David Moyer is a celebrity in the Anglican world and in his particular situation mirrors some of the major divisions and tensions within the ECUSA.
He has been deposed & defrocked by the Bishop of Diocese of Pennsylvania, and this action has apparently been undertaken according to the letter of the canon law of the ECUSA. To say this is not to say that it has been done according to the spirit of the law or to have been done wisely, for, to all appearances, it has not.
Since the ECUSA is a Church made up of dioceses, each one supposedly in communion [through a shared Baptism and other means] with the others, to be deposed by one is to be regarded as deposed by all. It is to be removed from the National Register of Clergy held at the ECUSA headquarters in NY City and from the right to be in the Clergy Pension Fund.
YET David Moyer has been received as a priest in good standing, without the official, required Letters Dimissory from Pa., and against the guidelines of the ECUSA for receiving priests from outside a diocese, into the Diocese of Pittsburgh. An amazing turn of events.
This reception in Pittsburgh will be judged by some to be courageous (standing against the radical liberal bishops), by others to be illegal (against the canon law of the ECUSA) and by others to be unwise (occurring too quickly, especially since David Moyer makes much of the legal appeal he is making against the decision perhaps there was a case for patience).
What the decision of Pittsburgh makes clear is that there is very open division between bishops in the one Anglican Province of ECUSA and that these bishops are in impaired if not broken communion with each other. And here the issue is not the ordination of women (Pittsburgh ordains women); but, is over the right of a priest to decide that his own & canonical bishop is a heretic (in various ways) and unworthy as a chief pastor to be admitted into his parish which is of course within the bishop's own diocese.
The Bishop of Pittsburgh has obviously decided that there was justice in the cause that Moyer espoused (keeping out the bishop) and that the bishop's insistence on being admitted & other actions of his were unreasonable (to say the least). Therefore he feels that he is able, against all the rules of the ECUSA game, to admit David into his diocese as a priest in good standing.
And Moyer has decided that though Pittsburgh is not a wholly orthodox bishop (for he ordains women which Moyer believes to be biblically wrong &
heretical) he is better in his company than with one of the Continuing Church bishops (to whom his friend Sam Edwards recently turned). Certainly the folks at David's parish in suburban Philadelphia favour being in an ECUSA diocese to being in a Continuing Church.
It would seem that if the legal appeal of Moyer against his deposition by the Bishop of Pa. does not succeed, and if he is retained as in good standing in Pittsburgh, then the Bishop of Pittsburgh himself runs the risk of becoming the target of legal action within ECUSA, for he has obviously and deliberately broken the canon law of the ECUSA. No doubt there will be those who will be looking to set such a process in motion as soon as possible. ECUSA loves to employ lawyers and courts to sort out its day to day operations.
Obviously there is yet more to develop in this story. David Virtue and Dick Kim will keep us posted.
Meanwhile we all need to pray for the main participants - the two bishops and Moyer. All in differing ways URGENTLY need the grace and guidance of Almighty God. Let us not condemn any of them but see them as frail creatures and all in need of the Divine presence. Maybe, if heaven prompts him, we shall soon get a word of wisdom from the Presiding Bishop of the ECUSA!
But what this crisis situation does CRY out for - as I look on -- is this --- That those who want to hold to the traditional Anglican worship, doctrine and discipline, which was once held by the ECUSA, need to find ways to get together and to do so urgently, whether they be in the ECUSA or in one or another of the Anglican groups outside the ECUSA within the USA.
There is a great opportunity now to work together to form slowly, humbly and graciously a National Comprehensive Anglican Church for the USA that is biblical, orthodox and makes room for different styles of churchmanship. (Dr Tarsitano of Savannah has written eloquently about this need.)
There are over 100 bishops within the Continuing Churches of the USA and they work within over thirty different expressions (jurisdictions) of the Anglican Way. This does not paint a good picture of the Anglican Way to the world and this situation needs urgent attention by the Divine Hand. At the same time there are thousands in the ECUSA who feel that their Church has left them stranded or is out to get rid of them if they will not change. They also need attention by the Divine Hand.
NOW is the time for a coming together of these groups and for ways to be found in true fellowship to channel all this Anglican energy and faith into a coherent body based on Communion, a National Anglican Church, that can ask for full membership in the Anglican Communion of Churches.
Perhaps the forthcoming Congress in Atlanta (Dec 4-8) will be a part of this coming together.
September 6, 2002
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon
Minister of Christ Church, Biddulph Moor,
England & Vice-President and Emissary-at-Large
of The Prayer Book Society of America
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