Communion Partners: Some light on the matter of Episcopal Visitors

Out there in Anglican Land and in fair England the buzz is on: Jonathan Petre has written an article in the London Telegraph titled, "Secret Plan to Avoid Gay Split." He says, "Dr Rowan Williams has held confidential talks with senior American bishops and theologians who oppose the pro-gay policies of their liberal leaders." Later in the short story he also writes, "However, she (the Presiding Bishop) met a group of conservative bishops and theologians in New York last week after hearing that Dr Williams was sympathetic to the new proposals." Petre apparently gets it partially right - that the ABC has met with a group and that the Presiding Bishop met with another group.

George Conger's article, "Presiding Bishop backs U.S. Deal" spells it out much better. He writes that there was indeed a meeting with the ABC on January 31st. "On Jan 31 Dr Williams met with Archbishop Gomez, Bishop Stanton, Prof Seitz and Dr Ephraim Radner and gave his backing to the emerging “Anglican Bishops in Communion” project, agreeing to issue invitations to the primates of the West Indies, Burundi, Tanzania, the Indian Ocean and Jerusalem and the Middle East to offer primatial pastoral oversight to the Episcopal Visitors."

The second meeting, Thursday, February 21nd, was with the Presiding Bishop. At that meeting, Conger said, "The Presiding Bishop was briefed by Bishops Stanton of Dallas, Smith of North Dakota, Howe of Central Florida, and Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana on Feb 21, giving her “nihil obstat” to the Communion plan, one participant reported."

Petre wrote of a "secret plan" "... to create an enclave for up to 20 conservative American bishops that would insulate them from their liberal colleagues. The scheme would allow them to remain technically within the Episcopal Church but under the care of like-minded archbishops from abroad."

For some reason Petre also decided it was important for Telegraph readers to know that, "Bishop Jefferts Schori, a feminist... backed the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson as Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop." This, one supposes is for those phobic folks in England who need to know that not only is she a woman, but a feminist (gasp) and a backer of making a gay man a bishop.

It appears Petre was wrong and Conger more or less right. More