The president of our House of Deputies has issued a statement on the Primates Meeting which raises a critical question: Is it appropriate to send her flowers?
Here’s an excerpt: “As president of the 800-plus member House of Deputies, it is my duty to ensure that the voice of the clergy and the laity of our Church will be heard as the Church discusses and debates the Primates’ requests and that that process will not be pre-empted by the House of Bishops or any other group. I have already begun to work toward that end.
“All Anglicans must remember that the second Lambeth Conference in 1878 recommended that “the duly certified action of every national or particular Church, and of each ecclesiastical province (or diocese not included in a province), in the exercise of its own discipline, should be respected by all the other Churches, and by their individual members.”
Meanwhile, ENS has an excellent round-up of bishops’ statements and comments. Pay special attention to anything said by Bishops Bruce MacPherson, Don Wimberly and the other so-called Camp Allen bishops. It is possible, though by no means certain, that their brother and sister bishops will acquiesce in this minority’s Primate-abetted grab for power. But if the House of Deputies resists, we will have a constitutional struggle on our hands.