STATEMENT OF BREAKING COMMUNION

1. Episcopal Church of the United States of America [ECUSA]

On 5thAugust, 2003, despite the strong and clear warning and pleading of a large majority of the Provinces in the Anglican Communion, the General Convention of ECUSA confirmed the election of the Dr. Gene Robinson to be the Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Dr Gene Robinson thus became the first known practising homosexual who had divorced his wife, separated from his two children and chosen to live with his male partner for 13 years to hold the office of a Bishop in the Anglican Communion. His confirmation created a crisis of faith and leadership in the Anglican Communion which led to the convening of a special emergency meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion by the Archbishop of Canterbury in London from 15th to 16th October, 2003.

At this special meeting in Lambeth, many Primates reiterated the profound pain they felt which was caused by the controversial confirmation on Dr Gene Robinson's election. The Primates declared:

"These actions threaten the unity of our own Communion as well as our relationships with other parts of Christ's Church, our mission and witness, and our relations with other faiths, in a world already confused in areas of sexuality, morality and theology, and polarized Christian opinion."

In the same meeting, the Primates warned against the consecration of Dr Gene Robinson and further declared that:

"If his Consecration proceeds, we recognize that we have reached a crucial and critical point in the life of the Anglican Communion and we have had to conclude that the future of the Communion itself will be put in jeopardy. In this case, the ministry of this one bishop will not be recognized by most of the Anglican world, and many provinces are likely to consider themselves to be out of Communion with the Episcopal Church (USA). This will tear the fabric of our Communion at its deepest level, and may lead to further division on this and further issues as provinces have to decide in consequence whether they can remain in communion with provinces that choose not to break communion with the Episcopal Church (USA)."

Yet on 2ndNovember, 2003 the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA and some of his Bishops went ahead and consecrated Dr Gene Robinson to be a Bishop. We are appalled that ECUSA proceeded with the said consecration in total disregard for the faith and unity of the Anglican Communion.

Thus at this first opportunity, we, the members of the Synod of the Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia, want to support and endorse the Statement issued by the Bishops of our Province dated 13th August, 2003 and the Statement of the Global South Primates issued on their behalf by Archbishop Peter Akinola dated 2nd November, 2003.

In view of the serious breach of fundamental teachings of the Bible and the long established doctrines of the Church Universal, we make the following declarations:

(i) We do not recognize the ministry of Dr Gene Robinson as a

Bishop in the Anglican Church.

(ii) We are no longer in communion with the Presiding Bishop of

ECUSA and all those Bishops and Dioceses [Appendix A] who voted for the confirmation of Dr Gene Robinson's election and those who joined in the consecration of the same.

(iii) We encourage and support our Primate to work with

like-minded Primates, Bishops and churches in the Anglican Communion to urge ECUSA to repentance and to return to the faith that has been given to the Church Universal. If ECUSA refuses to repent, we will commit ourselves through our Primate to work with like-minded Primates for the realignment of the Anglican Communion.

(iv) We support the call of the Primates of the Provinces

concerned "to make adequate provision for Episcopal oversight of dissenting minorities within their own area of pastoral care in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury on behalf of the Primates." We request our Primate to take an active part whenever required in this matter.

(v) We support and reaffirm ourselves to be in communion with

that part of the Anglican Communion including those faithfuls in ECUSA who accept and endorse the principles as clearly defined by Resolution 1.10 [Appendix B] of the Lambeth Conference 1998 and the various Primates' Meetings since 1998.

2. Diocese of New Westminister, British Columbia, Canada

We affirm and endorse the Statement of Breaking Communion issued by the House of Bishops of this Province to the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada, dated 6th June, 2003 in consequence of its authorization of public rites for the blessing of same sex unions and the implementation of the same, effective 28th May, 2003.

We further support our Primate's involvement in giving appropriate help and support to those orthodox parishes under persecution, in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The act of breaking communion is carried out with the greatest reluctance and pain. It is a response of last resort as the actions of  ECUSA and the Diocese of New Westminster have gone blatantly contrary to the teachings in the Holy Bible. These actions have not only undermined and damaged the witness, mission and ministry of the Anglican Church in our multi religious context, but also weakened our credibility in our relationships with other ecumenical bodies.