In case you didn’t know it, the House of Bishops for the Episcopal Church met in Texas over the past week, and decided that the recent communique from Dar es Salaam wasn’t their cup of tea. From the official statement:

We had an extended and thoughtful discussion of the Communiqué from the Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam, which represents the beginning of a longer process of response that will continue through the coming months.

It is our strong desire to remain within the fellowship of the Anglican Communion. The Primates’ Communiqué, however, raises significant concerns. First among these is what is arguably an unprecedented shift of power toward the Primates, represented, in part, by the proposed "Pastoral Scheme." This proposed plan calls for the appointment of a Primatial Vicar and Pastoral Council for The Episcopal Church whose membership would consist of "up to five members; two nominated by the Primates, two by the Presiding Bishop, and a Primate of a Province of the Anglican Communion nominated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to chair the Council." We believe this proposal contravenes the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. Moreover, because it is proposed that this scheme take immediate effect, we were compelled, at this March meeting, to request that the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church decline to participate in this aspect of the Communiqué’s requests. Nonetheless, we pledge to continue working to find a way of meeting the pastoral concerns raised by the Primates that are compatible with our own Church’s polity and canons. We should note that our recommendation to Executive Council not to participate in the Pastoral Scheme, though not unanimously endorsed by this House, came at the conclusion of long and gracious conversation.

Finally, we believe that the leaders of the Church must always hold basic human rights and the dignity of every human being as fundamental concerns in our witness for Christ. We were, therefore, concerned that while the Communiqué focuses on homosexuality, it ignores the pressing issues of violence against gay and lesbian people around the world, and the criminalization of homosexual behavior in many nations of the world.

The Theology Committee of the House of Bishops was charged with the responsibility of developing a teaching guide for consideration of both the Primates’ Communiqué and the proposed draft Covenant for the Anglican Communion. We anticipate this guide will be available by late May for use by bishops and dioceses in preparation for the September meeting of the House of Bishops.

The bishops unanimously affirmed a Mind of the House Resolution inviting the Archbishop of Canterbury and the members of the Primates’ Standing Committee to meet, at a time of their choosing, with the House of Bishops.

As we prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery we call for your prayers for and commitment to God’s mission of making all things new.

For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5)

I’m going to need one of our Episcopalian/Anglican – heck even RC friends to sum this up succinctly, but what happened is that the Primates meeting in Dar es Salaam asked the Episcopal Church to think about these things until September, and try to figure out a way how they were really, really, really going to structure their pastoral life and polity to be in line with the Windsor Report. This would include working out, in charity, the issues of episcopal oversight and property for those parishes (and dioceses) wishing to not be aligned with the TEC. OR ECUSA.

As you can see, here the HOB respectfully declines.

Captain Yips:

Dar Es Salaam Communique, RIP

Born February 19, 2007.  Died March 20, 2007, aged but 29 days.  It was never robust, poor thing.

Much, much more over at Midwest Conservative Journal (including a great dialogue between church signs) and Titus One Nine. As per usual.

A very helpful summary at Christianity Today:

But instead of acting on those requests, the bishops passed three resolutions. In the resolutions, the bishops called the primates’ plan "injurious to the Episcopal Church." They requested an "urgent" meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to discuss their concerns. (Jefferts Schori admitted at a press briefing, "There is some belief in this house that other parts of the Communion do not understand us very well.")

The bishops said the plan violated their founding principles following their "liberation from colonialism and the beginning of a life independent of the Church of England."

"For the first time since our separation from the papacy in the 16th century, [the primates’ plan] replaces local governance of the church by its own people with the decisions of a distant and unaccountable group of prelates," they said.

The bishops in their lengthy third resolution noted:

Primates set "simply impossible" conditions for the Episcopal Church in order to end boundary violations in which conservative overseas primates provide oversight to certain American parishes.

Primates were "distressingly silent" on the subject of violence against gays and lesbians worldwide.

The Episcopal Church’s emphasis on "a gospel that welcomes diversity of thought. … If that means that others reject us and communion with us, as some have already done, we must with great regret and sorrow accept their decision."

Terry Mattingly has a post on a NYTimes article on the financial aspects of this in terms of funding flowing from the TEC to the Global South. I would, though, point you to one of the comments on that post, left by George Conger, who asserts that the claims of the article are inflated, and that the national TEC office doesn’t really contribute much at all to, say, the Anglican Church in Nigeria.