epiScope

Tomball church splinters

Episcopal priest and churchgoers leave denomination to start new church
By BARBARA KARKABI
Houston Chronicle
April 18, 2008

The Rev. Stan Gerber has preached his last sermon at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Tomball. On Sunday, the Episcopal priest, most of his staff and an expected majority of churchgoers will worship in a local junior high school.

Their departure is the latest casualty in the ongoing crisis in the Episcopal Church and the doctrinal debate between conservatives and liberals over sexuality and biblical interpretation. Nationwide, about 55 churches and a California diocese also have left the national denomination over its liberal stands.

It’s all here …

When sheep go astray...

Binghamton church vows fight over property takeover
Good Shepherd contests Episcopal Church stance
By William Moyer
Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- The Diocese of Central New York is attempting to order a former Episcopal Church in Binghamton to vacate its buildings and turn over legal title of the property to its regional office.

In a lawsuit filed this week, the diocese asked the State Superior Court to force Church of the Good Shepherd, on Conklin Avenue, to leave the facility as well as account for all money -- including an endowment fund -- because the congregation withdrew from the Episcopal Church and joined the Anglican Church of Kenya.

"It's a David-versus-Goliath situation; the Episcopal Church has deep pockets. This is a powerful and wealthy institution that is trying to crush a local church, only to put it on the auction block and sell it for cash," attorney Raymond J. Dague said Thursday from his Syracuse office. "It's a sad thing that a bishop who's supposed to protect sheep is trying to crush them."

It’s all here …

Trinity Church leaders in Vero say they won't vacate soon
By Elliott Jones
April 18, 2008

VERO BEACH — Leaders of Trinity Episcopal Church aren't planning to obey their bishop's request for them to vacate their church by May 1, a spokesman said Thursday.

"The call for us to vacate is spurious, at best," said Ron Joaquim, spokesman for the leadership that wants to break with the national Episcopal Church, citing theological differences.

On Wednesday, Bishop John Howe, with the church's Central Florida Diocese, announced those who want to break off should depart and leave behind the parishes' multimillion-dollar church complex in Vero Beach.

It is Howe's answer to a stalemate between church members who want to stay and those who want to leave the Episcopal Church. The controversy has been going on for six months.

It’s all here …

Episcopal Priest Denied Access To Church In Groton

Episcopal Priest Denied Access To Church In Groton
Bishop Seabury parishioners still at odds with Connecticut diocese
By Katie Warchut
The Day (CT)
Apr 16, 2008    

Groton — When the newly appointed “priest-in-charge” of the Bishop Seabury Church, the Rev. David Cannon, came to the church Tuesday morning, he was denied entry.

He was not given the keys or granted access to records.

Cannon, however, said he does not have any hard feelings. He accepted the appointment well aware of the ongoing tug of war between church parishioners and the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.

It’s all here …

22 Episcopal clergy deposed

Bishop says they abandoned church, but spokesman for group says act was spiteful
By Jeff Brumley
Florida Times-Union
4/12/2008

A Jacksonville bishop has sacked 19 priests and three deacons from his Northeast Florida diocese, saying they abandoned the Episcopal Church by joining or starting parishes aligned with theologically conservative bishops in places as far away as Africa and South America.

But a spokesman for the 22 deposed clergy said the Right Rev. John Howard's action was heavy-handed and spiteful because the provinces they've joined are, like the Episcopal Church, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The March 25 action may largely represent the culmination of nearly five years of discord between Howard and theologically conservative Episcopalians who have joined a national movement abandoning the denomination since an openly gay New Hampshire priest was elected a bishop in 2003.

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Church renames itself, pledges to retain its mission

Good Shepherd Anglican hopes to bring people back to Bible basics
By JONA ISON
Gazette
April 9, 2008   

In 2004, the Rev. Rick Terry broke away from the Episcopal Church to lead people closer to Bible teachings within a new church, and now his church's name reflects that "shepherding."

Terry's church has been known as Chillicothe Anglican Fellowship for the past four years, but now proudly proclaims the moniker Good Shepherd Anglican Church.

The name change is a result of two factors. First, people not familiar with church vernacular don't necessarily relate fellowship as being a sanctioned church. Second, the word shepherd reflects the scripture and Jesus, Terry said.

It’s all here …

Cloudcroft church, diocese part ways
Alamogordo Daily News
04/09/2008

The divisions roiling the Episcopalian Church have now reached Otero County.

The Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande announced in a news release Tuesday that vicar the Rev. Fred Griffin and the congregation of the Church of the Ascension in Cloudcroft have left the church in the United States and joined the Anglican Province of Uganda.

A number of dioceses and churches in this country have split off and joined member churches of the Anglican Communion in Africa and Asia, after a gay bishop was elected in this country in 2003 and a female bishop was chosen in 2006.

