Bishop Pierre Whalon corrects some points brought up at GAFCON about non-geographical jurisdictions, given his experience overseeing the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, and points out the flaw in trying to use the convocation as a model/precedent/justification for CANA:
The Episcopal Church never established churches in “the diocese of Europe.” There is no “diocese of Europe.” There is The Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe, which claims no geographical jurisdiction other than Gibraltar. There is also the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, a non-geographical jurisdiction as well. Both jurisdictions live alongside each other and function legally because there is no existing Anglican jurisdiction of Europe. (There are also two geographical, national churches, La Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal, and la Igreja Lusitana Catolica Apostolica, in Spain and Portugal, respectively.) The four jurisdictions will present to the 2008 Lambeth Conference a report on our work toward forming a 39th province of the Anglican Communion.
The Convocation of Anglicans in North America is a completely different animal, a reincarnation of the Novationist notion that if you don’t like your own bishop, consecrate another, “purer” one. This was condemned at the First Council of Nicea for all kinds of good reasons, and Anglicans have until now respected that decision (all of us also recite the Nicene Creed, most of which was written by the Nicea fathers, and completed at the next ecumenical council).
The implanting of the Nigerian Convocation is supposed to be an offer of temporary oversight for certain Episcopalians upset by the 2003 consecration of the Bishop of New Hampshire, until the Anglican Communion can do something for them. The filing of a massive lawsuit by the leaders of this convocation against the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia tells another story altogether.
That’s here.