Who We Are in Communion Partners

From The Living Church-

The Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson spoke about Communion Partners on Feb. 6 at Church of the Incarnation, Dallas. The text that follows is a condensed version of his remarks. — The Editors

Communion Partners is a growing international fellowship of Anglican and Episcopal primates, bishops, rectors, cathedral deans and theologians dedicated to mission partnership in the Anglican Communion and Christian theological formation in the Anglican Tradition. Communion Partners seeks to enable Episcopalians and Anglicans to emphasize Communion life and accountability as fundamental to our identity, particularly in those areas within the Episcopal Church that have torn the fabric of the Communion.

The vision of Communion Partners originated with a conversation over these very issues and concerns. In 2007, a group of 13 bishops — who are all committed to remaining in the Episcopal Church, but with a strong commitment to maintaining a continued relationship with the wider Communion — gathered to talk. Our concern was borne out of serious concern with the actions of the Episcopal Church and disregard of the Windsor Process and associated pronouncements of concern that were being made by portions of the Anglican Communion. Through all of our meetings and work dating back to General Convention 2003, we have been supported by leadership of the Anglican Communion Institute.

Out of continued concern for the state of the Episcopal Church as related to our place within the larger Communion, the Communion Partners plan was framed into an outline that ultimately four bishops — John Howe (Central Florida), Jim Stanton (Dallas), Michael Smith (North Dakota) and I — sought to share with the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/2/12/who-we-are-in-communion-partners

Rectors Strive to be ‘Theologically Serious’ Voice

From The Living Church-

Two members of the Communion Partners rectors advisory committee say the group is striving to be an irenic voice as the Episcopal Church discusses the Anglican Communion’s proposed covenant.

“We aim to be constructive in relationships between orthodox clergy and their bishops whose theology may not be the same,” said the Rev. Leigh Spruill, rector of St. George’s Church, Nashville.

Communion Partners has begun filling the void left by congregations and dioceses affiliated with the Anglican Communion Network, but it is cautious about becoming another political force within the Episcopal Church.

“We’re trying to find a better way than the political structures that have arisen in response to volatile issues,” said the Rt. Rev. Anthony Burton, former bishop of Saskatchewan and rector of Church of the Incarnation, Dallas.

Both rectors believe the group’s most recent statement, released on Sept. 11, reinforces its stated mission of being “an important sign of our connectedness in and vision for the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.”

“It’s a hand waving across the seas, signaling that we want to remain faithful to the Anglican Communion,” Fr. Spruill said.

“Anglicanism is undergoing what is potentially an exciting evolution in its polity,” Bishop Burton said. “It is finding itself led to become a genuinely global church. I think we need to tend, carefully and together, to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

Bishop Burton became affiliated with the embryonic stages of Communion Partners in September 2006, when he joined more than 20 other bishops for a meeting at the Camp Allen Conference Center in Navasota, Texas. Most of those bishops helped form Communion Partners, and more than 70 rectors have since signed on as well.

“It’s a theologically serious voice, it’s a tolerant voice, and it’s one that seeks to be accountable to others,” Bishop Burton said. “Ecumenically, it’s important to send a loud and clear signal that Episcopalians are both humble and responsible, and we don’t have any doctrine of manifest destiny.”

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/9/16/rectors-strive-to-be-theologically-serious-voice

'Leaving Isn't the Answer'

Christianity Today interviews Russell Levinson a conservative and rector of the largest Episcopal Church in the US. He makes the case for staying in TEC

In four weeks, top Anglican bishops and archbishops will gather in Alexandria, Egypt, to determine the next steps for the worldwide Anglican Communion, deeply divided over gays in the church, women's ordination, and the authority of Scripture.

Presbyterian, Methodist, and other mainline Protestant pastors have been closely watching the Anglican struggles, since many Protestant groups are under many of the same theological pressures.

Among Anglican conservatives, the spectrum of response is widening. Many pastors and churches are joining the new Anglican Church of North America. But not every conservative pastor or church is jumping ship.