It’s all here …

Church members start anew

Group who voted to stay with Episcopal church splits off
BY MARTY BURLESON
Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register

Members of the former St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which voted March 9 to cut ties with the Episcopal Church over doctrinal issues, have split into separate Visalia congregations.

By a vote of 167-96, members chose to join the Diocese of San Joaquin in leaving the Episcopal Church, the American arm of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion. At issue: the breakaway members' belief that the Episcopal Church, which ordained a gay bishop in 2003, has abandoned biblical teachings in favor of a "social justice" agenda.

The former St. Paul's Episcopal Church now goes by the name St. Paul's Anglican Church and continues to meet at 120 N. Hall St. Phone calls to St. Paul's Anglican Church were not returned Monday.

It's all here ...

St. Paul’s members break away from current Anglican church
Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register

About 40 former members of Visalia’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church have decided to break away from the current Anglican church and reform their congregation as the Continuing Congregation of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Visalia, Calif.

The new congregation has been meeting in the cafeteria of Pinkham School. About 30 members attended services on Easter Sunday and about 40 last weekend.

The larger St. Paul’s Anglican Church remains with the San Joaquin Anglican Diocese.

It's all here ...

Irreconcilable differences

Episcopal split remains bitter
By MARK BARNA
THE GAZETTE
March 15, 2008

It's said that time heals all wounds. But a year after a nasty divorce between two factions of Grace Church in Colorado Springs, the wounds remain tender.

And questions that cropped up around the split remain unanswered:

Who has legal rights to the towering Gothic building at 601 N. Tejon St.? Is it the parish that stayed with the U.S. Episcopal Church and is now meeting at another worship center downtown?

Or is it the breakaway group that joined the Anglican Church of Nigeria and remains in the building?

Did the Rev. Donald Armstrong, leader of the breakaway group, misapply church money, as the state Episcopal Diocese alleges? Or is he - as he says - a victim of a "witch hunt" launched by the diocese because of his outspoken opposition to the national church's decisions?

Answers seem to lie in pending lawsuits and a police investigation, which means they could be months, if not years, away.

Yet one thing is clear: With both parishes saying they're thriving, a reconciliation is unlikely.

It’s all here …

Disappearing act

Trinity's mail-in poll: 383 favor leaving national Episcopal church
By Elliott Jones
Treasure Coast Palm (FL)
February 20, 2008

VERO BEACH — More than half of Trinity Episcopal Church members say they favor breaking away from the national church, church officials announced Wednesday.

Results from the mail-in poll could bolster efforts to break away by June, though some church members opposed to a division say they weren't consulted before the survey went out.

In response to surveys mailed two weeks ago to 741 members, 383 favored leaving the Episcopal Church of the United States and 128 opposed the move.

Seventeen members expressed no choice. Another 196 surveys weren't returned.

It’s all here …and that's funny: the 2007 Episcopal Church Annual (aka The Red Book) lists Trinity in Vero Beach as having 1600 members, not 741. Where did they all go? Why didn't those folks get surveys? Inquiring minds want to know...

Breakaway churches begin to organize amid confusion

Effort would unify conservative congregations disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church USA
By Colette M. Jenkins
Beacon Journal
Feb 20, 2008

FAIRLAWN: Bishop Roger Ames is no longer a cleric in the Ohio Diocese of the Episcopal Church USA.

But he is a leader in the global Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church USA.

Then there's the church that Ames pastors — St. Luke's in Fairlawn. Its incorporation papers list its name as St. Luke's Anglican Church and Ames as pastor. Diocesan records, however, show that it is St. Luke's Episcopal Church and that the pastorate is vacant.

The status of both Ames and the church is an indication of the level of confusion in the denomination and of what might very well be the beginning of a new Anglican province in North America.

It’s all here …

Dispute UPDATED

Church members locked out of church
By Mark Garay
KTRK Houston
February 17, 2008

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- People went to their church for Sunday services and they were locked out. Now, they're left wondering if they'll have to find a new place to pray.

It all stems from an ongoing dispute with their church pastor. The St. Joseph's Episcopal Church is about 400 members strong. They're praying this will all get resolved and they'll be able to stay at the church and keep the congregation together.

They gathered to sing and pray on the outside drive, locked out by steel gates, where inside they have celebrated god every Sunday for years.

"We haven't seen anything like this before," said church member Paul Chukwujekwu.

It’s all here …but see the letter to the TV station's news director below from Carol Barnwell, the diocesan communications director. As Carol says, "The news station was really played by this group of people. They were aware there was no service, called the station and then gathered in front of the church to make a scene. They also went way out of their way to send the link to everyone they could think of. All this after meeting with the bishop and refusing to have background checks. They walked out of that meeting (we had to have a guard at the office during it). They are very good at disseminating the bad news. What a wonderful thing it would be if they could share the Good News with such enthusiasm."

