Early next year, the Rt. Rev. Vincent W. Warner, Jr., Bishop of Olympia, and the Rev. Duncan Clark, rector of St. Charles' Anglican Church in Poulsbo, Wash., will travel together as friends to a conference on church planting sponsored by Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, and founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

The trip will be a milestone in a relationship that by logic and tradition should have ended in mutual recrimination and litigation on Oct. 19, 2004. On the day after the Windsor Report was released Fr. Clark, then rector of St. Charles’ Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Carol Harlacher, rector of St. Stephen’s, Oak Harbor, informed Bishop Warner that their congregations had voted overwhelmingly to leave the diocese and affiliate with an overseas Anglican bishop.

Instead of litigation, Bishop Warner and leaders from the two parishes attempted mediation. The talks were lengthy and complicated by the presence of both a sizeable remnant from St. Stephen’s that wanted to remain Episcopalians and some persons in the diocese who pressured Bishop Warner to punish the clergy and take possession of the properties. In spite of the many obstacles, the parties announced agreement to a covenant on Dec. 13.

“When our life ends and we go on to the next we may know more about what was right in God’s eyes,” Bishop Warner told The Living Church. “In the meantime, I do not want to waste what time I have on legal issues and politics.”

Bishop Warner said the idea to structure the covenant to last seven-and-a-half years was based on the biblical concept of the jubilee.

“There will be two General Conventions, a Lambeth Conference, and who knows how many primates’ meetings during the duration,” Bishop Warner said. “This gives everyone the time they need. It gives the primates time to work out whatever they need to do. It puts a hold on any action so that The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion can work through this together.”

Bishop Warner and Fr. Clark said there were several breakthrough moments during the mediation talks. The first occurred the day the two rectors informed Bishop Warner they were leaving and the three realized they could still pray together. Another came when they started to focus on positions they held in common, agreeing not to fight about points of disagreement.

“We have gone to 'live with the grandparents' for a while,” Fr. Clark told TLC. “We are still part of the family. That hasn’t changed.

“This would never have happened without Bishop Warner," Fr. Clark said. "On a personal level, he will always be my bishop. On an ecclesial level, my bishop for now is Robinson Cavalcanti [Bishop of Recife in the Province of the Southern Cone], if that makes sense.”

The role of Bishop Cavalcanti in the life of the two Anglican congregations remains a point of disagreement. He was not a direct party to the negotiations, according to Bishop Warner.

“You can’t hold the Great Commission hostage to issues that could consume all our time and resources,” he said. “My responsibility, and the responsibility of priests to congregations, is to build up the Body of Christ. People don’t need to hear about disagreements. That keeps them away from church.

“We are working on little things we can do together. We are trying to help a Coptic Christian family in Egypt come to the United States, and trying to supply blankets to poor people who are living outside in tents. That’s small in the eyes of the people who are trying to work out issues of communion. It is not small in the eyes of those receiving blankets.

“If we can provide some hope for people stuck in these situations—if we can work on some things and pray together—that is communion to me.”

Steve Waring

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