Recently, Russell Levenson Jr. contacted Christianity Today on behalf of his church, St. Martin's Houston. The congregation of more than 8,200 members is the largest single parish church within the Episcopal Church (TEC). It's not surprising that it is in Houston, the land of megachurches; it is also no surprise that this church is conservative, evangelical, and healthy. The surprise is that its rector (senior pastor) is staying within the Episcopal Church. He has joined with other conservatives in the Communion Partners Plan.

Members of the plan support the moratoria on additional gay bishops and same-sex blessings, and also views the draft Anglican Covenant as one way to facilitate renewal. Levenson agreed to an exclusive e-mail interview to detail why he and his church are not leaving. (The following transcript has been edited for length.)

Worth the read and it can be found here-

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/januaryweb-only/101-12.0.html

Solemn rite or happy meal?

Dug LeBlanc reflects on our attitude toward communion. From Episcopal Life.

News Item, October 21: The Diocese of Sydney's General Synod has voted again to allow laity to preside at celebrations of Holy Communion and to allow deacons (both men and women) to preside as well.
My reaction, once news of the synod's decision began circulating in U.S.--based weblogs: Wake me when the argument is over.

I have exaggerated my lack of outrage, but not outrageously. My longtime friend and colleague Terry Mattingly grew up Southern Baptist, spent more than 10 years as an Episcopalian and then became Eastern Orthodox.

He enjoys telling the story of attending Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where robed choir members processed with reverence down the center aisle and some bowed before sitting in their pews.

Terry asked about the significance of the bowing, and the answer he heard was remarkable: That's what you're supposed to do. Despite its stained-glass windows and the liturgical calendar it observed, this church had no concept of a Communion host being the body of Christ, in some form, and therefore worthy of brief reverence by choir members.

From that experience, Terry concluded that if a Southern Baptist congregation had a higher-than-average interest in liturgical symbols, its members likely had little understanding of the doctrine behind the symbols.

I wonder if, for many Episcopalians, this could be an accurate summary of what we understand about Holy Communion.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_103579_ENG_HTM.htm

Communion Partner Rectors: No Interest in New Province

The communion partners are a group of conservative clergy dedicated to orthodoxy and resisting the innovations that are occurring in some parts of the Episcopal Church. From the Living Church-

While understanding that for some conservative constituents another path may soon be chosen, the advisory board of the Communion Partner rectors said recently that a new Anglican province in North America “is not something we desire or a structure in which we wish to participate.”

The Communion Partner rectors met Nov. 6-7 at St. Martin’s Church, Houston. The initial list of rectors has grown from 17 parishes representing 25,000 communicants to 45 parishes representing 42,000 communicants, according to a news release prepared by the group.

The group said that although they appreciate the “serious challenges of this present season in our greater Communion and The Episcopal Church,” they were “firmly committed to remain in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, respecting and honoring the proper authority of our bishops and working in concert with them to strengthen our voice with the church.

“We wish to support and encourage the Windsor process, the development of an Anglican Covenant and the Instruments of Communion. We believe this is the path Christ is calling us to follow together with faithful leadership throughout the world-wide Anglican Communion.”

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2008/11/19/communion-partner-rectors-no-interest-in-new-province

Communion Partner Rectors Meeting

Chris Seitz reports on the Communion Partners meeting in Texas, The Communion Partners is a group of clergy (Priests and Bishops) who are committed to staying in the Episcopal Church and working for orthodoxy.

The Communion Partner Rectors met at St Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston 5-7 November. Forty Rectors were able to be present. We were supported by the Bishops of Texas, Western Louisiana, Western Kansas and Central Florida, who were able to be present as representatives of the fifteen Bishops involved with Communion Partners.

The spirit of our gathering was high and encouraging. We are aware of the latitude that is afforded to us to differentiate from trends in the Episcopal Church we do not share. We rejoice in the mission linkages we have nurtured in the past and that we will work to forge in our present season. Our main concern is building up these mission links, reinforcing our Anglican theological identity, and identifying ways to build up the next generation of theological leadership.

http://covenant-communion.com/?p=979