Response to the Communiqué from the Primates' Meeting of February 2007
By the Rt. Rev. Thomas Clark Ely, Bishop of Vermont
March 4, 2007
(Published in the April 2007 Mountain Echo)

To my sisters and brothers in the Diocese of Vermont:
            My hope when I began my period of sabbatical leave in December was to step back completely from engagement with the Diocese of Vermont and to focus on my chosen theme of the global mission vocation of the bishop and on Sabbath rest. With the exception of two letters to you about my times in Sudan and El Salvador, I have been able to do that, thanks to the good work of the Sabbatical Planning Team, the Ministry Support Team and many others throughout our diocese. I am most grateful for this fruitful and restful time, and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you when I return to work in April.
            I write now, however, because I want to offer some preliminary thoughts about the communiqué issued by the primates of the member provinces of the Anglican Communion following their meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, February 15-19. It bears directly, I believe, not only on how I as a bishop—and we as a diocese—will be able to engage in global mission with our sisters and brothers in the Anglican Communion, but also on how The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Vermont will be able to continue our participation as full members of the Anglican Communion.
            I am pleased that our presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, was fully included, contrary to the expressed desire of a small number of the primates, in what must have been a very challenging gathering. Her election by the primates of the Americas as their representative to the primates’ standing committee is a sign of hope.
            The Anglican Communion has been historically a fellowship of independent churches sharing “bonds of affection,” a common heritage from the Church of England and communion with that church’s Archbishop of Canterbury. Until recently, acceptance of a variety of cultural expressions of that heritage has been the norm. Since the late 1990s, however, a desire on the part of some to define more clearly the limits to Anglican diversity has led to proposals for a formal covenant among member provinces of the communion and for structures with greater authority to determine the appropriateness of the actions of communion members.
            The primates’ February communiqué and the draft covenant document that accompanied it continue that trend, a trend I find troubling. I believe both documents should receive thoughtful and prayerful consideration at all levels of The Episcopal Church, but, as I have said on other occasions, I strongly believe that whatever covenant we develop should be first and foremost a covenant in mission. Such a covenant has already been commended to the churches of the Anglican Communion by the Anglican Consultative Council at its meeting in Nottingham in June 2005. The Executive Council of The Episcopal Church proposed a resolution to the 2006 General Convention (A126) commending the covenant for study by congregations and dioceses. Since that resolution was one of those the General Convention did not have time to consider, it was adopted by Executive Council at its November 2006 meeting. It may be found here.
            The primates devoted a significant amount of their time in Dar es Salaam to discussions about The Episcopal Church and our response at General Convention 2006 to the Windsor Report. A subgroup appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury (on which he participated) concluded that 75th General Convention “took the Windsor Report and the recommendations adopted by the Primates extremely seriously,” that the requests for an expression of regret and for a moratorium on the election of bishops living in same-gender unions were met, but that ambiguity remains about the request for a moratorium on the authorization of public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions.
            The primates’ communiqué asks the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church to “make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention” and to “confirm that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion.” They further request an answer by September 30, 2007, and threaten adverse consequences for our relationship with the Anglican Communion if these reassurances are not given.
            In my judgment, these requests invite the House of Bishops to declare that, for the sake of unity, we will forsake our own Baptismal Covenant to “seek and serve Christ in all people” and to “respect the dignity of every human person.” I am not prepared to do that. In this diocese, we have carefully and prayerfully considered our commitment to the inclusion of all, not only as recipients of our pastoral care but also as participants in ministry at all levels. I am not willing to compromise our spiritual, pastoral, and justice commitments as Christians to the many faithful gay and lesbian clergy and lay members of this church for a false and deceptive unity.
            The communiqué pays considerable attention to the primates’ pastoral concern for the small minority in The Episcopal Church who are not willing to accept the ministry of their own bishop or our presiding bishop, but it shows no awareness of this church’s honest and faithful struggle to live into the demands of our Baptismal Covenant by moving toward full inclusion of all. It proposes a “Pastoral Council” that will be given unprecedented authority in the affairs of this church. It is, ostensibly, aimed at permitting those not happy with the direction of this church to remain, but I believe it moves the Anglican Communion in a radically new and disturbing direction. I encourage the House of Bishops and the Executive Council to be extremely cautious about accepting this proposal.
            While it is tempting to forgo a portion of my sabbatical and attend the House of Bishops meeting later this month, I have decided that this would dishonor the commitment we have in this diocese to the importance of sabbaticals and would be an over-reaction to the recent communiqué from the primates. Instead, I shall continue to pay attention to the theme of my sabbatical and to welcome the Sabbath rest that this coming month offers me. I will share this letter with the Presiding Bishop so that my sentiments will be clear to her. I know that many others in the House of Bishops share my convictions with regard to these matters and that they will make their voices heard.
            In closing, I offer this serious suggestion to the current circumstances. I suggest that the Anglican Communion consider adopting the Baptismal Covenant of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and the Covenant for Communion in Mission for the next ten years and see how God works in our lives when they become guides for our common mission. My sabbatical times in Sudan and El Salvador have deepened my conviction that such mission is the proper focus for our church. As I said in my address last fall at our Diocesan Convention,

It is my conviction that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion need to reclaim participation in God’s reconciling mission as a defining mark of our koinonia—our communion and community. Narrowly defining what it means to be Anglican on the basis of one or two wedge issues is not the work of koinonia. A communion-wide Covenant for Mission, like that proposed by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Mission and Evangelism, would serve our koinonia and God’s reconciling mission far better. Let mission be the agenda of the church. Let mission be the agenda for General Convention. Let mission be the agenda for the Primates. Let mission be the agenda for Lambeth 2008. Let mission be our agenda.

Faithfully,
+Thomas

Go to Primates' Meeting index page (this site)
Go to Bishop Ely's sabbatical page