You have to wonder why they're so afraid of background checks...

Calm after the storm

Bishop sees unity among area Episcopal churches
Saturday, February 16, 2008
By KRISTEN CAMPBELL
Religion Editor

Since the election of an openly gay bishop in 2003 and a female presiding bishop in 2006, reports of dissension and division within the Episcopal Church and its parent body, the Anglican Communion, has been prevalent.

Such unrest isn't unfamiliar to Episcopalians along the Gulf Coast.

Several years ago, parishioners of a handful of congregations in the Pensacola, Fla.-based Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast -- including what's now Christ Church Cathedral in Mobile -- left the Episcopal Church. In 2006, Daphne's Church of the Apostles, started as an Episcopal mission congregation, dissolved its ties to the area diocese.

It’s all here …

Compare and contrast

Remain Episcopal to host baptism, female priest
BY LOUIS MEDINA
Bakersfield (CA) Californian
Feb 15 2008

Two newsmaking events are scheduled to take place Sunday at the local gathering of Remain Episcopal, the faith community of believers opposed to the San Joaquin Diocese's recent split from the Episcopal Church over doctrinal differences.

During the first part of the worship, the Rev. Tim Vivian, an ordained Episcopal priest and a professor at Cal State Bakersfield, will perform a baptism -- his first since recently having been appointed as temporary missionary priest to the local community by an emissary of the church's presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Later, a visiting female priest from Los Angeles will celebrate Communion toward the end of the Mass.

It’s all here …

Church Split Over Gay Bishop Invites Gays To Attend
Church Officials Claim Doors Are Only Shut To Gays In Ministry
February 13, 2008

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A bishop came to Bakersfield to talk about the division of the Episcopal Church over the appointment of a gay bishop.

In December 2007, numerous churches within the San Joaquin Archdiocese voted to leave the national church after a gay bishop was appointed.

Tuesday night, Bishop John-Davis Scofield [sic] from the San Joaquin Diocese told the congregation at St. Lukes that the church has not shut its doors on everyone, just those involved in ministry who don't live according to their interpretation of scripture.

It’s all here …

Rifts

Grace Episcopal admonishes national church
BY TOM MCNIFF
Star-Banner (FL)
Feb. 10, 2008

OCALA – The leaders of Grace Episcopal Church in Ocala sent a letter admonishing the national Episcopal Church for straying "from God's Word" and encouraging them to correct the actions that have caused so many local parishes to leave the Episcopal Church.

The letter to Katherine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of U.S.A., was prompted by what many Episcopalians believe are "heretical" teachings by Schori and others.

Many Episcopalians have complained that the consecration of an openly gay bishop, a growing rejection of evangelization to non-Christians and other shifts in the church's fundamental teachings signal that the national Episcopal Church is moving away from traditional Christian doctrines.

It’s all here … and among other things, we hope the reporter takes a geography lesson soon, so he can learn the difference between New Hampshire and New York…

Bishop of Anglican diocese to speak at church on split
The Bakersfield Californian
Feb 10 2008

The Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, bishop of the now-Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, which split from the Episcopal Church, will be in Bakersfield on Tuesday.

The Rev. John Riebe, rector of All Saints Anglican Church, said Schofield is coming to St. Luke's Anglican Church in northeast Bakersfield to talk about consequences of the split.

Schofield himself may be up for an ecclesiastical trial for abandoning the communion of the Episcopal Church. That church's presding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, placed constraints on Schofield on Jan. 11.

It’s all here …

Breaks and splits

Episcopalians support break from church
By Steve Levin
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
February 09, 2008

Nearly 100 leading laity in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh have signed an open letter expressing their "strong support for the godly direction" of Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. in removing the diocese from the national church and realigning it with a more biblically conservative province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The letter, the idea of Edith M. Humphrey, a professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and Leslie Thyberg, chair of the diocese's board of examining chaplains, was written in response to a separate letter last month by 12 conservative clergy who broke with the bishop in declaring their intention to remain in the Episcopal Church.

"We were just talking about the letter that the 12 clergy had written openly to the diocese and we were concerned that people might not understand the whole story," said Dr. Humphrey, a member of the Church of the Ascension in Oakland.

It’s all here …

Pittsburgh lay leaders favor break from Episcopal Church
The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Nearly 100 lay leaders in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh signed an open letter supporting their bishop in removing the diocese from the national church for a more conservative alignment.

The letter was in response to another letter written last month to Bishop Robert Duncan by 12 conservative clergy outlining their opposition to removing the diocese's 66 churches from the national Episcopal Church, the Anglican body in the United States.

