What is Next for the Episcopal DIocese of Western Louisiana and the Anglican Communion

While the number of troubles in the Anglican Communion seem to focus on grand meetings in distant cities it is indeed becoming a local issue. Choices will have to be made very soon. I currently reside in what is the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana which takes in most of Louisiana's major cities.

An Anglo Catholic blogger , Bobby Kennedy, interviewed Fr. Gregg Riley of Grace Church in Monroe Louisiana. Grace is one of the "important " Parishes in the Diocese and is a example of a Parish whose leadership will be watched. GO here for the full interview.


Father Riley went to Gafcom and the interview about his personal experience there is something else.

A few observations I have. First, unlike a lot Anglo Catholic Bloggers and voices I am reading, Fr. Riley seems to be fairly optimistic that Anglo Catholics can exist in the a Gafcom Anglican Province. Second I get a sense a move is in the works unless Lambeth produces a miracle. Something the organizers the Lambeth do not want to happen it appears to this observer.

He touches on the future and I think his words here are some importance for the this part of the Episcopal World:

BJK: Do you have any reservations or concerns about the outcome of GAFCON, particularly concerning the statement that was issued by the assembly?

GR+: Personally, I do not. I mean, as I said, coming from the Anglo-Catholic wing, and speaking to Bishop Ackerman and Bishop Iker personally, they seemed to be pleased with the outcome. Some SSC brothers who were there said, in essence, we got more than we thought we would get. I don’t know how much more we could have gotten out of GAFCON. A majority of the Communion recognizes the chasm between the orthodox and the revisionists in TEC is so wide it cannot be breached.

The split has occurred, and the only alternative is a new Anglican Province. GAFCON gave us that, and to me that was the biggest prize. The new province is not a “what if” but it “is.” I don’t know what more we could have gotten.

BJK: What does GAFCON mean for the Lambeth Conference? What about the Covenant process?GR+: The question, in my mind, and I am speaking as an individual, is how much value does the Windsor Report hold today? Two years after General Convention 2006, where we failed miserably to respond to the Windsor Report, in an adequate fashion, (B003 was not an adequate response by any means), a number of the signatories from the House of Bishops, stated they didn’t intend to comply by it.

By the recent actions of the three bishops in California, you can see that is the case. They have already given the green light to their clergy to perform same-sex blessings, without the consent of the wider Communion. Obviously, they don’t intend to comply. If TEC has no intention to comply with the Windsor Report then whatever input TEC has in the Covenant process is going to be just as miserable. By the time the Covenant is agreed upon, if it is ever agreed upon by TEC, it will not be the same instrument that it started out to be. Therefore, I don’t see any value in the Windsor Report or the Covenant at this point. I know the draft will be discussed at General Convention, and I am a deputy, as I was in 2006. After seeing how the convention dealt with the Windsor Report, I can’t imagine that the Covenant will get a better reception

.BJK: What is the next step for the Diocese of Western Louisiana and Grace Church?

GR+: Our Diocesan Convention meets in October and I sit on the executive council of the diocese. The Bishop has told me personally that after Lambeth, the executive council will meet in August. He will then give us his opinion concerning where things are and the options we have for the diocese.

It is his desire that IF the diocese chooses to do something that we do it as a whole. I would also prefer that. Being realistic, whatever decision the diocese makes, if we decide to move as a diocese, there will be certain clergy, parishes, and laypeople who will want to remain in TEC. Likewise, if we don’t move as a diocese, there will be clergy, parishes, and lay people who don’t want to stay. That will be a reality after October. The bishop is wise enough, and intelligent enough, to know that is going to happen. No matter what happens at the convention in October, someone will not be happy. There is going to be movement, but the question is where.

What we happen. Well I think a good bit of the Diocese is going to leave Episcopal Church USA. It seems the leadership of the Episcopal Church USA by their latest statements , that are not exactly pastoral ,seems to indicate they wish to go ahead and bite the bullet and show the more "orthodox" the door.