THE BISHOP of Central Florida, the Rt Revd John Howe, has withdrawn from the traditionalist Anglican Communion Network (ACN) and aligned his diocese to the Anglican Communion Institute (ACI), a group that wishes to remain within the Episcopal Church in the United States, but seeks change.
The Bishop announced the move in a letter in the July issue of the Central Florida Episcopalian.
Reiterating that he remained in full communion with the Episcopal Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Howe criticised the secessionist direction of the network, members of which, such as the diocese of San Joaquin in California, have left the Episcopal Church to join the province of the Southern Cone.
“The Network is now made up of far more people who have left the Episcopal Church than those who remain inside it. Scores of parishes have experienced the same kind of splits and ‘disaffiliation’ of some of their clergy and parishioners that we have experienced here.
“In my opinion, the ACI has inherited the original vision of the Network: to work to promote orthodoxy within the Episcopal Church, and to maintain our relationships with the broader Anglican Communion.”
Bishop Howe also criticised the ACN Moderator, Bishop Robert Duncan, saying he was committed to forming “a new ecclesial structure” in North America, a course of action he could not support.
“I respect those efforts, and I do pray for a coming together of the splintered fragments of Anglican Christianity.
“But . . . I remain committed to working as faithfully as possible from within the Episcopal Church and in full communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
Bishop Howe has joined the board of the ACI which includes the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey.
Last August, Dr Ephraim Radner, one of the founders of the ACN, resigned from the group to protest at remarks made about the Archbishop of Canterbury by Bishop Duncan.
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