"I think the loosening of the ties has already occurred," he explained in answer to media questions.

"We will continue to operate more like a series of networks."

In a statement released on Tuesday,[June 27] the Archbishop of Canterbury responded to the US Church's General Convention, held last week in Ohio, by saying the 'structures of the Communion had struggled to cope with the resulting effects' of the consecration of a practising homosexual bishop in the US three years ago.

Dr Williams recommended that the Communion could be held together by dividing into a 'covenant' of local churches who would make a commitment to each other.

He suggested that those outside this fellowship would remain 'in association' with the Communion by historical ties but not be part of decision making.

He said the relation would not be unlike that between the Church of England and the Methodist Church.

Dr Jensen said Dr Williams was still focusing on how to maintain unity but that it would be best to accept that the Anglican Communion was already more fragmented than just two entities heading for divorce.

"It occurred in 2003 when Bishop Robinson was elected," referring to the election of the Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, who lives with his male partner.

"Bishop Gene Robinson's ministry, in principal, is restricted in many parts of the world."

So will the Archbishop of Canterbury's position make it easier for Sydney Anglicans to support their friends, like the Rev David Short from St John's, Shaunnessy in Canada who is currently 'out of communion' with a diocesan bishop who authorised a liturgy for blessing gay unions?

While Dr Jensen believes that 'local problems should be solved locally where possible', he says the statement gives hope to conservatives like David Short because the Archbishop of Canterbury has recognised that, 'this is a Bible matter'.

"You don't have to read between the lines to see the Archbishop of Canterbury is being critical of the Episcopal Church," he says.

"The presenting issue may be human sexuality but the real issue remains the word of God."

Dr Jensen dismisses any notion that the conservative agenda is really about power politics, saying that it was the liberals who had been seeking to introduce the innovations.

"To take St John, Shaunnessy, for example, they have stood where they have always stood," he says. "It was the Diocese [of New Westminster] which brought the innovation.

"The conservatives have attempted to save their own ministries and call the church back."

Archbishop of Canterbury's plan unworkable

Dr Jensen said it was unlikely that the Australian Church could ever sign onto the sort of covenant that Dr Williams recommends as a way forward because of the nature of its constitution.

Any significant piece of legislation in Australia needs to be passed by a majority of General Synod members and then passed by the Synods of every one of the five Metropolitan Sees: Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

"It is unlikely that Australia would enter into a set of relationships that would compromise their independence," Dr Jensen said.

This dynamic is repeated on the international stage.

"It is difficult to think of a covenant that different churches would buy into," he said. "We are used to our autonomy." Asked if the ordination of women was an issue that made a covenant difficult, Dr Jensen said it was, 'the elephant in the boat'.

COMMENTARY

by The Right Reverend David Moyer SSC.

I was not surprised in the least at the election of Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori last Sunday, June 18th (yes, which was Father's Day). It was just a matter of time for the Episcopal Church to elevate a bishopess to the office of Presiding Bishop since there have been women in ECUSA's House of Bishops since 1989.

Let me first say that according to Holy Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the witness of the Catholic Church (both Eastern and Western, which presently is comprised of one billion four hundred thousand members worldwide) there is no such thing as a woman bishop, priest, or deacon. The Church Catholic and Apostolic has taught for centuries that there is the Sacrament of Holy Order, and the three ordained ministries of that Holy Order are reserved for men. This in no way undermines or diminishes the vital ministries of women in and for the Body of Christ. We are all called to exercise the gifts God has bestowed upon us for the common good, and men and women are made equally in the image of God.

It was Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Second Person of the Trinity, the Eternal Son of God who became Man who established this Order for His Church, and He did nothing outside the will of His Father. As you know from the Gospels, He was revolutionary and acted against many cultural norms in His dealings and relationships with women, but He in obedience to His Father established an Order for all times and places.

Sadly, it was the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada which over 30 years ago decided that it could and would alter things. It began with women "ordained" as deacons, then priests, and then bishops. This was to be expected and the natural outgrowth when churches are captives of the culture and driven by secular thinking, rights issues, and revisionist theology, rather than by revealed religion, faith, and order.

Charles Bennison has said, "Man wrote the Bible, so man can re-write the Bible." He may be the one who in our time holds the record for saying outrageous and heretical things, but many bishops, priests, and seminary professors believe the same. And if there is such a belief as this about the Bible, then no doctrine is immune from change. What is decreed filters down or seeps into the church coming from the personal ideologies, passions, and prejudices of individuals in leadership and teaching positions. Further, without a centralized and reliable form of authority in and over the Anglican Communion, what is taught, preached, and advanced comes down to private judgment and the will of the majority. And finally (and this is what is so dark), there is the open disobedience to ordination vows which mocks God and the people who are to be served with true religion and virtue by those entrusted to teach, maintain, and safeguard the Gospel and the Catholic religion. Mrs. Jefferts Schori is one who wholeheartedly supports anti-scriptural sexual morality and the culture of death.

As a bishop of the Church, I could never sit in the House of Bishops with those I didn't believe were bishops. I could not in any way misrepresent my convictions and ordination vows, and send a mixed message to the larger Church and confuse the people under my authority. But many an "orthodox" bishop in ECUSA has done this, so I am puzzled why there is such alarm at the election of Mrs. Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop; unless it is based primarily on her theology while avoiding the presenting problem that she is not a bishop, and that a slippery slope for a new religion begins when God's will and order for the Church for which His Son Jesus Christ is Head is altered by those who have no authority so to do.

+David L. Moyer
Bishop in the Traditional Anglican Communion
Rector: Church of the Good Shepherd Rosemont, Pennsylvania