To the clergy and people of the Diocese of Southwest Florida:
On January 29 two priests of the Episcopal Church, the Reverend Chuck Murphy of the Diocese of South Carolina and the Very Reverend John Rodgers of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, were ordained as bishops. These ordinations were described by the Archbishop of Canterbury as "irregular." Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini and Bishop Ruchyahana of Rwanda assisted the chief consecrator Archbishop Moses Tay of Singapore. Two retired American Bishops, Alex Dickson of West Tennessee and Fitzsimmons Allison of South Carolina also participated in the liturgy.
The reason given for this extraordinary step was to release them for work in the United States as "Missionary Bishops" of the Church in Singapore and Rwanda. While there can be no question that they are bishops, their status in the United States, in the Episcopal Church, and in the worldwide Anglican Communion is still uncertain.
Our Presiding Bishop and Primate, Frank Griswold, in his response has pointed out that the ordination of these two bishops was "outside all formal structures of the Anglican Communion. They were not elected and their consecrations did not follow a canonical process. They were highly irregular and outside all acceptable norms."
We are now in another period in which the unity of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion is being tested. I share with these two and those who consecrated them many of the same concerns regarding Biblical interpretation and the ethical implications of Holy Scripture for the life of the contemporary Church. I am also aware, however, that I have a responsibility to guard the unity of the whole Body of Christ and to remain in a collegial relationship with the other bishops of this communion. I do not have the right to act unilaterally as a bishop for another episcopal jurisdiction.
I regret that continued tensions have prompted this intrusion into the internal affairs of our Church by foreign bishops. It is a breech of the covenants made in successive Lambeth Conferences regarding the life of our whole communion. Within the Episcopal Church a bishop may not minister in the diocese of another without the permission of the local bishop. The bishops of our whole communion entered into similar agreements at Lambeth in 1988. These covenants were reaffirmed at the 1998 Conference.
Neither of the two bishops consecrated in this irregular service have authority to minister in the congregations of this diocese. Permission should not be sought, nor will it be given for either Bishops Murphy or Rodgers to exercise any sacramental or teaching function in the Diocese of Southwest Florida.
May God bless and keep you.
John B. Lipscomb
Fourth Bishop of Southwest Florida
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