have met the canonical requirements in order to be ordained as priests and bishops in The Episcopal Church. Parishes in the Diocese of Fort Worth that require the ministry of ordained women, in consequence, have been able to do so through an arrangement with our neighboring Diocese of Dallas. As Bishop of Fort Worth, I have long experienced an impaired relationship with the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church, unable to share fully in eucharistic fellowship with all its members. Nevertheless, we have attempted to remain in the highest possible degree of communion with other dioceses of The Episcopal Church and with all those provinces in the Anglican Communion that have ordained women. We now face acutely the question of our future in this church. It has long seemed clear to us that the respect we have shown for the opinions and actions of others has not been reciprocated. In 1997, the General Convention adopted canons making the ordination of women mandatory in every diocese of this church. The General Convention of 2000 created a task force charged with bringing into compliance the three remaining dioceses where women are not ordained or licensed as priests. The task force entered this diocese and conducted interviews with those opposed to the official position of the diocese, without my permission as bishop, and indeed, even over my objections, at a time when I was out of the country on other business. We have long feared that the election in Fort Worth of a bishop opposed to the ordination of women to the priesthood would not gain the required consents of the other dioceses of The Episcopal Church to allow the consecration to take place. For this reason, we made an appeal to the Archbishops Panel of Reference in July of 2005. That appeal is still pending. We now face the prospect of a chief consecrator who is a woman at the consecration of the next bishop of this diocese. That clearly is unacceptable to us. A relationship of collegiality and shared apostolic ministry is seriously impaired when the Presiding Bishop is one whose orders we cannot in conscience accept.