HomePress ReleasesBishop of Eastern Michigan responds to the Canterbury primates communique

Bishop of Eastern Michigan responds to the Canterbury primates communique

Published on

spot_img

I humbly accept this determination and will abide by the recommended consequences as they are laid out in the days ahead.

Grace and peace to you in Jesus Christ,

Reports from the recently concluded Primates’ Meeting held at Canterbury Cathedral are stirring emotions across the Anglican Communion and within our own Episcopal Church. I commend to your prayerful attention the full text of the Primates’ Communique as well as the text and video from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the letter from President Gay Jennings of the House of Deputies. The honest, prophetic. encouraging and hope-filled words of our church’s top leaders fill me with joy during this time of profound disappointment.

While some news outlets have reported that the Episcopal Church has been expelled or suspended from the Anglican Communion, this simply is not true. The Episcopal Church will be asked and in some cases required to refrain from certain kinds of participation in communion-wide decisions regarding doctrine and polity but the specifics will take time to sort out. Let us be patient and stay connected to one another and to our friends and ministry partners throughout our global communion.

The Episcopal Church has been and will continue to be faithful to its commitment to strive for justice and peace and to respect the dignity of every human being. As your bishop and as a baptized child of God, this means that my commitment is unwavering to our church’s discernment that we are called to an expansive understanding of traditional marriage that includes both same-gender and different-gender couples. Eastern Michigan will remain a safe and loving place for all God’s children.

The Primates have collectively but not unanimously determined that the more expansive understanding of marriage faithfully discerned by the Episcopal Church, violates beliefs in a number of other Provinces of the Communion. I humbly accept this determination and will abide by the recommended consequences as they are laid out in the days ahead. However. I also intend to participate in efforts to enhance mutual understanding across theological differences and to deepen relationships within our beloved Communion. Furthermore, I invite you to join me in this holy work.

In the name of the One who is Love, our Savior Jesus Christ, I ask your prayers for all who strive for justice and peace.

todd

The Right Reverend Todd Ousley
II Bishop of Eastern Michigan

Latest articles

Anglican Province of Melanesia launches university in the Solomon Islands

https://youtu.be/CMHe8fY2x1w?si=XEAYgCpdtQP6d4H5 The Anglican Church of Melanesia, which serves Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, officially...

Statement from the Bishops of the Anglican Network in Europe following the passing of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and the...

This week (June 16th-20th 2025) the Westminster Parliament has voted effectively to permit babies...

Where’s the strong spiritual leader we need to be found? Not in the Church of England

WE LIVE in times of great moral confusion. Old certainties and beliefs have been...

Parliament’s culture of death and the Church’s troubling silence

IN THE 1980s, as a pre-med student at Trinity College Dublin, I attended a...

“Rise and Rave” at Cape Town cathedral sparks criticism

The dean of St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town has been criticized for allowing...

More like this

Anglican Province of Melanesia launches university in the Solomon Islands

https://youtu.be/CMHe8fY2x1w?si=XEAYgCpdtQP6d4H5 The Anglican Church of Melanesia, which serves Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, officially...

Statement from the Bishops of the Anglican Network in Europe following the passing of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and the...

This week (June 16th-20th 2025) the Westminster Parliament has voted effectively to permit babies...

Where’s the strong spiritual leader we need to be found? Not in the Church of England

WE LIVE in times of great moral confusion. Old certainties and beliefs have been...