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CajunRick
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Posted: Sun Dec 3rd, 2006 12:00 pm |
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By Jorene Barut-Phillips
FRESNO, California (Reuters) - A California diocese of the Episcopal Church on Saturday took a major step toward breaking with the U.S. church because of its position on issues including homosexuality, a move unseen since the U.S. Civil War.
Clergy and lay representatives at the annual convention of the 10,000-member Diocese of San Joaquin voted 176-28 in favor of the step, according to the Rev. Van McCalister, a spokesman for the diocese that represents 48 parishes in central California's San Joaquin Valley.
If the measure passes again next year, it would allow for the development of a new church that officials say would break from the leadership of the new head of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, while remaining part of the worldwide Anglican Church.
Individual parishes have left the church in recent years, but Saturday's move marks the first time since the Civil War that an entire diocese has voted to distance itself from the church, McCalister said.
Officials from the Episcopal Church Center in New York were not immediately available for comment.
Jefferts Schori, 52, condones the blessings of gay relationships and supported the church's 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire. Some in the church saw that event as a crack in its foundation, prompting at least one priest to resign.
'JUST ONE SYMPTOM'
"Homosexuality is just one symptom of how the church has lowered its view," said McCalister. "The key issue, however, is the ecclesiastical structure that recognizes the authority of the Bible, as it has for about two millennium. We're not bringing in anything new."
The measure, an amendment to the diocese's constitution, seeks to "maintain solidarity with the rest of the Anglican Communion," or family, McCalister said. Other conservative U.S. Episcopal bishops have asked for placement under the jurisdiction of more orthodox overseas leaders.
"A congregation is judged according to its faithfulness and what it stands for," said the Rev. John Riebe of All Saints Episcopal Church in Bakersfield, who voted with the majority.
The Episcopal Church is a branch of the 77-million member Worldwide Anglican Communion, a loose federation of national churches around the world. Jefferts Schori leads 2.4 million followers in the United States.
The former Oregon State University professor set a precedent last month when she became the first female leader in the history of the Episcopal and Anglican churches, most of which do not allow women to serve as bishops.
Jefferts Schori has said the fact that she is a woman has added fuel to the fires of division in the church.
At the San Joaquin diocese's convention on Friday, Bishop John-David Schofield said, "The Episcopal Church walks apart from the Anglican Communion, but accuses us of leaving the church."
Jefferts Schori last month said Schofield would violate his vows if he led his diocese away from her leadership and suggested he "seek a home elsewhere." However, she added that the door remains open for dialogue and reconciliation.
Schofield responded, saying, "At a diocesan level, the choice is between continuing membership in an unrepentant, apostate institution or following Holy Scripture."
The above article is reposted from Reuters.
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Steven Barrett
Member
| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 1400 |
| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Dec 4th, 2006 04:01 pm |
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Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaack
'Tis the beginning of the end.
____________________
James Michael Curley to a young Thomas “Tip” O’Neill -- “Son, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
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