Ruth Gledhill: Judge rules for Virginia 'orthodox'

April 04, 2008

Excerpt:
How much is all this costing? How many bishops would this finance to go to Gafcon or Lambeth? Goodness knows. But one aspect of this judgement makes it extremely useful indeed. For anyone seeking to understand the structure of TEC, the Anglican Communion and the chronology of events that have led to the present sorry mess, they need go no further. It also has a long section on the history of ecclesiological fracture in the US with the CANA expert witness Dr Charles Irons himself a PhD who did his dissertation on the conflict over slavery within Virginia's churches.

All this and more spelled out in the judgement, with footnotes, by the excellent Judge Randy Bellows of Fairfax County Circuit Court. Thank you Judge Bellows, pictured here at the sentencing in an earlier case, for providing a sorely needed moment of clarity and for giving us all such a useful contemporary and historical analysis. It may pertain to Virginia, but its relevance is international. However, I wonder if the canon lawyers at St Andrew's House have read this yet. Because if the CANA congregations are still 'attached' to the Anglican Communion as this judge has ruled, shouldn't the Archbishop of Canterbury therefore invite Bishop Martyn Minns to Lambeth? I await their legal opinion with interest.

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