 bishops to reach out to conservative Episcopalians
Monday, April 10, 2000
By Ann Rodgers-Melnick, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Bishop John Rodgers of Ambridge, who was consecrated in Singapore as an Anglican missionary bishop to disaffected conservative Episcopalians in the United States, is pleased that recent high-level Anglican and Episcopal meetings did not declare his consecration invalid.
But neither did they approve it.
On Jan. 29, Rodgers was consecrated as a bishop of the Anglican Province of Southeast Asia and Charles Murphy of South Carolina as a bishop of the Anglican Province of Rwanda. They were sent back to the United States to start theologically conservative mission parishes within the boundaries of Episcopal dioceses whose bishops have denied central Christian doctrines or ordained gay priests.
The 2.4 million-member Episcopal Church is one of 37 self-governing provinces in the 70 million member Anglican Communion. Its spiritual head is Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey. The Anglican primates met recently in Portugal, and last week the Episcopal bishops met in California.
"They left us where we have been all along -- recognized by our provinces [of South East Asia and Rwanda], but not by the archbishop of Canterbury. That's fine with me," Rodgers said.
"The congregations that are with me are part of the [Anglican] communion through me, and I am part of the communion through South East Asia. That is all that we need for the authority to move ahead."
They now will begin to ordain, confirm and "receive" congregations, he said. Rodgers has seven congregations that already had broken from the Episcopal Church, while Murphy has several in the process of leaving. Many others have expressed interest in becoming missions of South East Asia or Rwanda, Rodgers said.
Recently, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold of the Episcopal Church wrote that bishops must "be as sensitive as possible to the diverse perspectives of those who are part of our dioceses" -- an apparent message to liberal bishops not to mistreat conservative parishes. Griswold also said that people who cannot accept their bishop's teaching, they should have the "freedom to go in peace."
Rodgers would like to meet with Griswold to discuss whether those whose conscience compels them to leave the Episcopal Church might be able to take their property with them.
"I think Frank Griswold is a very concerned man, he is a very pastoral man ... I know that he has said that his door is always open," Rodgers said. "I think perhaps it may be time for us to sit down together and talk about some way in which this thing can be handled without lawsuits and unnecessary public pain."
As for the Portugal meeting, Rodgers was pleased that the primates stressed accountability and biblical authority but disappointed that they identified homosexuality, not fidelity to historic Christianity, as the basic problem.
Referring to Rodgers and Murphy, the primates said, "We believe that a rapprochement and reconciliation concerning any regularizing of the status of the bishops must include" discussions between the primates of the United States, Rwanda and Southeast Asia.
James Solheim, a spokesman for the Episcopal Church, said, "I don't think there is much chance at this point that the Episcopal Church will regularize them."
In 1998 the world's Anglican bishops voted 526-70 that gay relationships were "incompatible with Scripture." But many U.S. bishops ordain openly gay priests and some Episcopal bishops have challenged central Christian doctrines about Jesus' incarnation, atoning death and resurrection.
Those who ordained Rodgers and Murphy believe those bishops have broken from the Anglican communion and that their dioceses are now mission territory. But last week the primates said only a "formal and public repudiation" of the Bible as the standard of faith, of the early creeds, of the sacraments and of the authority of bishops could place a diocese outside the Anglican communion.
Nevertheless, they scolded those who had broken ranks over gay ordination.
"We strongly urge such dioceses to weigh the effects of their actions and to listen to the expressions of pain, anger and perplexity from other parts of the communion. We urge all bishops to recognize that further public actions ... strain the reality of mutual accountability in a global communion," they said.
But Griswold emerged from the Episcopal bishops' meeting saying those who believe it is right to ordain homosexuals remain free to do so.
Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, who spoke there on behalf of conservative Episcopalians, believes his more liberal colleagues showed appreciation for the concerns of conservative Episcopalians, James McCaskill, Duncan's clerk, said. Duncan also believes the primate's statement from Portugal was "a good start" toward resolving some of those concerns, McCaskill said.