Here is a quick run down of some recent happenings in the American Episcopal Church and it’s differences with the Worldwide Anglican church.
1) The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has announced he will meet with the American Bishops after initially saying that he did not have room in his schedule. The meeting will take place in September at the regularly scheduled bishops’ gathering. You can read about it in an Episcopal press release and an Anglican Communion News Service piece.
2) With the passage of civil union legislation in New Hampshire, New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson has announced that he and his partner will be having a commitment ceremony. One of many news reports, this from ABC News or another one from the Boston Globe.
3) The Nigerian Primate Peter J. Akinola plans to install Martyn Minns as a bishop in the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). This does not sit well with Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori who wrote Rev. Akinola to complain that this is outside the usual traditions and would not help reconciliation efforts. (Again, you can read the Episcopal press release or the Anglican Communion press release.) In a response, Akinola turns the tables on her by suggesting it is the Episcopal Church’s liberal standards that have violated the traditions of the church and he is supporting a communion that is upholding tradition. The response is available on the Church of Nigeria web site as well as Episcopal and Anglican press releases.
4) The web site VirtueOnline by David Virtue specializes in covering and analyzing this controversy from the orthodox perspective. Currently they have an interview with Martyn Minns about the installation this weekend. There are also a number of commentaries. One from April 7 talks about the Bishop of Los Angeles J. Jon Bruno and his reported attacks on the orthodox Episcopalians and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
5) Finally, one more item that I am not entirely sure what to do with. The Layman Online has run an article by the Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, president and CEO of the American Anglican Council that originally ran in the council’s weekly newsletter. In the article there are several claims that the PC(USA) national staff and the Episcopal church hierarchy are working together on the legal processes around property and that the Episcopal church is using some of the strategy in the controversial legal memos from the PC(USA) OGA. In addition, the commentary says that a Presbyterian governing body not specified has filed a friend of the court brief in the Episcopal church’s legal dispute against St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach. (In researching this it appears to be old news since this legal dispute appears to be settled in St. James’ favor back in January 2006 based upon this news/blog item from the American Anglican Council.) I am currently trying to track down more on this item.