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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5458 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Thu Dec 6th, 2007 08:13 pm |
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By Daniel Blake
Christian Post Correspondent
Thu, Dec. 06 2007 08:17 AM ET
The 9,000-strong Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin in California will vote this week on whether or not to secede from The Episcopal Church.
The diocese consists of almost 50 churches and would be the first to leave over the divide sparked by the liberal stance of The Episcopal Church on homosexuality.
The U.S. arm of Anglicanism and the worldwide Anglican Communion have been divided ever since The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop – Gene Robinson of New Hampshire – in 2003.
Concerns over the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of homosexual bishops have not gone away despite a pledge to “exercise restraint” by The Episcopal Church earlier this fall.
As many as 32 individual parishes have already left and another 23 have voted to leave the American church body as a result of its liberal pro-gay stance, but a whole diocese has yet to split.
The dioceses of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Fort Worth have all taken preliminary votes to leave but any final decision is still one year away.
According to Reuters, the bishop of San Joaquin Diocese, John-David Scholfield, said that leaving The Episcopal Church would be "a sensible way forward,” but not one to be regarded as a permanent departure should "circumstances change and The Episcopal Church repents."
The diocese has been invited to place itself under the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of South America, led by Archbishop Gregory Venables of Argentina and part of the more conservative Global South movement in the Anglican Communion.
In a preliminary vote last year, the Diocese of San Joaquin voted overwhelmingly to leave The Episcopal Church. In order to leave, however, two votes a year apart are required.
According to Reuters, an organization called “Remain Episcopal” is fighting against splitting from the American church body and has said its members will stay and be recognized by The Episcopal Church should the bishop, clergy and other congregants leave.
The presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, called upon Schofield to stay within the church body, saying, "The Church will never change if dissenters withdraw from the table," according to Reuters.
The Episcopal head also said she would initiate a process allowing her to “depose” the bishop, declare the diocese vacant and form a new church leadership out of the remaining congregation and clergy.
The Episcopal Church has also claimed that the church buildings used by exiting congregations belong to them, and that departing congregations will need to find new places to worship. The Episcopal Church is already engaged in legal battles over church property with congregations who have left.
The above article is reposted from the Christian Post.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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EMarshallBuckles
Member
| Joined: | Mon Nov 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rockville (Near Richmond), Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 657 |
| First Name: | Marshall | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Christian Church,Episcopal Church,Baptist denomination,learning about RCC |
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Posted: Fri Dec 7th, 2007 05:02 pm |
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| Likewise, here in Virginia, around 11 rather influential churches of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia have gone off into the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (http://www.canaconvocation.org) which is a missionary outreach of the Anglican Church in Nigeria. Other dioceses and groups of churches within dioceses (those of the Episcopal Church, I mean to say) are considering similar actions. Sadly, all of these churches are facing, and those others who may split off will likewise face, legal action over who controls the properties and financial resources in the courts. The cases will take a while to settle and the manner in which they are settled will have a major impact on American law in the area of law governing religious organizations. It's just my "ball park guess", however, I suspect that no matter who "wins" in these cases, the Episcopal Church in the United States will come out of it greatly diminished and much less influential than it used to be. The Roman Catholic Church could eventually gain a number of converts (the Tiber could be rather full of swimmers, so to speak). It will be interesting to see how all this works out.
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