Dear Friends,

On February 19, the primates of the Anglican Communion released a final communiqué from their meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The communiqué with the attached schedule is twelve pages long and it comments on The Millennium Development Goals, Theological Education, the Anglican Covenant, and other matters. The bulk of the report focuses on the crisis in the Anglican Communion precipitated by the controversial actions of The Episcopal Church in 2003. The primates, that is, the bishops and archbishops that head the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion, say in the communiqué that "at the heart of our tensions is the belief that The Episcopal Church has departed from the standard of teaching on human sexuality accepted by the Communion" (paragraph 17).

Furthermore, the primates state that "The response of The Episcopal Church to the requests made at Dromantine [a primates meeting in February 2005] has not persuaded this meeting that we are yet in a position to recognise (sic) that The Episcopal Church has mended its broken relationships" (para. 24). In an effort to provide for "healing and reconciliation" in The Episcopal Church, the primates have called for several actions.

First, the primates call for a covenant to be established that sets the norms for Anglican belief (para. 29). Until the covenant has been presented and accepted, the primates ask for some interim measures. The recommendations of the primates are set out in the schedule that was attached to the communiqué. The primates recommend that a pastoral council of five bishops be set up to oversee the bishops, dioceses and congregations that cannot continue in good conscience under the current structure of The Episcopal Church. Part of this "pastoral scheme" is the appointment of a primatial vicar who is compliant with the standards of the Windsor Report (written by a special commission in 2004). The primatial vicar will oversee the bishops, dioceses and congregations who cannot consent at this time to receive oversight from the normal structure of The Episcopal Church.

Second, the primates have requested that the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church "make an unequivocal common covenant" to not authorise (sic) the blessing of same-sex unions (page 10). For our diocese, this means that the Bishop of Central NY would no longer allow private same-sex union blessings, which is the current position in our diocese. The primates request an answer to this stipulation by September 30, 2007.

Third, the primates urge The Episcopal Church and congregations within The Episcopal Church to drop all lawsuits. In our own diocese, this would include the litigation that has been initiated against St. Andrew's, Syracuse by both the Diocese of Central NY and the national Episcopal Church.

You can view the entire communiqué and schedule here.

What does all this mean for our parish? It means that the negotiations that we have begun with our diocese place us in position to be a part of the pastoral scheme outlined in the communiqué. Senior Warden Warren Musselman will meet a second time with the Canon to the Ordinary, the Rev. Canon Karen Lewis, on March 3. We are praying for a good resolution to our situation with the Diocese of Central NY. Otherwise, I am heartened by the primates statement and the path forward that they have given us.

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Tony Seel Rector