Anglicans in Europe Moving Towards Formation of Separate Province
Episcopal News Service. April 2, 1998 [98-2133]
(ENS) The bishops of the four Anglican jurisdictions in Europe, joined by clergy and lay representatives, met in Madrid in mid-February and took steps that could lead to the formation of an Anglican Province in Continental Europe.
"For 30 years the dilemma of parallel Anglican-Episcopal jurisdictions in Europe has been spasmodically addressed," said Bishop Jeffery Rowthorn of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe. This was the first time, he observed, that they had joined "in seeking a constructive resolution of that dilemma."
Rowthorn added, "A deep missionary concern informed all their deliberations as they recognized that, in a Europe often described as secular, millions of people are hungry for something to believe in, and are often responsive to lives of compassion, integrity and faith."
In addition to representatives of the convocation, participants included the Spanish Episcopal Reformed Church, the Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church of Portugal, the Church of England's Diocese of Gibraltar.
In a February 21 statement the participants said that they had "come together to share our vision of a future life in closer fellowship." And they pledged to build towards "greater fellowship, collaboration and partnership in the ministry of all God's people."
In the annual meeting last May of the College of Anglican Bishops in Continental Europe, the bishops signed an open letter to this summer's Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops from around the world requesting support and guidance. The Old Catholic Churches and the Nordic and Baltic Lutherans, ecumenical partners in Europe, sent observers.
A resolution from the 1968 Lambeth Conference "deplores the existence of parallel Anglican jurisdictions in Europe" and recommended "closer integration of existing ministries and congregations" with churches who are in full communion with the Anglicans. Implementation of the Porvoo Declaration last year established full communion between British Anglicans and the Nordic/Baltic Lutherans and the Anglicans were already in full communion with the Old Catholics.
"We believe that ultimately the future of Anglicanism on mainland Europe can only be determined properly within the wider context of Anglicanism in Europe as a whole, including Great Britain and Ireland," the bishops said.
"The process of becoming a province cannot be hurried," the statement added. "It will require a gradual growing together of clergy and congregations.. ."
The development is a "natural progression," said the Rev. Patrick Mauney, the Episcopal Church's director of Anglican and Global Affairs, moving from English-speaking chaplaincies to indigenous congregations. It comes at "an opportune time" because the bishops have "come together as a collegial body with a high level of personal trust." The primary challenge comes, he believes, in proceeding in "an ecumenically sensitive way, in full consultation with the ecumenical partners."