It's Finally Here - The "Alternative" Province

Well what a wonderful and glorious day it is, not really. Today it was announced that the Common Cause Partnership has established an "alternate" province of Anglicans in the United States. Hmm ... quite interesting. They make no secret of the fact that they seek to supplant the Episcopal Church as the sole recognized province of the Anglican Communion in the States. Curious.
But nonetheless, this, I believe is doomed to failure. Why? Well, first of all we have a mish-mash of organizations with radically different ecclesiologies. The constitution is hardly solid and steadfast. It permits for secession even from within its own ranks and enshrines congregational authority ... this is certainly puzzling given their desire to be united with each other and so on. This is enshrined in its provisional constitution. They can't even agree on the ordination of women. The document states:

"1. The member dioceses, clusters or networks (whether regional or affinity-based) and those dioceses banded together as jurisdictions shall each maintain all authority they do not yield to the Province by their own consent. The powers not delegated to the Province by this constitution nor prohibited by this Constitution to these dioceses or jurisdictions, are reserved to these dioceses or jurisdictions respectively
2. The Province shall make no canon abridging the authority of any member dioceses, clusters or networks (whether regional or affinity-based) and those dioceses banded together as jurisdictions with respect to its practice regarding the ordination of women to the diaconate or presbyterate." (Common Cause Partnership, Provisional Constitution Article VIII)."

I don't know about y'all but this sounds like Episcopal Congregationalism to me. In the context of the catholic ecclesiology of the global Anglican communion, this is clearly Congregationalist thinking and hardly meets the classical Episcopal governance of members of the Anglican Communion. I'm surprised that they didn't try to put all properties in trust. Tsk tsk! I thought we were supposed to be one Church here.

"All church property, both real and personal, owned by each member congregation now and in the future is and shall be solely and exclusively owned by each member congregation and shall not be subject to any trust interest or any other claim of ownership arising out of the canon law of this Province. Where property is held in a different manner by any diocese or grouping, such ownership shall be preserved." (Common Cause Partnership Provisional Constitution, Art. XIII)

Are we planning for some doctrinal or ecclesiological dispute? Or was this a compromise to satisfy the more protestant quasi-jurisdictions (more specifically the REC)?

Their Canons are equally scant. Both Constitutions and Canons make up no more than five written MS Word pages I think. Scant when compared to the Books of Order of the Presbyterian Churches or the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.

As misguided as I think these efforts are, I do wish the people who are participating in this peace and success in their journey and that God will lead them into all truth and knowledge of Him. I hope that this was done not out of reactionism, factionalism, or a spirit of divisiveness but out of a genuine and conscientious objection to the actions of the Episcopal Church and some of its global partners.