The Panel of Reference

Readers of this blog may remember that when the Primates of the Anglican Communion meet two months ago they asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to create a "Panel of Reference" to deal with North American parishes that were at odds with their diocesan bishops over recent events in ECUSA. Now the Panel is being formed under the leadership of Australian Archbishop Carnely. His interview with "The Living Church" will not be encouraging to many US orthodox Anglicans, however. Here is a sample:

The Panel of Reference will be an independent body, Archbishop Carnley said. It will offer pastoral advice and mediation. It is not an adversarial processes leading to a judgment. It will work with some of the differences experienced by parishes, dioceses, and provinces. Services will be offered to a national church at the request of its Primate. Participation will be voluntary.

In cases when an alternative bishop has been requested, Archbishop Carnley prefers to think of it as “alternative episcopal ministry” rather than “alternative episcopal oversight.” The diocesan bishop still has jurisdiction, but another bishop will provide ministry to the parish, diocese, or province in question.

So the Panel, which will only meet as a group once per year, will not be able to order a solution to the difficulties in any given situation. It will simply try to get the parties to talk to each other some more. But this emphasis on "talk, talk, talk" is pretty much how we got into this mess in the first place, isn't it? The revisionists have been "talking" their way to victory after victory for decades. And please note: the Panel will only become involved when Presiding Bishop Griswold asks it to do so!!! And if the Panel is volutary, cannot the diocesan bishop simply refuse to participate? It is difficult for me to see how this Panel will solve anything. Sigh.

Read the entire article here.