A Statement of the Episcopal Council Concerning Synodical Membership of Local Churches with Clergy

As Promulgated by the Episcopal Council of the Christian Synod of Saint Timothy in August 2005

The Synod of St. Timothy's process for the acceptance/incorporation of a parish with existing clergy seeks to honor the following biblical imperatives:

(1) the necessity of the local church to be served by a pastor with full ministerial faculties, i.e., a bishop according to the Ignatian model (cf. Acts 13:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:6);

(2) the injunction "not [to] be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor [to] take part in sins of others" (1 Timothy 5:22, ESV).

For the sake of both the prospective parish and the Synod, this process attempts to honor both imperatives.

A secondary goal of this process includes the following (a) to allow the prospective parish to discern its future relationship with the Synod and (b) to provide for the general unity and peace of the Synod.

To these ends...

(1) The prospective parish will apply to the Synod Office of Communications or through a member bishop.

Following submission of application, the prospective parish whose application appears to be in order and without impediment will be granted immediate spiritual care and will undertake a process of incorporation into the life of the Synod as a whole (including the parish's review and acceptance of the faith and articles of the Synod, as articulated in the Book of Common Life, along with the Synod's Divine Liturgy, with all due respect to provisions for local usage).

(2) At the same time the clergy of the prospective parish will forward for review their own applications for inclusion in the Synod.

Following submission of application(s), the clergy whose application(s) appear(s) to be in order and without impediment will be issued provisional faculties to function according to their respective orders.

The presbyter who serves as the senior pastor of the prospective parish, in addition to undertaking the normal process involved in the issuance of regular faculties, will enter into discernment and/or formation for the office of bishop of the local church.

(3) By consensus of the Episcopal Council of the Synod of St. Timothy, an Episcopal Visitor will be appointed to serve as the overseer pro tempore for the prospective parish. At the discretion of the Episcopal Council, normally, the Episcopal Visitor will be (a) that bishop in closest geographical proximity to the prospective parish or (b) another bishop enjoying a prior relationship with the prospective parish.

In general, the process of incorporation will take into account the synodical review of the parish and clergy applications and the relationship that develops through a minimum of at least two on-site visits conducted by the Episcopal Visitor or his delegate.

This process is normally anticipated to be completed withing six to twelve months and shall be neither inordinately delayed nor prematurely abbreviated.

The conclusion of the process will include (1) the enrollment of the prospective parish as a local church of the synodical communion and (2) the consecration of the bishop-elect.

This process established by consensus of the Episcopal Council on the fourteenth day of August 2005 (with slight amendments authorized by the bishops on the twenty-seventh day of August), that being the Thirteenth Sunday of Gracetide, in the year of our Lord two-thousand and five.

XCraig M. Davis

Presiding Bishop

Bishop of the Church of the Transfiguration

Central Indiana

XCharles P. Huckaby

Bishop of Central Tenessee and Northern Georgia

XMichael Joe Thannisch

Bishop of the Church of the Children of Abraham

LaPorte and Galveston Bay, Texas

Addendum: Concerning the Reception of Congregations with Bishop-Pastors

As Promulgated by the Episcopal Council of the Christian Synod of Saint Timothy in January 2006

For a prospective parish whose identified senior pastor is already consecrated in valid episcopal orders, the provisions of the process as outlined generally apply but with the following modifications:

By consensus of the Episcopal Council of the Synod of St. Timothy, an Episcopal Liaison will be appointed to serve as the primary mentor for the process of the incorporation of the prospective

church and as the primary contact with the Episcopal Council. At the discretion of the Episcopal Council, normally, the Episcopal Liasion will be

(a) that bishop in closest geographical proximity to the prospective church or

(b) another bishop enjoying a prior relationship with the prospective church.

The Episcopal Liaison (or his delegate) will conduct a minimum of two on-site visits to the

prospective church and formulate his recommendations based on the relationship that develops with the prospective church. The process will conclude with

(1) the enrollment of the prospective church in the synodical communion and

(2) the affirmation of the bishop of the new member-church.