Church appraises episcopal visitor: dissenters disappointed after bishops defer oversight decision.Parishes that walked out when their diocesan synod In the Anglican Communion, the model of government is the 'Bishop in Synod', meaning that a diocese is governed by a bishop acting with the advice and consent of representatives of the clergy and laity of the diocese. approved in 2002 a motion in favour of same-sex blessings expressed disappointment that the meeting of General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Church of England In the Church of England, General Synod was instituted in 1970 and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had would take place without a clear answer to their request for full, alternate episcopal oversight (AEO). The house of bishops at its April meeting deferred action on the concept of AEO, prompting these parishes, which have formed a coalition called Anglican Communion Anglican Communion, the body of churches in all parts of the world that are in communion with the Church of England (see England, Church of). The communion is composed of regional churches, provinces, and separate dioceses bound together by mutual loyalty as in New Westminster New Westminster, city (1991 pop. 43,585), SW British Columbia, Canada, on the Fraser River, part of metropolitan Vancouver. Founded in 1859 as Queensborough, it was the capital of British Columbia until Victoria was made capital after the union of British Columbia (ACiNW), to say it was "simply a continuation of the Canadian bishops' indecision and absence of will to change ecclesiastical structure." In a statement issued by spokesperson Nancy Buan, ACiNW questioned why the bishops have "offered no solution" to parishes unwilling to recognize the authority of Bishop Michael Ingham of New Westminster while allowing General Synod to decide on a motion affirming the jurisdiction of the diocesan synod on the matter of same-sex blessings. The house of bishops said it would discuss the AEO recommendation made by a task force headed by Bishop Victoria Matthews of Edmonton when it meets this fall. But the bishops were sharply divided on the concept of AEO. Bishop Ingham spoke out against the concept of ceding cede tr.v. ced·ed, ced·ing, cedes 1. To surrender possession of, especially by treaty. See Synonyms at relinquish. 2. authority to another bishop, while Bishop Matthews and other task force members talked about the need to provide a "safety net" while the debate on same-sex blessings goes on. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion