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About the Apostolic Succession
"Have you an Apostolic Succession? Unfold the line of your Bishops."
Tertullian, 3rd century A.D.

“If Catholic doctrine is true, every priest validly ordained derives his orders in an unbroken line of laying of hands, through the bishop who ordains him, back to the twelve Apostles.”
Sir Anthony Kenny, A Path From Rome: An Autobiography, Oxford University Press, 1985.

Thomas C. O'Reilly, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia, makes the following comments on Apostolic Succession:

"Apostolicity is the mark by which the Church of today is recognized as identical with the Church founded by Jesus Christ upon the Apostles. It is of great importance because it is the surest indication of the true Church of Christ, it is most easily examined, and it virtually contains the other three marks, namely, Unity, Sanctity, and Catholicity. Either the word "Christian" or "Apostolic", might be used to express the identity between the Church of today and the primitive Church. The term "Apostolic" is preferred because it indicates a correlation between Christ and the Apostles, showing the relation of the Church both to Christ, the founder, and to the Apostles, upon whom He founded it. "Apostle" is one sent, sent by authority of Jesus Christ to continue His Mission upon earth, especially a member of the original band of teachers known as the Twelve Apostles. Therefore the Church is called Apostolic, because it was founded by Jesus Christ upon the Apostles. Apostolicity of doctrine and mission is necessary. Apostolicity of doctrine requires that the deposit of faith committed to the Apostles shall remain unchanged. Since the Church is infallible in its teaching, it follows that if the Church of Christ still exists it must be teaching His doctrine. Hence Apostolicity of mission is a guarantee of Apostolicity of doctrine. St. Irenaeus (Adv. Haeres, IV, xxvi, n. 2) says: "Wherefore we must obey the priests of the Church who have succession from the Apostles, as we have shown, who, together with succession in the episcopate, have received the certain mark of truth according to the will of the Father; all others, however, are to be suspected, who separated themselves from the principal succession", etc. In explaining the concept of Apostolicity, then, special attention must be given to Apostolicity of mission, or Apostolic succession. Apostolicity of mission means that the Church is one moral body, possessing the mission entrusted by Jesus Christ to the Apostles, and transmitted through them and their lawful successors in an unbroken chain to the present representatives of Christ upon earth. This authoritative transmission of power in the Church constitutes Apostolic succession."

About independent bishops
In early Christianity there was no division between the orders of priest and bishop. A separate priesthood only became necessary when Christianity moved from cities to the countryside, where the concept of he bishop as a city-based overseer began.

The first followers of Jesus brought forth a wide variety of spiritual traditions through their diverse churches. Each bishop, not bound by the dogma that was to envelop the later Church, was at liberty to decide for themselves as to the form of liturgy and the theological path that their church would follow. This was a Christianity of freedom.

In 325 A.D., Emperor Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea. The intention of this was to impose uniformity and authority upon the diversity that was then Christian practice; from many Churches, to create a single Church. Those who refused to submit to this authority were persecuted as heretics. They were excommunicated and driven into exile by those who would deny their individual spirituality and their right to the determination of their personal experience of Christ Jesus.

Still today we find independent bishops accused of heresy. But there is no question about their validity as bishops. Because they are in Apostolic Succession, their inheritance is that of the Holy Spirit.

Bishop Lewis Keizer of the Home Temple writes in his "The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New Spirituality",

"In this century, all the extant lines of Apostolic Succession and tradition have been recovered through the work of legal and valid Independent Bishops. These contemporary Episcopi Vagantes are both men and women who have broken all ties with institutional Christianity. They have opened new and vibrant dimensions of the Divine Message with which they have been entrusted - dimensions that are not limited to Christianity, but derive from shamanism, the mystery schools, all world religions.

Just as Christianity emerged as a heresy of Temple Judaism, so the many new and diverse forms of contemporary spirituality are emerging as heresies of Christian and other religious institutions.

The Wandering Bishops are not only heralds of an emerging new world spirituality, but custodians of the most ancient and powerful continuous spiritual lineage that still exists - the Apostolic Succession from the Great Master Jesus. This is the universal Priesthood of Melchizedek. It is not the exclusive property of Christianity, but belongs to the faithful of all nations and all religions."

The full text of Bishop Keizer's book is online here.