Philip Ashey on Anglican Reality

The Rev. Philip Ashey’s comments on the Pastoral Visitors Scheme and the idea of mediated conversation on parallel jurisdictions:

There are no facts to suggest that the Panel of Reference lacked training in mediation, nor that they failed to facilitate conversations with those who are aggrieved by TEC’s innovations and the leadership of TEC. In fact, the Panel of Reference responded to the petition of Church of the Redeemer in its dispute with the Episcopal Bishop and Diocese of Florida. The Panel of Reference dispatched two capable members to interview and negotiate with both sides-retired Archbishop Maurice Sinclair of the Southern Cone, and former ACC member and attorney Robert Tong of Australia. After two years of "hard and painstaking work," they proposed an agreement whereby Redeemer would return to the Diocese of Florida, canonical sanctions would be lifted from the clergy, litigation would cease, and alternative episcopal oversight would be offered by the bishop of a neighboring diocese acceptable to both Redeemer and the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. Archbishop Williams will remember sending this recommendation to the Episcopal Bishop of Florida and asking him to cancel a scheduled court appearance in their litigation against Redeemer as a sign of good faith.

Bishop Howard rejected Archbishop William’s invitation and the recommendations of the Panel of Reference and went ahead with the court appearance and seized the property.

From here.

At the ACC meeting in Jamaica the Archbishop of Canterbury recommended more "listening", warning that the Anglican Communion is very close to breaking up. The Rev. Ashey observes, "For such victims of TEC’s attempt to literally destroy them corporately, individually, and financially, all such talk of 'professionally mediated conversations' by the Archbishop of Canterbury, his representatives and the ACC is pure fantasy and utterly divorced from reality."