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CENTRAL FLORIDA BISHOP RESPONDS TO DR. SANDERS
By John W. Howe
VIRTUEONLINE EXCLUSIVE
I have read with great interest Robert Sanders' essay regarding whether or not one should remain an Episcopalian. He argues his case well.
But I believe there is a fatal flaw in his position. He believes that the compromises of ECUSA necessitate his breaking "Eucharistic Fellowship" with its members; BUT his associations with the AMiA constitute a legitimate expression of unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity.
But here is the rub: BOTH ECUSA AND AMiA DEFINE THEMSELVES IN TERMS OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH CANTERBURY. ECUSA directly, and AMiA indirectly (through Rwanda and Southeast Asia.) If Robert is (now) in communion with the AMiA (through Chuck Murphy), then he is in communion with Rwanda (through Emmanuel Kolini), and thus in communion with Canterbury (through Rowan Williams). [Note, however, that neither the present or former Archbishop of Canterbury, Williams or Carey, has yet recognized the legitimacy of the AMiA connection!].
And yet Williams is (at this point, at least) still in communion with Frank Griswold, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, and Samuel Johnson Howard (Sanders' former bishop, in Florida), and ECUSA and the Diocese of Florida.
So how has Sanders purified his associations by this transfer? He is now in communion with those who are still in communion with those with whom he does not wish to be in communion! If Rowan Williams ever says, "ECUSA, or this part of ECUSA, or this bishop, or this province, or this diocese is no longer in communion with Canterbury," then I will no longer be in communion with that National Church, province, diocese or bishop.
But until he does so, I believe it is a strange irrelevance for an individual member of the clergy to make such a pronouncement while still defining himself as an Anglican.
What we need to do is allow the process begun by the appointment of the Commission on Communion to continue to unfold; we need for ECUSA to respond to the recommendations of the Windsor Report and the Communique of the Primates (which will happen at next summer's General Convention); and we need the Archbishop of Canterbury to determine whether ECUSA has then decided to "walk together" with the rest of the Communion or to "walk apart" from it. Until then maintaining Eucharistic Fellowship would seem to be a charitable response to the present tensions and divisions among us.
The Right Rev. John W. Howe
Episcopal Bishop of Central Florida
1017 East Robinson Street
Orlando, Florida 32801 407-423-3567
BCF3@aol.com
