As the Living Church reports,
An English translation of the canons and constitution of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone has recently been completed. Translating the 20-page document from Spanish to English was accomplished by staff members from the dioceses of Fort Worth and San Joaquin.
The Diocese of Fort Worth has published the translation on its website. Bishop Jack Leo Iker of Fort Worth and the standing committee recently prepared a second report concerning the possibility of aligning with the Province of the Southern Cone. This comparative report reflects on key points of difference between the constitution and canons of The Episcopal Church and those of the Southern Cone. The report concluded that affiliation with the Southern Cone would provide Fort Worth with “greater self-determination” than it currently has under The Episcopal Church…
The PDF file of the translation is here.
The report on their content is here.
At first glance, it’s hard to see how provision has been made for the Bishop Schofield and his flock. The Constitution requires approval of the Anglican Consultative Council for its amendment: “For any changes or amendment to this Constitution, the following procedure is to be used: 4.1 Any projected change should be sent by a Member Diocese to the Executive Council, which is charged to circulate it within the Dioceses not less than three months prior the next meeting of the Provincial Synod. 4.2 The proposed change must be accepted as a proposition by a two-thirds vote of the Provincial… Read more »
Well, if the C&C of the Southern Cone clearly allow a diocese to pick up & move wherever it wants whenever it wants, that would certainly “would provide Fort Worth with “greater self-determination” than it currently has under The Episcopal Church…”
Suggestion to Bishop Venables — if you want to know how the Diocese of Ft. Worth will act towards you, see how they have acted in the past.
Note how the csnons make reference to the thirty nine articles, and that liturgical practice should be in conformity to Anglican faith and order.
A determined protestant could bring a prosecution against Schofled and Iker for allowing in their diocese:
1) Invocation of Saints,
2) The Sacrifice of the Mass
3) Worship of the consecrated elements
4) reservation of the Sacrament
All condemened in the 39 articles!
The SC of the Diocese of FW acknowledges that the Canons and Constitution of The Episcopal Church prevent it from leaving. In a deft avoidance of logic, the SC then recommends that the Diocese go ahead, do the impossible, leave The Episcopal Church and become “part” of a foreign church. The apparent rationale is that the foreign church will allow the Diocese more freedom to depart that foreign church whenever it wants to leave in the future, even though the Diocese could never join the foreign church in the first place.
They just don’t want to admit that they are a bunch of ratbag conservatives who purport to be in fellowship with something that they are not so they can tear apart something that they were meant to be in. Bickerers and squabblers. The kind who abusively repress one spouse, or have a series of spouses who alway break up because it was the “other partner’s” fault. They have no more fellowship, commitment or camaderie with their new bed partners than their previous. They are simply pretending it is “true love” so they don’t have to admit they are womanizing philanderers.… Read more »
One cannot avoid wondering what the particular freedoms that Iker, say, envisions for himself and his diocese. I put it that way, advisedly, given the reports coming out of the ground levels of believer life in FTW. Then I recall the campaign battle plan, already published. Affiliating with Southern Cone is simply one step in a longer strategy. Either the split will run right through, with conservative iterations of puritannical-anglocath Anglicanism (is there an Anglican Opus Dei waiting in the wings somewhere?) hybrids replacing all the existing provinces, up to and including the so-called Global North; or at times one… Read more »
“a bunch of ratbag conservatives who purport to be in fellowship with something that they are not so they can tear apart something that they were meant to be in.”
Thanks, Cheryl. I love the phrasing!
Cannons & Constitution of Province of Southern Cone To add to the observations of Prior Aelred, article 2.3 of the C&C of the SC stipulate that a “Bishop” may resign(retire) at age 65 but must resign by age 68. Schofield will be age 70 in October of this year (2008), well past the manditory retirement age for bishops in the SC. A post at another blog site claimed that Venerables reached an agreement with Schofield that he could serve on as bishop, of course setting aside the C&C of the SC. So how faithful will Venerables & his associates be… Read more »