Source: Diocese of Pittsburg
Posted July 11, 2006
Diocese pledges to work with minority during difficult times
Bishop Robert Duncan responded to reports this afternoon of a meeting and press conference at Calvary Episcopal Church called by the leadership of nine congregations of the diocese.
“There continues to be confusion about the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh’s status in the Episcopal Church,” said Bishop Duncan, “I will say again what we have been saying for months now. We have no plans to be anything but faithful, orthodox, Anglican-Communion-bound Episcopalians, today, tomorrow and the day after that. We are the Episcopal Church in this place and we are going to continue being what we always have been.”
Bishop Duncan went on to note that the June 28 decisions of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Standing Committee did not bring the diocese outside of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church in any way. Instead, they simply served to make clear the diocese’s firm intention, expressed by overwhelming margins at numerous diocesan conventions, to remain a “constituent” member of the Anglican Communion, even while much of the Episcopal Church continues choosing a path that is breaking that bond.
Responding to claims made at the press conference that the specific standing committee action to give notice of an intent to disaffiliate from ECUSA’s internal provincial structure (providing the diocesan convention approves this November) signified an attempt to "leave" the Episcopal Church, Bishop Duncan stressed that it is nothing of the sort. In fact, the action is governed by the Episcopal Church’s constitution. "Article VII of the Constitution of the Episcopal Church guarantees that no diocese will be included in a province of the Episcopal Church ‘without its own consent.’ The specific history of the application of this article includes a diocese (Missouri, 1964 – 1977) withdrawing its consent and being treated as extra-provincial during multiple meetings of General Convention before finally being re-included in a different province. The precedent and history unequivocally support the Standing Committee’s considered action," said Bishop Duncan.
“The majority of this diocese knows very well what it feels like to be a minority in the affairs of our national church. I and everyone else involved in diocesan leadership here in Pittsburgh have committed to continue working with the minority here in every way we can, both in support of their local ministries and to facilitate decisions of conscience. I pray that all of us, majority and minority, will treat each other with grace and charity as we struggle to stand for the priorities we have embraced,’ concluded Bishop Duncan