Archbishop's peace talks threatened | Uk News | News | Telegraph

This will be an historic week in the Anglican Communion and The Episcopal Church. This week's Primate's meeting could possibly result in a complete realignment of world-wide Anglicanism. For those of you who need a brief explanation of Anglican polity ... The Anglican Church worldwide has 38 autonomous provinces (geographic regions) and each is led by an Archbishop, also called a Primate. Their unity comes in their historic way of worship through a book of common prayer and from their being in communion (relationship) with one another, and most importantly, in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. A majority of those Bishops are in broken or imparied communion with the Episcopal Church in the US, and furthermore, believe, with good reason, that the church is now apostate. At the Primate meeting this week they will quite likely be calling for the formation of a new North American province to replace the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church in Canada. A handful of provinces have already begun the process of sending missionaries to the US and forming ecclesiastical structures functioning in the US. Which leads me to use one of my favorite episcopal phrases: Several Primates have been badjulgating their crosier. That means they have exercised episcopal authority (acted like a bishop) in a diocese or province other than their own. While this has long been considered a 'no-no', these bishops believe that we are in extraordinary circumstances. They see orthodox priests and parishes being persecuted by uber-liberal bishops. Those priests and parishes are pleading for help. We in evangelical circles would likely take the approach of leaving and starting our own church. But to be Anglican one must be under the authority of a Bishop, so, many Episcopal churches and several entire dioceses are attempting to leave or have left the US church and gone under the authority of some of these overseas primates. Which leads to this week where a complete split or realignment of the worldwide Anglican Church could very likely take place. If these matters interest you I encourage you to read the article linked above and make a daily stop at virtueoline.org, the fantastic news site led by journalist David Virtue.