Retired TEC bishop supports rejection of Panel of Reference ruling

The Episcopal Church has embraced a mandatory women’s ordination policy for more than 30 years and recommendations by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Panel of Reference that the Church clarify the permissive nature of its canon are “antithetical to our polity and therefore not appropriate,” according to Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies.

In a Jan. 12 letter sent to Archbishop Rowan Williams and the members of the panel, Mrs. Anderson asked the panel to issue a correction to its December 2006 report which concluded that “no diocese or parish should be compelled to accept the ministry of word or sacrament from an ordained woman.” She also requested that in the future the panel ensure “adequate representation from the province directly affected by the recommendations.” Read more