What is the Communion Partners (CP) fellowship? What is being done now? Who is involved? How can you get involved? In this column, we'll be doing our best to introduce you to the Communion Partners Rectors group and to keep you apprised of ongoing efforts. Often we will feature a guest contributor from the CP Rectors or Bishops groups. Please share your questions and thoughts with us about the CP on the forums.

Editor's note: Today's column is from our first Covenant Guest Contributor, the Rev. Charles D. Alley, Ph.D. of the Communion Partner Rectors Advisory Committee


Before addressing the matter of the Primates meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, let me describe the group known as the Communion Partner Rectors. We are rectors of parishes in The Episcopal Church (TEC) who feel called to remain in TEC while following a different theological trajectory. Earlier this year, 13 bishops announced the Communion Partners Plan through which we might maintain fellowship within the Anglican Communion (http://www.communionpartners.org). As a response to that initiative, a number of rectors of TEC parishes met in Dallas to formulate a vehicle for giving our prayer and support to one another and to the bishops and primates who are working to form a clear Communion identity within TEC. Last November, a follow-up meeting was held in Houston where a larger group of rectors gathered with four Communion Partner Bishops and representatives of the Anglican Communion Institute to give form and definition to the fellowship that has become known as the Communion Partner Rectors.

At that meeting, we (1) acknowledged the serious challenges of this present season in the Anglican Communion due to the actions of The Episcopal Church, (2) reaffirmed our commitment to the authority of Scripture and creedal and historic faith, and (3) reaffirmed our respect for the proper authority of our bishops. We articulated the shape of our obedience to God as his people in terms of service to our various dioceses and the dioceses, provinces and leadership of the Anglican Communion. The participants identified mission grounded in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ as the center piece of our common life as Communion Partners, rather than a new organizational structure.

We feel that the proper expression of that mission is found in meaningful relationships that are informed by Paul’s words that we should be “…subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21). We identified five specific ways for fostering and strengthening such relationships.

1. As the basis for healthy cooperative relationships within the Communion, we support and are firmly committed to the Windsor process and the development of an Anglican Covenant that provides a meaningful framework within which we can function theologically and missiologically. We are committed to the Windsor and Covenant way forward.

2. We desire to establish ministry relationships with dioceses in other provinces which will provide for the sharing of ideas and ministry opportunities. Such relationships will be initiated through the process of listening to our partners in those provinces in order to better understand them and their particular needs, and will continue based on mutual agreement and accountability.

3. We seek to facilitate access to quality theological education and practical parish experience for our partners in other provinces, as well as ministry-expanding opportunities for our parishioners through contact with partner clergy and lay persons, both at home and abroad.

4. Within TEC, we are committed to supporting one another through prayer and fellowship, with a particular concern for those rectors and parishes that find themselves isolated geographically or theologically.

5. Finally, we aspire to provide a positive contribution to the life of this church by witnessing to the importance of an authentic Anglican identity not only within TEC, but also the greater Communion. This witness will be characterized by a consistent loyalty to the mission and relationships that best define our connectedness as members of the Body of Christ and His presence in the Anglican Communion.

This initiative provides the vehicle for a constructive Gospel-centered engagement within TEC. The Communion Partner Rectors is not a group being organized to reform TEC, but rather a group of co-laborers in TEC with the common purpose of sowing the seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have organized a meeting at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, for April 17 – 18, 2009, entitled, “Anglicanism – A Gift in Christ,” which is open to all bishops, clergy and laypersons. More information and registration forms can be obtained from (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

What might the work of the Primates in Alexandria mean to those choosing to function in such a context? I think the overall message is positive. The Primates accurately diagnosed the dysfunction and made the assessment that the presently available therapeutic modalities do not hold sufficient promise for successful treatment. The course of action they proposed was to “first do no harm” as existing modalities are being modified or new ones developed.

The scarlet thread running through the Primates Meeting Communiqué was that of relationships: the importance of our relationships as Anglicans in communion world-wide; the disruption of those relationships by “deep differences” over sexuality and border-crossing issues; and the need to address these differences while remaining in relationship. This relational perspective resonates with the articulated call of the Communion Partner Rectors. During this period of discernment as to how we might “sustain ecclesial fellowship,” we support the call to “directly study the scriptures,” as the way of founding our communal relationship on our relationship with God.

We, with the Primates, “believe the securing of the covenant to be a vital element in strengthening the life of the Communion.” The Windsor Continuation Group named our demon distrust. The obvious question is how the various players in the Anglican Communion can be reconciled with one another without trust. It appears that the only way forward is to develop some tangible instrument through which mutual accountability can be established and a basis for trust restored. To date, a covenant developed through listening to voices from the rich history of Anglicanism, as well as contemporary voices, has the greatest potential for success.

The Communiqué and the Windsor Continuation Group Report present a challenge to the Communion Partner Rectors. As those being called to remain in TEC, the burden falls to us to become involved, along with our bishops and laypeople, in brokering reconciliation between TEC and the Anglican Communion, while standing firm in the faith. Being a reasonable voice for the greater Communion within the councils of TEC and maintaining our relationships within our dioceses and province will be our only hope for repairing the tear in the fabric of the Communion.