ST. GEORGE ANGLICAN CHURCH

2710 Rife Medical Lane

Rogers, AR  72758

Resolution

WHEREAS, The Bishops of the Traditional Anglican Church in October 2007, while assembled in Plenary Session at Portsmouth England did draft a petition to the Holy See asking for guidance in coming into full communion with the Catholic Church, yet retaining our rich Anglican Traditions and Liturgy.

WHEREAS, The Bishops of the Traditional Anglican Church did unanimously accept the petition and each did affix their signatures to said document thus accepting the leadership of the Chair of Peter and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as our full expression of faith.

WHEREAS, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI did most graciously respond to our request in his Apostolic Constitution (ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS) issued in November 2009, thus providing the mechanism whereby Anglicans may once again enter in to the fold of the Catholic Church while retaining all those distinctive forms of Liturgy and Traditions that make us uniquely Anglicans.

WHEREAS, The Anglican Community of Saint George in a duly called parish meeting held on October 10, 2010 and being conducted in accordance with the bylaws of this parish, did by a majority vote of the eligible communicants elect to submit a petition for admission into the Anglican Ordinariate of the Catholic Church.

1.     RESOLVED, The Pastor of this Parish with the Secretary of the Vestry prepares and submits through the appropriate channels a request to enter into the Anglican Ordinariate of the Catholic Church.

2.     RESOLVED, The Parish submits a request through the appropriate channels to be placed under the Patrimony of The Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion until such time it fully enters into the Anglican Ordinariate of the Catholic Church.

In witness whereof I do affix my Name as Secretary of the Vestry and Parish.

____________________________________

Michelle Stockand

October 13, 2010

The Rt. Rev. David L. Moyer

Lancaster & Rosemont Ave

Rosemont, PA 19010

Dear Bishop Moyer:

This is to inform you that the Anglican Community of St. George on October 10, 2010 while assembled in a duly called Special Parish Meeting, did with those communicants qualified voting, elect to petition for admission into the Anglican Ordinariate of the Catholic Church. This vote was in the affirmative of all present with one abstention.

At the same meeting the decision was made to request to be placed under the Patrimony of the Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion. A resolution addressing those decisions has been included in this communication.

It is with great joy that we make this first step in returning to that Blessed Communion from whence we came, bringing with us our Traditions and Liturgy.

Please accept this letter and the enclosed Resolution as our formal petition to be received as a mission into the Ordinariate. We eagerly await instructions from your office as to the next steps to be undertaken as we move into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Your humble servant in Christ,

The Rev. Bobby C. Hall, SSM

priest-in-charge

Cc: The Rt. Rev. Stephen D. Strawn, Bishop Ordinary, Dioceses of the Missouri Valley

Cc: The Most Rev. Louis W. Falk, President of the ACA House of Bishops

Cc: The Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington

Cc: The Most Rev. Anthony B. Taylor, Bishop of Little Rock

October 26, 2009

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

By now you have read every conceivable scenario in the newspapers concerning our possiable sacramental relationship with the See of Peter. Let me assure you at this point that none of them have been accurate. Yes, we have been invited to enter into a state of communion with the Roman Catholic Church. That is a documented fact, however at this point in time that is all that is true. The Apostolic Constitution governing this action is yet to be published and we do not know if its contents will be completely acceptiable to us as a world body.

You may ask, how did this all come about?

 Many years ago following the signing of the Affirmation of St Louis, a large number of the continuing Anglican Jurisdictions fragmented into to many Churches. During this period, Arch Bishop Louis Falk, Primate of the Anglican Church in America (ACA), who also served as Arch Bishop of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) for a number of years was instrumental in opening contact with the Holy See.  Arch Bishop Falk quickly saw the necessity of opening dialogue with Rome with the goal of coming into full communion with them, but not being absorbed by the Roman Church. The initial contact with the Holy See was made by Arch Bishop Falk on a trip to Rome over 13 years ago.  This type of dialogue with Rome has been a continuing effort by many clergy in the Anglican Church from 1534 following the Church of England’s initial break with the Holy See, however due to various  political and ecclesiastical roadblocks it has waxed and waned over the years. From that initial contact by Arch Bishop Falk this dialogue had been quietly on going and was continued later by Arch Bishop Hepworth, through numerous contacts involving high ranking members of the Roman Catholic Clergy

 The final approach to Rome was made when the College of Bishops of the TAC met in Plenary Session in Portsmouth, England, in the first week of October 2007. The Bishops and Vicars-General unanimously agreed to the text of a letter to the See of Rome seeking full, corporate, sacramental union. The letter was signed solemnly by all the College and entrusted to the Primate and two bishops chosen by the College to be presented to the Holy See. The letter was cordially received at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Primate of the TAC had agreed that no member of the College would give interviews until the Holy See has considered the letter and responded.

One may ask at this moment in time why this movement toward Rome? At the most theological level it was the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate, with its consequent undermining of sacramental certanity and the Anglican understanding both of authority and the given-ness of the Faith More recently the growing ambovilance toward authenic Christian sacramental and iconographic teaching on gender and sexuality, upon which the ordination of women dependsm has given rise to the homosexual crisis which threatens to blow the world wide Anglican Communion apart.

 As to the current press; the Holy See has responded and most favorably. However numerous articles fail to make clear the status of this announcement. First of all those members of the Anglican Communion who choose to take part in this momentous undertaking  will be received in full communion with Rome yet as a complete and separate rite, a so called “uniate” church. These are ritual churches "sui iuris" - in other words, are churches with their own rites, cultures and canon law. And although, as Archbishop Hepworth has pointed out in a previous statement, "most of these rites are descended from ancient churches that have never been part of the Roman or Western rite". There are some twenty-eight of these churches, and they appoint their own bishops by the synodical processes, and since they are in communion with Rome they routinely inform the Bishop of Rome of their actions.

It is evident that the Holy Father has extended to the fractured Anglican Communion a unique rallying point containing a method allowing us to return to our rich sacramental and liturgical heritage which has been abandoned by numerous Anglican jurisdictions worldwide.

 What does this all mean? First of all, we know that we will be converting to Roman Catholicism and yet not be absorbed losing our idenity. Rather the Apostolic Constitution provides the canonical vehicle for full communion with the Roman Catholic Church while at the same time retaining our Anglican liturgy, spirituality, patrimony and the ability to function almost as a suri juris Church. Additionally, we will retain our autonomy in that the Constitution creates Anglican Ordinariates that will exist parallel to the existing dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church. As such, we will have complete autonomy from the local Roman Catholic Diocese. That being said then it is evident we will become Roman Catholics amd yet remain as we have always been, Anglicans within our own distinct Church with our very own, Deacons Priest, and Bishops.

 There is much work to be done on the parish, diocese, and national level before we will see the fruits of our labour. I am sure that much give and take will occur between both churches before a truly common ground is reached. However the ultimate goal is the bringing together Christ’s Church on Earth. Pray my brothers and sisters that our efforts will be fruitful.

    Bob+

Rev. Dr. Bobby C. Hall, SSM