News for Week Ending 12/26/2011

Southern Cone accepts Covenant

Anglican Communion News Service announced December 21, 2011, that the Province of the Southern Cone accepted the Anglican Covenant at a November Executive Committee meeting. In doing so, the Southern Cone asserted that it is no longer involved in border crossings despite its ongoing intervention in Brazil’s Diocese of Recife.

A table showing the status of the Anglican Covenant in the various Communion churches can be found here.

Sudan recognizes ACNA in place of TEC; bans PB visit

George Conger, writing for the Church of England Newspaper, reported December 23, 2011, that the Episcopal Church of Sudan has recognized Bob Duncan’s Anglican Church in North America, rather than The Episcopal Church, as the legitimate Anglican church in the U.S. As a result, an invitation to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to visit Sudan has been withdrawn.

Groton congregation faces eviction—maybe

The case of Bishop Seabury Church of Groton, Connecticut, seems to resist coming to an end. The congregation, which attempted to leave The Episcopal Church to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America while retaining parish property, received a serious blow last September, when the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut regarding the Seabury Church property. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.)

According to theday.com, the congregation is under court order to vacate the Groton property by January 4, 2012, but Bishop of Connecticut Ian Douglas has said that he will not insist on that date and is seeking a resolution that will not require the removal of the congregation.

On December 16, 2011, the Connecticut Supreme Court rejected a request by the congregation for a rehearing. The congregation plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

St. Edmund’s, Elm Grove, ordered to return property

Another church associated with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America was ordered to surrender its property to an Episcopal diocese December 16, 2011. According to Episcopal News Service, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge J. Mac Davis has ordered the immediate return of the parish property of St. Edmund’s, in Elm Grove, Wisconsin, to the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee.

The dissident congregation left The Episcopal Church in 2008. Attorneys for both sides are now discussing how to make a smooth transfer of St. Edmund’s assets.