Church of England leaders send letter of support to Bishop Iker

Signers are members of the Church of England General Synod and leaders of Forward in Faith/United Kingdom

The letter was issued on Nov. 20, 2007

Dear Bishop Jack,

We write to assure you of our support and prayers in the face of the letter you have received recently from Presiding Bishop Schori.

We fully applaud the stand you have taken for scriptural and traditional Faith and Order, the departure from which of The Episcopal Church (TEC) has been deeply damaging and divisive within the Anglican Communion, and in our relationships with major ecumenical partners. The leadership of TEC’s use of litigation against faithful congregations and clergy is nothing short of a scandal, recalling St. Paul’s strictures about the letter of the law which kills, in contrast to the Spirit of God which gives life and freedom. Bishop Peter Forster of Chester was quite right when he said last week that the use of legal procedures was not an appropriate way to address this kind of situation.

We are delighted by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement in response to Bishop John Howe of Central Florida that any diocese compliant with Windsor remained in communion with the See of Canterbury and the mainstream of the Anglican Communion, and trust that you and your diocese will be encouraged thereby.

We hope and pray that you, your clergy and people will find an appropriate way to remain true to the faith and order of the universal Church within the fellowship of the Anglican Communion. We look to the Church of England to give a lead in modelling better ways of handling disagreement to TEC and the rest of the Communion.

Signed by the following members of General Synod (dioceses in brackets)

Simon Killwick (Manchester)
Eric Armitstead (Bath & Wells)
Jonathan Baker (Oxford)
Barry Barnes (Southwark)
Anneliese Barrell (Exeter)
Paul Benfield (Blackburn)
Tom Benyon (Oxford)
Paul Boyd-Lee (Salisbury)
Mike Burbeck (Salisbury)
Graeme Buttery (Durham)
Graham Campbell (Chester)
Nigel Chetwood (Gloucester)
John Cook (London)
Martin Dales (York)
Ian Dobbie (Rochester)
Paul Farthing (Lichfield)
Sarah Finch (London)
Emma Forward (Exeter)
Vivienne Goddard (Blackburn)
Ian Gooding (Derby)
John Hanks (Oxford)
Jamie Houghton (Chichester)
David Houlding (London)
Peter LeRoy (Bath & Wells)
Angus MacLeay (Rochester)
Joanna Monkton (Lichfield)
Gill Morrison (Peterborough)
Rob Munro (Chester)
Mary Nagel (Chichester)
Gerald O’Brien (Rochester)
Ian O’Hara (Coventry)
David Mills (Carlisle)
Elizabeth Paver (Sheffield)
Paul Perkin (Southwark)
Sam Philpott (Exeter)
John Pope (Chichester)
Andrew Presland (Peterborough)
Colin Randall (Carlisle)
Jonathan Redden (Sheffield)
Clive Scowen (London)
Penny Stranack (Truro)
Chik Kaw Tan (Lichfield)
Fr. Thomas Seville, CR (Religious Communities)
Mark Sowerby (Ripon & Leeds)
Mike Streeter (Chichester)
Chris Sugden (Oxford)
Carol Ticehurst (Lincoln)
David Waller (Chelmsford)
Glyn Webster (York)
Anne Williams (Durham)
Ruth Whitworth (Ripon & Leeds)

and Bishops
Bishop of Richborough
Bishop of Ebbsfleet

and leading members of Forward in Faith
Stephen Parkinson (Director)
Geoffrey Kirk (National Secretary)
Anne Williams (Vice-Chair; also on General Synod as above)
Nicholas Turner (Editor, New Directions)
Len Black (Forward in Faith, Scotland)