The House of Bishops will receive an informal presentation on the “Anglican Bishops in Communion” proposal that was shared with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori during a 50-minute meeting on Feb. 21 at the Episcopal Church Center. The House of Bishops meets March 7-13 at Camp Allen in the Diocese of Texas.
 
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori expressed no objections to the plan during the meeting, according to bishops John W. Howe of Central Florida and D. Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana, who met with Bishop Jefferts Schori. The Bishops in Communion plan is a modified version of the “Episcopal Visitor” concept announced by Bishop Jefferts Schori during the fall House of Bishops’ meeting in New Orleans. It includes a commitment to abide by existing canon law of The Episcopal Church.
 
“She responded favorably to what we said and expressed a desire to continue the discussion at the House of Bishops’ meeting,” Bishop MacPherson told The Living Church. “She raised no objections.”
 
Bishop Howe said during the meeting Bishop Jefferts Schori invited bishops Howe, MacPherson, Michael G. Smith of North Dakota and James M. Stanton of Dallas to make a brief and “very informal” presentation during the March meeting, but the House of Bishops lacks veto power over it.
 
“If we do this right, it will strengthen the hands of the Presiding Bishop and the Archbishop of Canterbury,” Bishop Howe said. “This would make the Episcopal Visitor proposal more attractive. No one has requested an Episcopal Visitor yet. This brings together the Presiding Bishops’ initiative and some of what the primates envisioned in the communiqué from Dar es Salaam a year ago.”
 
Separately, bishops Howe and MacPherson confirmed that participants in the meeting at the Church Center had agreed not to speak to the media. They denied that any of the four diocesan bishops were responsible for an article revealing the plan published by the English Telegraph newspaper. Bishop Howe said he wrote his clergy in order to correct the misconception that this was a secret plan by Archbishop of Canterbury to pander to conservatives.
 
Bishop Howe also noted that the plan itself is very informal, having been written down as an outline by Bishop Stanton.
 
Steve Waring
 
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