An alliance of traditionalist and centrist bishops has affirmed their loyalty to the Anglican Communion and endorsed the Windsor Report in an exchange of private letters with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

As the 19-member working group prepared what became the bishops’ covenant statement [TLC, April 3] at the March 11-16 House of Bishops’ meeting at Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas, another group of bishops discussed the feasibility of preparing a “minority report.”

Unwilling to breach the collegiality of the house, and mindful of the controversy surrounding the supplemental statement offered at the Salt Lake City bishops’ meeting [TLC, Feb. 6], the bishops asked an invited guest from the Church of England - the Rt. Rev. Nigel McCullough, Bishop of Manchester - to carry a private letter to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams stating their support for the Communion. Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold was also given a copy.

Archbishop Williams responded by asking for clarification, and on April 6 a second letter was dispatched to Lambeth Palace.

Sources familiar with the content of the letters said the letters are not a reaction to the House of Bishops’ covenant statement or a “minority report,” but are “an expression of our deep desire to remain in communion with Canterbury and our complete acceptance of the Windsor Report recommendations.”

The letters follow in the wake of several public statements by bishops that, if forced to choose between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, they would chose the Communion. Bishop Don Wimberly told his diocese on Nov. 15 he intends for the Diocese of Texas to remain in the Anglican Communion.

Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana told his diocesan convention, “should the Episcopal Church as we know it reject the opportunity to be a part of the Anglican Communion, and take a separate path from that of the Anglican Communion world wide, then I see no other choice as your bishop than to take the path that leads us to a common place of understanding within the wider church, the Anglican Communion, under the authority of the See of Canterbury, and in alignment with the structure that would be provided by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Consultative Council.”

Read more on Executive Council’s decision here:

· Council to Send Observers to ACC Meeting

· Presiding Bishop: More to Anglican Unity Than ACC

· Archbishop of Canterbury Commends Executive Council Letter

· Bishop Sauls: Firm Desire to Remain in Communion