Ten Reasons for Not Joining the Network of Anglican Dioceses and Parishes:


Courtesy of: Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh

  1. Network goverance reduces the role of laity in decision-making and is not democratic.
  2. It does not promise obedience to the canons of the Episcopal Church, USA.
  3. It encourages those who do not accept women's ordination and gives them a guaranteed voice in Network decision-making.
  4. It requires people to accept a belief statement beyond the Creeds.
  5. It makes church teachings about marriage as important as teachings about God, the Creeds, and Sacraments, and imposes a particular interpretation of marriage.
  6. It tries to replace the Episcopal Church, USA, by dealing directly with the Archibishop of Canterbury and other provinces.
  7. It encourages parishes to have nothing to do with their diocesan bishop and to cut themselves off from the rest of their diocese.
  8. The Network advocates a form of episcopal oversight in conflict with ECUSA constitution and canons.
  9. It requires signers to "submit" to the authority of foreign primates, something no participating province (regional or national church) currently does.
  10. It requires submission to the Bible rather than to God. The Bible contains all things necessary for salvation and can guide us (with tradition and reason) in discerning God's will, but God is in charge, not the Bible.