Common Cause: Is It Yours?

In a previous post, The Morphing of the Anglican Network, we discussed the most recent developments in a movement threatening the good order and discipline of the Episcopal Church. The following is a letter from Bob Dodd, president of Albany Via Media, explaining the immediate impact of this movement on parishes in our own diocese.  It is worth your attention:

Dear AVM Members and Friends:

We need your help on a matter of some urgency.  You may know that the Anglican Communion Network, with which the Diocese of Albany is affiliated, has joined several ex-Episcopal organizations in a new coalition called Common Cause Partners.  Common Cause, like the Network, seeks to replace the Episcopal Church in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Unless you have visited the Common Cause website and examined its membership map, you probably do not know that the new coalition has adopted 88% (102 of 116) of Albany's parishes and missions.  The map shows every church that was swept into the Network in 2004 and did not make the effort to disassociate from it thereafter.

Does 88% membership express the level of Albany's commitment to the Network and Common Cause?  That is most unlikely, for two reasons.  First, 40% of Albany parishes that were represented at the 2004 Convention voted against joining the Network, though its dark designs on the Episcopal Church were only rumored at that time.  Now its intentions are all to clear.

Second, Albany's extremely high concentration of Common Cause parishes contrasts sharply with very low concentrations in neighboring dioceses.  Of 815 parishes in the Diocese of Vermont, Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Long Island, and Central New York, just 18 (2%) have been angry enough at the national Church to join the Network.  Are Albany Episcopalians really that different from those in nearby dioceses?

We believe that inertia, not commitment, has kept many of Albany's churches from leaving the Network and Common Cause.  Given a chance to revisit the diocese's 2004 decision to join the Network, most parishes would reject the blatantly separatist organization.  Albany Via Media will try to give them that chance with a resolution at this summer's Diocesan Convention.

However, we urge you not to wait for Convention to take a stand.  Our resolution to leave the Network may not be accepted (our previous Bishop quashed similar resolutions!).  If it's accepted, it may not pass.  Take action yourself!  Visit the Common Cause website to find out if its membership map claims your parish, and to learn what the coalition stands for and against.  If you and your parish decide that Common Cause is not your cause, you can opt out of it, and the Network, by contacting:

Common Cause Partners

35 Smithfield Street, Suite 910

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

(412) 325-8900

Please let AVM know what you decide.  (Yes, we are keeping score!)  You also might want to notify Albany's Diocesan Office at (518) 465-4737.

I said at the outset that this is urgent, and it is.  One Network diocese, San Joaquin, has tried to leave the national Church.  Two others, Pittsburgh and Fort Worth, are just one vote away from doing the same.  If they bolt, other Network dioceses, including Albany, will be under strong pressure to follow suit.  It is essential that Bishop Love not overestimate the support for such action in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany.  Thank you for your help!

Robert T. Dodd, President, for the Via Media Board