Not very impressive, now that Jim Naughton has laid it out like this. I hadn't heard the story of what Bishop MacPherson said at the recent Primates' Meeting.
The ACI further undermined itself by mishandling the Armstrong case, which is still unfolding in Colorado. As executive director of the ACI, Armstrong had mingled the bank accounts of his parish with those of the institute, which was not a legal entity, but rather, as its president the Rev. Christopher Seitz admitted—adopting the characterization of one of the group’s critics—just “six guys with a Web site.” Faced with the possibility that Armstrong’s trial would further tarnish its reputation, Seitz, Radner and their colleagues had to sever their ties with the man who was not only their executive director, but the owner of their web domain.
So it came to pass that a five-man organization that presumed to tell the 77-million member Anglican Communion how to resolve its internal difficulties had to disassociate itself from its own Web site. The ACI now has a new Web site, but credibility, unlike domain names, can’t be bought.
The steering committee’s cause has also been damaged by one of its own members. News of what transpires inside the Primates Meeting filters slowly through the Anglican system, so descriptions of Bishop Bruce MacPherson’s pointed personal attack on Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori at the meeting in Tanzania is just beginning to achieve wide circulation. Observers say that MacPherson, who had been invited to the meeting to speak on behalf of the bishops who had endorsed the Camp Allen principles, characterized Bishop Jefferts Schori as the embodiment of everything that was wrong with the Episcopal Church. The comments, observers said, went well beyond the issues under consideration at the meeting and included a general condemnation of her beliefs and her ministry. MacPherson’s remarks made those of Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, who spoke on behalf of the Anglican Communion Network, seem mild by comparison, observers said.
