Conger

Affiliating with the Province of the Southern Cone would safeguard the Anglo-Catholic heritage of the Diocese of Forth Worth, its bishop and standing committee told the diocese in a Jan 9 letter.

Bishop Jack Iker and the leaders of the diocese reported that after a review of the constitution and canons of the South American Church, “we have concluded that the structure and polity of the Province of the Southern Cone would afford our diocese greater self-determination than we currently have under the General Convention of The Episcopal Church.”

In November the Texas-based diocese voted to remove references to the Episcopal Church from its constitution and canons and begin the process of withdrawal. Quitting the US Church requires a second reading of the proposed constitutional changes at the diocese’s 2008 synod.

Moving the diocese to the oversight of Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of Argentina would give a degree of autonomy “in the areas of property ownership, liturgy, holy orders, and missionary focus.” The issue of women’s orders would be left to the diocese, allowing Fort Worth to maintain its traditionalist stance.

Quitting the Episcopal Church would not “change in the day-to-day” life and work of the diocese, but “we expect a significant change in attitude and focus of the clergy and people,” Bishop Iker and the Standing Committee wrote.