Chancellor: Church "Will Prevail" In Communion (and courts)

In presentaton to Episcopal Majority Gathering, Booth Beers Goes on the Record

Episcopal Chancellor David Booth Beers, speaking at last week's Gathering of The Episcopal Majority in Washington, D.C., does not anticipate that the Archbishop of Canterbury will make any formal change in the church’s membership status in the Communion nor does he expect any dioceses affiliated with the Anglican Communion Network to attempt to leave, Steve Waring reports for The Living Church.

When asked by a number of conference participants what would happen if a diocese voted to cut its ties with the constitution and canons of the General Convention, Mr. Beers, the Presiding Bishop's legal advisor, said the Presiding Bishop can declare a diocese “vacant” of leadership. A decision as to when legal action against a diocese would become necessary is nominally up to the Presiding Bishop, although presumably she could be overruled by General Convention, a precedent the chancellor cautioned against. The chancellor said he does not foresee any diocese attempting to "withdraw" from The Episcopal Church. To his consternation, The Living Church writes, Mr. Beers feels a badly behaved and vocal minority has left some Episcopalians with the mistaken idea that their church is under siege.

The Living Church carries the full story.

NB: An excellent report by Mr. Waring. Of note in his item is that the Chancellor last summer, sent a letter to the diocese of San Joaquin, "reminding" them of The Episcopal Church's unqualified accession clause. He recently sent at least two other dioceses, similar letters.