Viewpoint: South Carolina: A Communion Response

Yesterday Bishop Christopher Hill of Guildford, the chairman of the Church of England’s Council for Christian Unity, advised that church’s General Synod of developments in South Carolina:

On Saturday, a Special Diocesan Convention endorsed the South Carolina withdrawal from The Episcopal Church. The Bishop has stated that their position would be to remain within the Anglican Communion as an extra-provincial Diocese. The Episcopal Church on the other hand maintains that General Convention consent is necessary for any withdrawal. So the legal and indeed theological and ecclesiological position is extremely complicated. And it is absolutely not certain.

It has therefore not been possible to consider the consequences for our relationships at this immediate stage. And, in my view, any statement just at this point would be premature.

Bishop Hill is right to emphasize the complexity of these issues. We consider here in summary fashion some of this complexity from the perspective of the Anglican Communion and conclude with an outline of a possible way forward that already has been accepted by three of the Communion’s Instruments. Read more