The Very Next Day...

From The Living Church;

Saying that the Episcopal Church lacked accountability, the rectors of two parishes in the Diocese of Olympia told the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner on Oct. 19 that their congregations had voted overwhelmingly to seek independence from the Episcopal Church and to affiliate with the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti, Bishop of Recife in the Anglican Province of Brazil.

Contacted in London by telephone on Oct. 20, Bishop Cavalcanti said his decision to accept pastoral care for the two parishes was “a temporary pastoral response to an emergency and the continued defiance [of Windsor Report recommendations] by North American bishops.” Bishop Cavalcanti added that he is prepared to offer oversight to at least two other Episcopal churches and that there would be many more unless the American and Canadian bishops honor the moratorium on further same-sex blessings and the ordination of non-celibate homosexual persons called for by the Lambeth Commission on Communion in the Windsor Report.

“We did not create this problem,” Bishop Cavalcanti said. “There are moments in history when we must be willing to make a stand.”

What was it I believe I just read in the Windsor Report, released one day before this incident?

We call upon those bishops who believe it is their conscientious duty to intervene in provinces, dioceses and parishes other than their own:
* to express regret for the consequences of their actions
* to affirm their desire to remain in the Communion, and
* to effect a moratorium on any further interventions.
We also call upon these archbishops and bishops to seek an accommodation with the bishops of the dioceses whose parishes they have taken into their own care.
We further call upon those diocesan bishops of the Episcopal Church (USA) who have refused to countenance the proposals set out by their House of Bishops to reconsider their own stance on this matter. If they refuse to do so, in our view, they will be making a profoundly dismissive statement about their adherence to the polity of their own church.

Is this just one isolated incident? I don't think so. Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria, just completed a 16 day tour of various cities in the U.S., where he intends to establish alternative parishes. Following the release of the Windsor Report, The Living Church quotes him as stating;

In the absence of any signs of repentance and reform from those who have torn the fabric of our Communion, and while there is continuing oppression of those who uphold the faith, we cannot forsake our duty to provide care and protection for those who cry out for our help.

After all, we had a full 24 hours to show signs of repentence and reform. You snooze, you lose, I guess.

Now that the Report has been ignored, and once again the ECUSA orchard is declared open for free plum picking by foreign bishops, where do we go from here? Do we take the high road and declare a unilateral moratorium? In the name of unity, do we allow these blustering buzzards to continue to feed off of our open wounds?

Quite discouraging.

J.