c. 2005 Religion News Service

PITTSBURGH _ After a four-day meeting of 2,400 leaders who believe the Episcopal Church no longer upholds biblical tradition, tension remains between conservatives eager to depart from the U.S.-based church and others counseling patience.

Despite that difference of opinion, the predominant word spoken at the Nov. 10-12 “A Hope and a Future” conference was not “split” but “realignment.” That refers to relationships between the theologically conservative minority within the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church in the USA (ECUSA) and the theologically conservative majority in the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion.

Eight conservative primates _ the highest ranking bishop of a nation _ attended the conference, representing more than 30 million Anglicans outside the United States. When the primates took written questions, one asked what primates would like Episcopal bishops of the new Anglican Communion Network, formed last year, to do that they have not yet done.

Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola said the bishops are now standing with one leg in ECUSA and one in the Anglican Communion Network.

“If you really want the global South to partner with you, you must let us know exactly where you stand. Are you ECUSA or are you Network? Which one?” Akinola asked to a standing ovation from most of those in the convention center.

But Assistant Bishop Henry Scriven of Pittsburgh, the righthand man to Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the network, remained seated.

“The problem with this is that it encourages breakaway. We need to be patient enough to see the Episcopal Church break itself away from the Anglican Communion. There is a difference between them breaking away and us breaking away,” Scriven said.

That reflected audible tension between those eager to depart from the Episcopal Church and network leaders who counseled remaining, at least for now. Just before the primates’ panel appearance, the Rev. David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council and secretary of the network, urged disgruntled Episcopalians to “stay (in ECUSA) as long as you can and work with us.”

But the conference likely heightened conflict in ECUSA by holding the ordination of a priest and three deacons who will serve under South American bishops at newly formed congregations in the United States. Less controversial sessions were aimed at getting affluent Episcopalians engaged in fighting the dire poverty, disease and corruption that their Third World counterparts contend with daily.

There was broad criticism of ECUSA, which several speakers claimed taught a “counterfeit” theology that stressed God’s love, but not the call to repentance and transformation. The presenting issue for this was the 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, in New Hampshire.

Duncan and the primates predicted that the 2006 General Convention of the Episcopal Church will refuse the request of the Anglican Communion’s Windsor Report to refrain from liturgically affirming same-sex relationships through ordination, consecration or blessing. If ECUSA denies or deflects that request, network leaders believe it will be clear to the world that ECUSA has broken ranks with worldwide Anglicanism.

But the Windsor Report also asks overseas Anglican bishops to stop intervening in U.S. dioceses. At the closing Eucharist, Bishop Frank Lyons of Bolivia ordained three deacons and a priest to serve newly formed groups started by former Episcopalians in the United States.

“These men have been ordained to minister to those folks who cannot remain in communion with the Episcopal Church,” Lyons said. He ordained the deacons for his own diocese, and the priest on behalf of Bishop Tito Zavala of the Diocese of Chile.

The priest, the Rev. Eliot Winks, will serve the Church of the Resurrection in Baltimore. Of the deacons, William Haley will have a ministry among the poor in Washington, D.C.; Ian Crom will serve a congregation in Greenwich, Conn., and David Drake will serve Holy Trinity, a congregation in Raleigh, N.C.

Bishop Robert Ilhoff of Baltimore called the ordinations “appalling.”

“This is in violation of the Windsor Report, which called on bishops in various other parts of the Anglican communion not to interfere with local matters. This is clearly an indication of interference,” he said.

Duncan said that several primates believed that since the Episcopal Church had not abided by the request to stop ordaining gay priests and blessing gay relationships, foreign bishops were not obligated to stop outreach in Episcopal Church territory.

“If the Episcopal Church turned back, I’m sure they’d be delighted to turn these churches over to the Episcopal Church. They are doing their own missionary work, and of course we are supportive of them,” Duncan said.

Some sessions did not deal with divisive issues, but with getting Americans to care about problems facing primates in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The issues include poverty, disease and religious violence.

The Rev. Rick Warren, the Southern Baptist author of the runaway best-seller “The Purpose-Driven Life” outlined how he plans to use profits from that book to mobilize churches to combat global poverty and disease.

Baroness Caroline Cox, deputy speaker of the British House of Lords, spoke of her work with Christians suffering deadly persecution worldwide. The Rev. Peter Moore, chairman of the network’s relief organization, the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, said that group had given more than $2 million to projects in the global South since its formation in September 2004.

Several speakers warned against spending their time, money and energy battling Episcopal bishops over the right to church property in the event of a split.

“God is not interested in your possessions and your property. He is interested in you,” Warren said. “What is more important is your faith, not your facilities. Jesus didn’t die for buildings, he died for people.”

MO/PH END RNS