Bishop faces 'most challenging' task ever: group asks 'what best serves church unity?'.They have not spent sleepless nights yet, but they all agree that they are faced with "a most daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin task." Bishop Victoria Matthews The Rt. Rev. Victoria Matthews is the first female bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada, and is currently the Bishop of Edmonton. Bishop Matthews became a deacon in 1979 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1980. of Edmonton, who heads the task force created by the house of bishops to consider alternate episcopal oversight for those who seriously object to church decisions, considers her new responsibility "the most challenging thing that the Anglican church has asked me to do." "It's a daunting task but it's also a fascinating problem (to tackle)," she told the Anglican Journal. "I spend a lot of time thinking about it. This is an instance where I need to think outside the box." Bishop Matthews, along with Bishop George Bruce George Bruce may refer to:
 n`), city (1991 pop. 186,058), S central Sask., Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. and Bishop Donald Young Donald Young may refer to:
Bishop Matthews said that task force members find themselves grappling with many questions, among them, "What constitutes adequate episcopal oversight?" She added, "To get to that we have to weigh the range of answers." She expressed hope that soon "a picture will emerge." To date, she said, "We have no answer. There may or may not be an alternate episcopal oversight." Aside from conducting meetings with various dioceses, Bishop Matthews said the task force has been studying many models of alternate episcopal oversight to gain insights. She cited the example of the Navajoland in the Episcopal Church Episcopal Church, Anglican church of the United States. Its separate existence as an American ecclesiastical body with its own episcopate began in 1789. Doctrine and Organization in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , which has an indigenous diocese with episcopal ministry over four different dioceses. Bishop Matthews also cited the example of Archbishop Andrew Hutchison of Montreal, who is metropolitan of the ecclesiastical (church) province of Canada For other uses, see Provinces and territories of Canada and Ecclesiastical Province of Canada. The Province of Canada or the United Province of Canada was a in North America from 1841 to 1867. and Bishop Ordinary to the Canadian Forces. "He is archbishop of Montreal but he also ministers to people of the armed forces, which is not a geographic area," she explained. What makes their task more difficult, she added, is the fact that "there are different models but there is no model that perfectly fits into what we're looking at." The question of alternate episcopal oversight emerged because of the long, drawnout conflict involving parishes of New Westminster over the issue of same-sex blessings. Bishop Matthews said, "We need to be highly respectful of the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop and the local metropolitan. But, at the same time, we also need to be able to hear the needs of people asking for an oversight. Those are two seemingly irreconcilable voices that we need to listen to." However, the bottom line would be "what would best serve the unity of the church?" said Bishop Matthews. Asked who will identify the terms in the event an alternate episcopal oversight is recommended, Bishop Matthews said, "We have no power or desire to be prescriptive. We're simply going to give a report. They can throw the whole thing out or accept it." |
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