Diocese of Quincy Pastoral Letter
Jun 25, 2006

A PASTORAL LETTER FROM THE BISHOP AND STANDING
COMMITTEE TO THE FAITHFUL IN THE DIOCESE OF QUINCY

which was read in all parishes, missions and cathedral
on Sunday June 25, 2006, being the Third Sunday after
Pentecost

Beloved in Christ,

On Friday, June 23, at the request of the Bishop and
the President of the Standing Committee, forty-three
canonically resident bishops, priests, and deacons met
with the Deputies to the recent General Convention of
the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States
of America to ascertain what the particular actions of
this General Convention were, and particularly how
these actions affect the Diocese of Quincy, the
Episcopal Church, the world-wide Anglican Communion,
and our Ecumenical partners.

Today, Saturday June 24 we, your elected Standing
Committee have together reread our own identity and
intention as it is expressed in the Preamble to the
Constitution of the Diocese of Quincy.  The
Constitution of the Diocese of Quincy, approved prior
to Bishop Ackerman’s election and subsequent
consecration, is quite clear in terms of its intent:

We declare this Diocese historically to have been, and
desire that it shall continue to be, in full communion
with the See of Canterbury and the Anglican Churches
throughout the world, as being an integral portion of
the one body of Christ composed of Churches which,
united under the One Divine Head in the fellowship of
the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, hold the
one Faith revealed by God and defined in the Creeds of
the undivided primitive Church in the undisputed
Ecumenical Councils; receive the same Canonical
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as containing
all things necessary to salvation; teach the same Word
of God; partake of the same Divinely ordained
Sacraments, through the ministry of the same Apostolic
Orders; and worship one God and Father through the
same Lord Jesus Christ, by the same Holy and Divine
Spirit Who is given to them who believe, to guide them
into all truth.

Moreover we note in Article II of our Constitution
that:

Contingent upon the continuing consent of Diocesan
Synod and consistent with the Preamble to and Article
XVII of this Constitution, the Church in the Diocese
accedes to the Constitution (hereinafter the “National
Constitution”) and Canons (hereinafter, the “National
Canons) of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States of America (hereinafter, the “Episcopal
Church”).  The Diocese also recognizes the advisory
authority of the resolutions of the General Convention
of the Episcopal Church.
 

We have noted with sorrow that actions taken at the
75th General Convention in Columbus, Ohio have caused
an even greater chasm to exist between the American
Province, and the Anglican Communion as articulated by
the Lambeth Commission on Communion. We have failed to
respond to the various Windsor Resolutions as
requested by the Primates, and we have elected a
Presiding Bishop who is on record as not supporting
the spirit and the words of those Resolutions.
Moreover the General Convention failed to reaffirm the
necessity of belief in Jesus Christ, as the only
begotten Son of God, who is “the Way, the Truth, and
the Life.” (St. John 14:6)  Finally we approved the
consecration to the episcopate of a priest who has
been divorced twice and married three times.  If the
intention of this General Convention was to reconcile
with the Anglican Communion, then we have failed.

 

We have already received responses critical of General
Convention from the Global South, and other parts of
the Anglican Communion.  It is altogether possible
that within the next few months after several crucial
international Anglican meetings, we will discover that
The Episcopal Church has, in the words of the Windsor
Report, severely “broken the bonds of affection,”
running the inevitable risk of being expelled from the
Anglican Communion.  As Presiding Bishop Frank
Griswold indicated, failure to pass an acceptable
response to Windsor will result in the Bishops of the
Episcopal Church not being invited to the Lambeth
Conference to which all Anglican Bishops are invited
every ten years.  The next Lambeth Conference will
meet in two years.

 

In reading carefully the Constitution of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of
America and the preface to the Book of Common Prayer,
it would also appear that this General Convention has
exceeded its constitutional authority.

 

In the next few weeks you will read many accounts of
this General Convention, some of which will be written
by those who did not even attend the event.  What is
critical, however, is the interpretation of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and the other Primates, not
the opinions of a General Convention.  In fact several
groups whose existence has been initiated by the
Archbishop of Canterbury are already in the process of
the evaluation of the Convention’s actions.

 

Upon reviewing the responses of the clergy and the
General Convention deputies who met this past Friday,
and as faithful and committed members of the Church in
this Diocese, we are aware of their unanimous concern
and regret over the actions of this General
Convention. Therefore, we as the Standing Committee
are united with the clergy and General Convention
Deputies in our resolve to be faithful to the
Constitution of this Diocese and our relationship with
the worldwide Anglican Communion.  We are also aware
of the fact that unilateral actions taken by dioceses
and Provinces are inappropriate in the eyes of the
Primates of the Anglican Communion when not done in
concert. As we await the responses of the Archbishop
of Canterbury and the other Provinces of the Anglican
Communion, we are taking the following actions:

 

·         We continue to communicate with other
members of the American Province who share our
concerns so that together we may continue to be the
authentic expression of Anglicanism in the United
States.

 

·         The leadership of the Anglican Communion
Network of Dioceses, a body suggested by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, is in regular contact with
the Archbishop and numerous primates who have already
expressed great concern over the actions of General
Convention and its failure to respond adequately to
the requests of the Anglican Communion set forth in
the Windsor Report.  The Archbishop and other primates
requested the faithful Anglicans in this country to
work together through the Anglican Communion Network
to address the serious divisions which have been
further aggravated by this General Convention.  The
Diocese of Quincy will take part in a meeting of the
Anglican Communion Network in several weeks.  

 

·         In anticipation of the responses of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Network, and others, the
Standing Committee is reserving Saturday, Sept 16th as
a date to convene a special diocesan synod.  The site
will be named at a later date.



As your Bishop and Standing Committee, we are
diligently working to do all that is necessary to
ensure that our diocese remains what it has been since
its creation in 1877, namely, a recognized and
legitimate member of the Anglican Communion.

 

We ask for your prayers, and under the complete
guidance and judgment of the Glorious Trinity, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we promise you
that we will be ever mindful of the trust and
responsibility that has been given to us.

 

In the words of the Primates of the Council of
Anglican Provinces of Africa, “We assure all those
Scripturally faithful Dioceses and Congregations
alienated and marginalized within your Provincial
Structure that we have heard their cries.”

 

Sincerely yours in Christ,

 

The Right Reverend Keith L. Ackerman

 

The Very Reverend John Spencer

 

The Reverend W.J. Barnds

 

The Reverend James Marshall

 

Mr. Robert Fairman

 

Mrs. Lois Shawl

 

Mrs. Crystal Potthoff