Valley guys

Valley Churches May Split From Episcopal Church
By Gene Haagenson
KFSN

11/17/2007 - The Episcopal diocese of the San Joaquin Valley is considering an offer to become part of an Anglican diocese based in Argentina. If the invitation is accepted, 7,000 local churchgoers will be affected.

They aren't actually packing up and moving to South America, but many local leaders of the Episcopal Church are still angry over the national churches decision to ordain a gay bishop in New Hampshire four years ago.

While a handful of other dioceses are also upset, the San Joaquin is the only diocese planning to secede from the American Episcopal Church, and align themselves with a more conservative branch of the church.

It’s all here …and this one's another doozy. What is it about television reporters and basic facts?

 The Episcopal diocese of the San Joaquin Valley is considering an offer to become part of an Anglican diocese based in Argentina.

It's the Province of the Southern Cone, which covers Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

They aren't actually packing up and moving to South America,

Yet.

but many local leaders of the Episcopal Church are still angry over the national churches decision to ordain a gay bishop in New Hampshire four years ago.

One more time: +Gene, already ordained, was elected in New Hampshire. General Convention consented to the election. (At least they didn't say he was appointed...)

While a handful of other dioceses are also upset, the San Joaquin is the only diocese planning to secede from the American Episcopal Church, and align themselves with a more conservative branch of the church.

Umm...apparently not: recently Pittsburgh and Fort Worth have also made secessionist moves, and Quincy has made similar noises--though San Joaquin is farther down the path than the others.

The bishop of the San Joaquin Diocese, John David Schofield decided the national churches decision to ordain a gay bishop was reason to go to war.

See above.

To make no mistake he means war, Bishop Schofield notes during the civil war, the Episcopal churches in the southern states seceded from the American church.

Well, let's hope that's not what Bishop Schofield actually said. In fact the southern Episcopal dioceses did not secede from the larger body; they made it pretty clear that the only separation between them and their northern coreligionists was entirely secular in nature, the result of the secession of their civil governments from the USA, and when the Civil War ended every one returned its deputation to General Convention. Scroll down for original documents on that subject here.