I had read your letter as a sincere and honest attempt to build on the spirit established at Camp Allen and our Covenant. I had already been in conversation with the President of the House of Deputies about establishing a group to address many of the concerns implicit and explicit in your letter. I plan to respond further to what you have written," Griswold wrote. ... It seems to me extremely discourteous to me, and to the Office I hold on your behalf, not to inform me or send me a copy of what you submitted to the Archbishop. I must also ask myself why an appeal was made to Canterbury before receiving a response from me.

No appeals to primates of other provinces can excuse us from the hard work of living the mystery of Christ's reconciling love within our own province. This difficult and demanding work may not in the end bring us to the reconciliation of opinions but rather a reconciliation of hearts. My belief in the power of Christ to draw all things to himself is the ground of my faith and the source of my hope for the future of our church."

Griswold asked the group -- whose members, he said, hold a variety of viewpoints -- for clarification on their positions.

In my discussions with several of you it became clear that there is a fundamental difference of opinion among you. Some of you are clearly committed to the ongoing life of the Episcopal Church and are eager to find the best way forward. Others among you question if, in fact, there is a way forward other than walking apart from the Episcopal Church while seeking a way to remain within the Anglican Communion," he wrote. Given the different hopes and expectations that may exist among you, before I proceed any further it would be extremely helpful to me to have some indication from each of you as to your own thinking at this time.

Eighteen of the 21 signers are diocesan bishops with jurisdiction, out of 100 domestic dioceses. Eleven of the signers' dioceses are among the 12 belonging to the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDP).

The bishops sent a letter to Griswold on April 6 requesting the establishment of a commission composed of those among us who dissent from and those who support the request of the Windsor Report and the Primates Communiqué." The proposed commission would address the question of whether or not 'irreconcilable differences' exist among us in our understanding of the faith and discipline of the Church."

The text of the letters follows.

April 21, 2005

Dear brothers and sisters:

In the interest of transparency and in the spirit of the Covenant we made at Camp Allen - and given the fact that what was sent to me as a private letter to me is now the subject of a magazine article which lists names of signatories - I want to make you aware of a communication I received from a number of our brothers. At the same time, I think you should have a copy of what I sent to them today.

Yours in Christ,

Frank

(Response to letter of April 6, 2005)

April 21, 2005

Dear brothers:

Since receiving your letter I have spoken to several of you to get a fuller sense of what you have requested. I had read your letter as a sincere and honest attempt to build on the spirit established at Camp Allen and our Covenant. I had already been in conversation with the President of the House of Deputies about establishing a group to address many of the concerns implicit and explicit in your letter. I plan to respond further to what you have written.

Meanwhile, this morning I learned that you had submitted a request to the Archbishop of Canterbury set out along similar lines and asking for a meeting with him. The circulation of the letter to me and the Archbishop of Canterbury has been reported by The Living Church. It seems to me extremely discourteous to me, and to the Office I hold on your behalf, not to inform me or send me a copy of what you submitted to the Archbishop. I must also ask myself why an appeal was made to Canterbury before receiving a response from me.

Your concerns are quite properly addressed to me because it is our task together to continue to seek a way in which we can situate our differences within the larger context of Christ's mission to the world. Given the nature of the Anglican Communion, the determination of how best we can do this needs to be worked out within the givenness of our life together as the Episcopal Church.

No appeals to primates of other provinces can excuse us from the hard work of living the mystery of Christ's reconciling love within our own province. This difficult and demanding work may not in the end bring us to the reconciliation of opinions but rather a reconciliation of hearts. My belief in the power of Christ to draw all things to himself is the ground of my faith and the source of my hope for the future of our church.

In your letter you have drawn attention to my comment at Camp Allen in response to the notion of "irreconcilable differences" that such is a "faithless" perspective. I believe what I went on to say was that we have in fact been reconciled to God in Christ through the Cross and that it is our work to remove all that obstructs what has been achieved in Christ.

In my discussions with several of you it became clear that there is a fundamental difference of opinion among you. Some of you are clearly committed to the ongoing life of the Episcopal Church and are eager to find the best way forward. Others among you question if, in fact, there is a way forward other than walking apart from the Episcopal Church while seeking a way to remain within the Anglican Communion. Given the different hopes and expectations that may exist among you, before I proceed any further it would be extremely helpful to me to have some indication from each of you as to your own thinking at this time.

Given that your letter to me has been made public, I am sending it to bishops by email along with a copy of my response to you.

Yours in Christ,

Frank

(Letter of April 6, 2005)

April 6, 2005

The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, D.D. Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church Center 815 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017

Dear Bishop Griswold:

We, whose signatures appear below, write to you out of a passionate concern for our Church and our place in the Anglican Communion. We strongly encourage you to heed the word of the Primates regarding our representation at the meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in June. We urge you to use the moral authority of your office with the Executive Council as they make decisions affecting the future of our Church. We look forward to the opportunity for ECUSA to express humility instead of arrogance, and a desire to walk with the wider Communion rather than apart from it.

