Pastoral Visitors are unveiled, but traditionalists are sceptical

March 8, 2009
by George Conger written with Matt Creswell

AMERICAN Church leaders claimed this week that the Archbishop of Canterbury’s new group of Pastoral Visitors is ‘too little, too late’. As the number of lawsuits between the Episcopal Church (TEC) and breakaway conservative groups approaches 60, some say the initiative - intended to help repair the torn fabric of the Anglican Communion- lacks integrity.

On March 2 Lambeth Palace announced that the team of three retired bishops, two clergymen, and a retired British army general had their first meeting from Feb 25-28 at the Virginia Theological Seminary outside Washington.

Created in response to the recommendations of the Windsor Continuation Group, on Feb 5 Dr Williams told a press conference in Alexandria the “pastoral visitors” would “act as consultants in situations of stress and conflict” across the Communion. But the Rev Philip Ashey, Chief Operating Officer for the American Anglican Council, a grouping of conservative Anglicanism, was deeply concerned about Lambeth’s response. Speaking from Atlanta, Georgia, he said: “Every pastoral visitor programme suggested so far has admitted the participation of the parties who have been aggrieved, those people who have left TEC.” the rest