FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2003

Contact:  Bruce Mason

202-296-5360 202-296-5361 FAX

bmason@americananglican.org

We are mainstream Anglican leaders from Provinces around the world comprising a majority of the world’s 75 million Anglicans.

We have gathered on the eve of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church out of profound love for the church and a deep concern for the constitutional crisis that confronts us.

The proposed actions by General Convention to confirm a non-celibate homosexual as a bishop of this Communion or to approve the creation of liturgies for the blessing of relationships outside of marriage would shatter the church.

Such unconstitutional actions by the Episcopal Church would:

• Separate it from historic Christian faith and teaching,
• Alienate it from the fellowship and accountability of the worldwide Anglican family, and
• Confuse the witness of the Church to the love and joy of Christian marriage.

In response to this crisis, we reaffirm our commitment to:

• The teaching of the historic Christian Church,
• Our fellowship with sisters and brothers in the global Anglican family, and
• The joyful proclamation of Christ’s love for the Church as reflected in the sacrament of marriage.

The proposed actions will precipitate a dramatic realignment of the Church. The American bishops at this meeting have prayed, planned and are prepared to respond as faithful members of the Anglican Communion.

Should these events occur, the majority of the Primates anticipate convening an extraordinary meeting at which they too will respond to the actions of General Convention.

July 23, 2003, Fairfax, VA

Signatories --

Archbishops:

The Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria (Primate)

The Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, Archbishop of the West Indies (Primate)

The Most Rev. Emmanuel Kolini, Archbishop of Rwanda (Primate)

The Most Rev. Bernard Malango, Archbishop of Central Africa (Primate)

The Most Rev. Gregory Venables, Archbishop of the Southern Cone (Primate)

The Most Rev. Yong Ping Chung, Archbishop of Southeast Asia (Primate)

The Most Rev. Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney

Episcopal Church USA:

The Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman

The Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith

The Rt. Rev. David Bena

The Rt. Rev. Maurice Benitez

The Rt. Rev. Gordon Charlton

The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan

The Rt. Rev. Bertram Herlong

The Rt. Rev. Daniel Herzog

The Rt. Rev. John Howe

The Rt. Rev. Jack Iker

The Rt. Rev. Stephen Jecko

The Rt. Rev. Edward Salmon

The Rt. Rev. Henry Scriven

The Rt. Rev. William Skilton

The Rt. Rev. James Stanton

The Rev. Donald Armstrong

The Rev. Canon Dr. Alison Barfoot

The Rev. Gregory Brewer

The Rev. Praveen Bunyan

The Rev. Geoffrey Chapman

The Rev. John Guernsey

The Rev. David Harper

The Rev. William Ilginfritz

The Very Rev. Rick Lobs

The Rev. Ron McCrary

The Rev. Canon Martyn Minns

The Rev. David Moyer

The Rev. Ephraim Radner

The Rev. David Roseberry

The Rev. James Simons

The Rev. William Thompson

The Rev. John Yates

The Rev. Alfred Zadig

The Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon

The Rev. Dr. Christopher Seitz

The Very Rev. Philip Turner

The Rev. Canon David Anderson

Mr. A. Hugo Blankingship

Ms. Melissa Bixler

Mr. Lee Buck

Mr. Robert Devlin

Mrs. Nara Duncan

Mr. Mark Jakubik

Mrs. Diane Knippers

Mr. Bruce Mason

Mr. R. Wicks Stephens

Ms. Edwina Thomas

Mr. Frank Trane

Canada:

The Rt. Rev. Tony Burton

Other International:

The Ven. Paul Gardner

Dr. Philip Giddings

The Rev. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff

The Rev. Canon Vinay Samuel

The Rev. Canon Chris Sugden

The Rev. Timothy Smith