The situation within The Episcopal Church has “deteriorated significantly” for dioceses which have requested alternate primatial oversight (APO), according to Fort Worth Bishop Jack Leo Iker, who declined an invitation on behalf of himself and Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh to attend a second meeting which was scheduled to begin today in New York City. It is uncertain whether the meeting went ahead as scheduled.

“Our position has been the same since the last day of our New York meeting back in September,” Bishop Iker said in a Nov. 21 reply to Bishop Peter Lee of Virginia. “We will not attend another meeting ‘to continue the conversation’ unless there is a specific proposal on the table to provide APO.”

Bishop Lee alluded to the framework of a proposal in his initial message to Bishop Iker. In declining the invitation, Bishop Iker said neither he nor Bishop Duncan were aware of new developments and questioned whether the “other side” already was. After receiving Bishop Iker’s response, Bishop Lee replied that same day to encourage Bishop Iker to reconsider and to reassure him that no one on “either side” had seen the proposal yet.

Bishop Iker mentioned a number of incidents in support of his claim of a deteriorating situation for traditionalists, including the letter sent to the dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy by David Booth Beers, chancellor for the Presiding Bishop, and a recent report by the House of Bishops’ task force on property disputes which designated Fort Worth and six others as “problem dioceses.”

“Such posturing is meant to intimidate us and does not promote dialogue and conversation about the matters before us,” Bishop Iker wrote. “I have been advised that legal counsel should accompany me to any future meetings with representatives from ‘815’ or the General Convention.”

At press time it was not possible to determine whether the meeting was held as scheduled. Bishops Lee and Lipscomb were both reported to have been out of the office the entire day when contacted Nov. 27 by The Living Church. “I’m afraid I’m not in a position to comment on whether the meeting went ahead as planned at this time,” wrote Patrick Getlien, secretary of the Diocese of Virginia.

In addition to bishops Duncan, Iker and Lee, the original list of participants to the second meeting was to have included the Rt. Rev. John Lipscomb, Bishop of Southwest Florida, and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. The first meeting also included bishops Robert O’Neill of Colorado, acting South Carolina Bishop Ed Salmon, James Stanton of Dallas, and Mark Sisk of New York.

The Diocese of Dallas has withdrawn its request for APO since the Sept. 11-13 meeting in New York City and Bishop Salmon, who reached the mandatory age of retirement for a diocesan bishop last spring, recently moved out of the Episcopal Residence in Charleston and begun reducing his commitments as acting bishop. Bishop Iker noted there would be no bishop who has requested APO present at the meeting proposed by Bishop Lee.

“I do not believe we should let the voices of people on the extremes, whether they represent threats from your side to invite global south bishops to intervene in the majority dioceses or threats from progressive bishops on the possibility of lawsuits, to prevent our discussions,” Bishop Lee wrote in his follow up Nov. 21 message to Bishop Iker. “It seems to me that these developments make it all the more important for honest conversations to proceed among people who are trying their best to reach some understanding. I hope very much that you and Bob will be there on Monday.”

Steve Waring

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