Updated Friday evening see below
The Church Times reports the story as US dons sackcloth and bans all new bishops
and also has a sidebar (though not yet on the public website) Canadians defiant on the committee report which was first reported here.
The BBC published US Church moves to avoid splits. This story starts:
The US Anglican Church says it will not appoint new bishops or bless same-sex relationships for at least one year.
But other reports from the USA indicate that when the House of Bishops said (emphasis added):
Nevertheless, we pledge not to authorize any public rites for the blessing of same sex unions, and we will not bless any such unions, at least until the General Convention of 2006
some of them were making a personal commitment not to bless such unions and were not speaking for all their clergy.
Episcopal News Service has a further report on the meeting, Episcopal bishops begin ‘new day’ of collegiality. Kendall Harmon says the information about the Diocese of South Carolina in this report is inaccurate.
Another news report was Episcopal leaders to hold up bishop ordinations—gay or not from the Chicago Tribune.
The Times website has No gay bishops? Then no bishops at all by Ruth Gledhill who concludes the article with:
My question is why they could not, for the sake of peace, simply go as far as the primates and Windsor requested, and no further. If, as Dr Williams has posited, unity is inseparable from truth, then for the sake of unity surely even the lesbian and gay lobby could have put their purple ambitions on hold for a couple of years while everyone tries to sort out the mess.
The public is invited to comment.
The Church of England Newspaper has this report:
US Church puts moratorium on consecrating all bishops
The NACDAP has published a statement from Bishop Duncan and the AAC has published A Statement from the President of the American Anglican Council on Communications Issued by the Episcopal Church House of Bishops. This claims that:
The Covenant Statement and the Word to the Church issued by the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops is insulting to the Primates of the Anglican Communion. While it aims at specific requests of the 2004 Windsor Report and the 2005 Primates Communiqué, it fails to fulfill clear expectations outlined therein. The House claimed to affirm the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral 1888, and yet they failed to repent of their decisions and subsequent actions contrary to Scripture as well as Anglican faith and order. Note there is no affirmation of the authority of Scripture or Lambeth 1.10, which were upheld by the primates. Are there not two mutually exclusive views presented in this covenant?
Reuters published Conservative U.S. Anglicans Attack Bishops’ Move.
Update
GetReligion has Everybody loves to see justice done — on somebody else
Fr Jake has A Closer Look at the Attempted Coup
Further Update
Ruth Gledhill has this report in The Times ‘These are apostolic leaders behaving like lawyers’
George Conger has this report in the Living Church Bishops’ Support of Covenant Statement Not Unanimous
Here are the comments I left at The Times:
“I’ve got a question for Ms. Gledhill: at long last, madam, have you NO DECENCY?
Requesting the *oppressed* bear additional burdens? (not a “lobby” putting on hold “ambitions”) Not respecting that the American Church made the conscientious decision to show solidarity with “the least of these” (to bear the cross *together*)?
Ms. Gledhill, you are a disgrace.”
See also Fulcrum response at http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/news/2005/20050318ecusahob.cfm