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Bishop Murphy told ENI he agreed the consecrations were highly irregular, but said that, "extraordinary times require extraordinary measures." He and Rodgers were committed to promoting a "faithful Biblical witness on American shores" in keeping with a "400-year-old tradition of Anglicanism."

Bishop Murphy added that he believed there was little chance of rapprochement with the Episcopal Church. "Frank Griswold and the leaders of the Episcopal Church have no intention of reversing course," he said, adding that he believed it was the Episcopal Church—and not church conservatives like himself and Rodgers -who were "out of sync" with the rest of the Anglican Communion.

"They're outside of the box," he told ENI.

And, he said, there was an historical precedent for bishops overseeing the work of clerics in other parts of the world, though he added it was "an amazing development" that churches in the Third World were now overseeing mission work in the United States.

Bishop Murphy said the details of how the mission would be carried out would be determined later, with an advisory committee meeting planned later this month in Pennsylvania. He said that the AMA was interested in discussing possible alliances with independent Anglican churches in the United States—such as the Reformed Episcopal Church—which long ago severed ties with the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

Another international, conservative group, called the Nassau Coalition, which has the support of eight American bishops, met in August in the Bahamas and decried what it called a "state of pastoral emergency" within the Episcopal Church. The Nassau Coalition plans to remain within the Anglican Communion but is seeking church recognition of what it called "an alternative arrangement" for conservative ministry, according to ENS.

Bishop Griswold, who recently underwent a successful treatment for prostate cancer, said in a statement: "It is unhelpful to have bishops from other parts of the Anglican Communion seek to disrupt the life and work of this church," ENS reported, "but it is heartening to know that almost without exception, the mission of the Gospel and common vision in the Episcopal Church continues uninterrupted in the unity of the faith."

As for the work of the AMA, Bishop Griswold said: "While we are aware of the efforts of the AMA in a few U.S. churches, there has been no substantial undermining of the health or ongoing mission of the mainstream church in America. We continue to uphold a position that is generous, broad, and inclusive of divergent points of view while holding on to the unity of one body in Christ."

Copyright © 2000 ENI

Visit the homepage of the Episcopal Church.

The closest thing the Anglican Mission in America has to an official Web site is FirstPromise.org.

Read the Episcopal News Service's story on Murphy and Rodgers

Read some the testimonies of people who decided to leave the U.S. Episcopal Church.

Last weekend Alabama's oldest Protestant congregation, Christ Church in Mobile, voted to leave the Episcopal Church and join the Anglican Mission in America.

Previous Christianity Today articles on this topic include:

Intercontinental Ballistic Bishops? | Maverick conservatives gain a toehold among Episcopalians. (April 25, 2000)

Episcopal Church on Brink of Ecclesiastical Civil War Over Consecrations | (Feb. 2, 2000)

One Church, Two Faiths | Will the Episcopal Church survive the fight over homosexuality? (July 12, 1999)

Dying Church Bequeaths Sanctuary to Anglicans | (Sept. 7, 1998)

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October (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44