As bishops, our lives are formed by vows made at our consecration. Among these is a statement calling us "to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church." Those within ECUSA who continue to act in opposition to the normative teachings of the Anglican Communion, as described in the Windsor Report and the Primates' Communiqué, make healing and reconciliation within ECUSA and the Communion all the more difficult.

This letter is our request for an immediate and compassionate conversation to provide for the welfare of all the members of the Episcopal Church. We ask you to establish a commission composed of those among us who dissent from and those who support the request of the Windsor Report and the Primates Communiqué. It is our earnest hope this will enable our church to make a positive witness to the Gospel by intentionally addressing the question of our ability to walk together with one another and in a wider Communion. Such a commission would be in the spirit of our Covenant and its commitment to prayerful conversation.

At Camp Allen, several of us spoke to you regarding what we believed to be "irreconcilable differences" in the life of our Church. Your response noted the language of "irreconcilable difference" is "faithless." We believe it is precisely contradictory positions in essential matters of faith and practice which precipitate the current crisis in our Church. The report of the House of Bishops Theology Committee, made prior to the General Convention 2003, noted there exists within our Church mutually exclusive theological integrities on the matter of homosexual practice. This has not changed and has become even more apparent over these past 18 months. It is our earnest hope the proposed commission will faithfully address the question of whether or not "irreconcilable differences" exist among us in our understanding of the faith and discipline of the Church.

The Camp Allen Covenant represents a generous and gracious attempt to seek common ground on a difficult and painful issue. Bishops representing a variety of strongly-held convictions worked together to craft a document that an overwhelming majority of the House embraced. This is encouraging. However, the very fact that we need such a Covenant reminds us that our divisions are deep. These divisions stand as a threat to our own unity and that of the Anglican Communion.

We believe a realistic appraisal of the life of our Church is critical. It has been suggested that those who oppose the change in faith and order made by the 2003 General Convention are a "disgruntled and fractured minority." This view cannot be sustained given the current indicators regarding the vitality of our Church.

A recent study by William L. Sachs, Director of Research at the Episcopal Church Foundation, reported in the "Christian Century," only 20% of the laity of our Church fully endorse the decisions that led to the consecration of the current bishop of New Hampshire. With regard to local congregational leadership, they "...view the General Convention's decisions as compelling a position on a complex issue before the church at the grassroots was ready to take such a position." The same report indicates 84% of the senior wardens and clergy of our Church report that their congregation sees itself as part of the broader Anglican Communion.

At a recent meeting of Congregational Development Officers, Charles Fulton, Director of Congregational Development at the Episcopal Church Center, reported average Sunday attendance in the congregations of the Episcopal Church declined from 2001 to 2003. It appears continued decline will place our average Sunday attendance below 800,000 in 2004. This presents a much different picture of who we are from the Church Annual report that we are a community of 2.3 million members.

Continued attrition impairs the mission of the Church and the viability of many congregations. The report of the loss of Christ Church, Overland Park, Kansas, representing 10 percent of the communicant strength of that diocese, is indicative of the continued erosion of the Church. Other reports of losses from the dioceses of Lexington, Los Angeles, and Pennsylvania are simply representative of actions taking place across the Episcopal Church. In order to make wise and informed decisions, we need further and accurate information regarding the continuing impact of General Convention 2003 on the life of the whole Church.

You are in our prayers in this most difficult time demanding strong leadership and reflection. May God grant to this whole Church the wisdom and humility to sustain the mission and ministry we share with those in Communion with the See of Canterbury as we seek the truth that sets us free.

In Christ,

James Adams Diocese of Western Kansas

David Bane Diocese of Southern Virginia

David Bena Suffragan, Diocese of Albany

Peter Beckwith Diocese of Springfield

Robert Duncan Diocese of Pittsburgh

James Folts Diocese of West Texas

Bertram Herlong Diocese of Tennessee

Daniel Herzog Diocese of Albany

John Howe Diocese of Central Florida

Jack Iker Diocese of Forth Worth

Edward Little Diocese of Northern Indiana

John Lipscomb Diocese of Southwest Florida

Bruce MacPherson Diocese of Western Louisiana

Wallis Ohl Diocese of Northwest Texas

Edward Salmon, Jr. Diocese of South Carolina

John-David Schofield Diocese of San Joaquin

Henry Scriven Assistant, Diocese of Pittsburgh

William Skilton Suffragan, Diocese of South Carolina

James Stanton Diocese of Dallas

Jeffrey Steenson Coadjutor, Diocese of Rio Grande

Don Wimberly Diocese of Texas

-- Jan Nunley is the Episcopal Church's deputy for communication.