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From www.forwardinfaith.com FiF North America One of the two stated goals of Forward in Faith, North America, has been since its Assembly in Riverside, CA, the creation of an orthodox province of the Anglican Communion in North America. The conservative primates of the Communion have made clear since that time their unwillingness to deal separately with a multitude of conservative groups in North America. They have asked the various groups to form a single body to speak and act for them all. Because those conservative groups are divided, not only by issues of sponsorship, but also by their respective positions on certain issues -- not least, the ordination of women -- the group which they have formed to this end, the Common Cause Partnership (CCP), is federal in structure. It is hoped that as these issues are addressed and resolved, the group may adopt a more traditional structure. Forward in Faith North America was a founding member of the group, and its representatives have played an active part in the drafting of its theological statement and the design of its structure. Since the CCP is a federation, it in no way impinges on the four essentials which FiF NA, together with FiF in the UK, requires of any structural arrangment: a clearly orthodox line of apostolic succession, entire control of the process of selecting, training, and ordaining candidates for the apostolic ministry, the right to opt out of decisions of the larger structure if they contravene its theological principles, and freedom to pursue its own ecumenical relationships. The Statement of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) adopted in Jerusalem on 29th June 2008, stated that it believed "that the time is now ripe for the formation of a province in North America for the federation currently known as Common Cause Partnership to be recognised by the Primates' Council". The following statement was adopted by the leadership of the CCP before the Lambeth Conference convened, in response to GAFCON's call. What is being called for is an interim measure in a time of crisis. The CCP province would be created by and be a province of GAFCON: the GAFCON primates do not have authority to create provinces of the Anglican Communion. But they would have put in place a structure which could for the present meet the needs of those who cannot remain within or have been forced out of the Communion's present provinces in North America. This decision asks the Anglican Communion to wrestle with the actual sitution in North America, and challenges it to propose a solution that will stop the present disintegration. How the Communion responds will determine whether the fabric of the Communion is mended, or irrevocably torn. Forward in Faith North America in the person of its President, Bishop Keith Ackerman, joins fully with its Partners in presenting this statement to the GAFCON Primates. |