Western
Louisiana backs bishop on church polity
The standing committee of the Diocese of Western Louisiana voted unanimously May 6 to approve a statement that affirms the integrity of diocesan governance in The Episcopal Church.
"As a diocesan standing committee, we acknowledge and desire to be a diocese in full communion with the wider Anglican Communion and the See of Canterbury," the statement reads in part. "As a diocese we oppose any actions by General Convention that would mandate financial assessments from dioceses to the General Convention budget, or exercise control of trust interests on diocesan or congregational assets."
The statement is intended to demonstrate the standing committee's support for its diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev'd D. Bruce MacPherson, who is one of 11 diocesan bishops who recently endorsed a statement of concern that the polity of the The Episcopal Church as a "voluntary association of equal dioceses" was in grave peril because of uncanonical actions by the Presiding Bishop and her appointed staff.
"We want the rest of the church to know that our bishop has our support," said the Very Rev'd Peter J.A. Cook, president of the Western Louisiana standing committee and rector of St. Michael and All Angels' Church, Lake Charles. He added that the standing committee and the bishop have no plans to leave, but are committed to working for reform from within the church.
Father Cook said the statement also was intended to prepare the diocese for the possibility that it will need to approve the proposed Anglican Covenant on its own if General Convention fails to do so when it meets in Anaheim later this summer.
"If General Convention does not approve the Covenant or fails to consider it, I'd be most surprised if our diocese did not take up a resolution to approve it for ourselves with the encouragement of our bishop," he said.
—From the Web site of The Living Church.
Full text of the Western Louisiana Standing Committee statement
Statement issued by the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Western Louisiana May 6th 2009 (supported unanimously)
AFFIRMING THE INTEGRITY OF DIOCESAN GOVERNANCE IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
WHEREAS, The Office of the Presiding Bishop and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church are constitutionally and historically instruments of the various dioceses, serving at the pleasure and for the benefit of the dioceses, and whose budget has historically been funded by dioceses based on their financial capability and voluntary choice; and
WHEREAS, in a letter dated October 4th, 2007, to Bishop John W. Howe of the Diocese of Central Florida, the Archbishop of Canterbury affirmed that, "The origin of union with the wider Church is the Bishop and the Diocese rather than the Provincial structure as such;" and in conjunction with that we, the Standing Committee of Western Louisiana, accept no actions that would reverse the authority roles between dioceses and the General Convention, nor would grant the Office of the Presiding Bishop executive powers over dioceses and their bishops; and
As a diocesan Standing Committee we oppose any actions by General Convention that would mandate financial assessments from dioceses to the General Convention budget, or exercise control of trust interests on diocesan or congregational assets.
As a diocesan Standing Committee we acknowledge and desire to be a diocese in full communion with the wider Anglican Communion and the See of Canterbury.
