Dear Ascension Family, In June, we posted this web page, at a time when it appeared that Bishop Stanton may have been considering disassociating the Diocese of Dallas from the Episcopal church, as a forum to share concerns and thoughts for the Vestry's review. The Ascension clergy, vestry and the diocesan convention delegates have met with Bishop Stanton as part of the Bishop's meetings with all parish vestries and delegates. The meeting began with an hour of questions from the Bishop, including asking our views on General Convention, what would drive us away from the Episcopal Church, and what our hopes are for the Diocesan Convention. At the end of the meeting Bishop Stanton stated that he, and in his opinion 80% of those he has met with, disapproved of the way Convention was run and/or disagreed with some of the outcomes. He then stated that, despite reports in the press to the contrary, he has not rejected the authority of the Presiding Bishop or anyone else. He shared with us his concerns that he feels we will loose some parishes maybe even prior to the convention. The uncertainty many of us felt about the role our Bishop would play in the 'disassociation movement' was diminished by his announcement that he was not going to leave the Episcopal Church whatever the outcome of the Diocesan convention in October, and that he was bound by our Canons and Constitution. Bishop Stanton further said that he acknowledges and accepts that Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori is the duly elected Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Further, he has not and will not ask the Archbishop of Canterbury for oversight from an Anglican leader instead of being under the umbrella of the American church. To further clarify some press misquotes, he recently released this
open letter: Bishop
Stanton's Letter The Vestry is still interested in your questions and concerns, which should be emailed to: questions@ascensiondallas.org Our previous comments are recorded below: ------------------------ Dear Ascension Family, In 2004, your Vestry
discussed Bishop Stanton's affiliation of the Diocese of Dallas
with the Anglican Communion Network, and concluded at the time that
this did not match Ascension's vision. The
text of the Vestry's letter can be found here. Following the
recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church, on 5th July 2006,
James Stanton, Bishop of Dallas, and the Standing Committee of the
Diocese of Dallas issued letters for distribution at all Diocese
of Dallas churches on July 9th. These
letters can be found at this link. While we encourage you to
read the text of the letters in full, in summary, the content leaves
little doubt that Bishop Stanton does not agree with certain actions
of the Episcopal church, and wishes to disassociate from the Episcopal
Church. Subsequent to the Bishop and Standing Committee's statements
a number of the clergy of the diocese (including Kai, Ernie and
Amy) have written an open letter expressing their plans to remain
within the Episcopal Church. This
letter can be found at this link. The Archbishop of Canterbury
issued the following letter: 'Challenge
and hope' for the Anglican Communion on 27th June 2006, which
addressed the outcome of General Convention, and The
Archbishop's Address to the Synod on the 7th July 2006 make
interesting and informative reading on the Archbishop's views of
the results of Convention and on the Dissenting Bishops. The 2006
Vestry have not yet had the opportunity to fully review the full
implications of the letters, and to that end, we encourage you to
read the letters and discuss their content and any concerns, questions
and comments you may have with any one of us, or email us at the
address below. Please note that if you email we will need your name.
Please indicate also if you wish to discuss the matter with a member
of the Vestry. Your comments will only be seen by the Vestry. questions@ascensiondallas.org |
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