"We were just talking about the letter that the 12 clergy had written openly to the diocese and we were concerned that people might not understand the whole story," said Edith M. Humphrey, a professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

It’s all here …

Breakaway churches face a new battle
By Jennifer Garza
The Sacramento Bee
February 10, 2008
…
Presbyterians and Episcopalians, from Virginia to California, are fighting over who gets church property when congregations break away. Millions of dollars are at stake in arguments that have moved from the church sanctuaries to the courts and have pitted pastors against one another.
…
Monday, the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California – based in Sacramento – filed a lawsuit against the leaders of St. John's Anglican Church in Petaluma, formerly called St. John's Episcopal Church.

Diocesan officials say the group took over church property in 2006. They seek the return of church buildings that have been occupied by congregation leaders who filed change of ownership papers with the secretary of state and then aligned with the more conservative Anglican Church.

It’s all here …

Group splits off St. Paul’s church
Episcopal pastor says national body has gone astray
MARY LANE GALLAGHER
THE BELLINGHAM (WA) HERALD

BELLINGHAM — The top clergy member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is stepping down to lead a fledging congregation of former members who feel the nationwide Episcopal Church no longer represents the core of their faith.

The Rev. Kevin Bond Allen announced late last month that he was resigning from one of the city’s largest churches to become rector of St. Brendan’s Anglican Church, a new congregation launched last fall by former St. Paul’s members.

In a letter to the congregation, Allen said he has loved his time at St. Paul’s, but his dissatisfaction with The Episcopal Church made it difficult for him to continue within the organization.

It’s all here ...

Church asks members: In or out?
Trinity Episcopal wants congregation to declare in writing whether to break from national organization
By Elliott Jones
Treasure Coast Palm (FL)
February 10, 2008

VERO BEACH — Trinity Episcopal Church is asking its members to declare in writing if they are for or against breaking with the national church, a church spokesman said.

The Rev. Lorne Coyle and church leaders are trying to break from the national church, citing theological differences. Yet they want to keep the church property — a request opposed by parishioners who want to stay in the Episcopal Church, said church member Warren Winchester. He heads those who want to remain Episcopalian.

Recently, Trinity Episcopal Church mailed letters to 700 active church members, asking them to indicate their preference and return the signed forms by Feb. 15, said member Ron Joaquim, who recently was appointed to speak on behalf of the pastor and church leaders.

It’s all here …

National Controversy Splits Local Church Congregation
Central Florida News
February 10, 2008

A national controversy hits home from one Central Florida church as the Good Shepherd Episcopal congregation split in two.

On Sunday, many of the church's parishioners held their first service as a new Anglican church.

They're upset over national Episcopalian leaders' stands on homosexual priests and biblical interpretation.

It’s all here …

After split, Anglican church finds its way
By NICHOLAS DESHAIS
Port Huron (MI) Times Herald

LEXINGTON- When the faithful gather on Sunday behind Bush's Restaurant to hear the Rev. Richard Dalton speak, they are acting as a brand-new church as well as a very old one.

The congregants were, until three years ago, all Episcopalians, members of the former Trinity Episcopal Church. But now, after splitting from that church, they consider themselves Anglicans, a faith that can trace its history to the sixth century.

"A lot of people felt that we were the splinter group. We feel that the Episcopal church left us," said Finola Hewitt, a member of the new Christ the King Anglican Church.

It's all here ...

No choice

Diocese files lawsuit against congregation
By PAUL PAYNE
Santa Rosa (CA) PRESS DEMOCRAT

A lawsuit was filed Monday against the Petaluma congregation that split from the national Episcopal Church over the issue of homosexuality but refused to vacate an historic church building.

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California’s lawsuit seeks the return of the 117-year-old church and other assets, such as bank accounts and endowments, now held by St. John’s Anglican.

The lawsuit filed in Sonoma County Superior Court came after efforts to negotiate an out-of-court settlement failed, said the Rt. Rev. Barry Beisner, the bishop of the 70-parish diocese.

It’s all here …and the legal documents can be found under "Quick Links" here...

Stayers and Goers

Church 'painfully' splits into two flocks
BY TOM MCNIFF
STAR-BANNER
Feb, 3, 2008      

OCALA — They have dubbed themselves the "Stayers" and the "Goers."

Today, the Goers will celebrate their final Sunday service at Grace Episcopal Church in Ocala before disaffiliating from a national Episcopal Church they believe has strayed from the basic tenets of Christian faith.

The Goers, who have formed a new church under the name Christ the King Anglican, will move to the old sanctuary at Living Waters Worship Center along U.S. 441 north of Ocala until they can build a permanent church building elsewhere.

The Stayers, meanwhile, will meet today with Bishop John W. Howe of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. Howe will address the congregation and accept the Rev. Don Curran's resignation as pastor of Grace Episcopal. Curran will lead the new Christ the King congregation.

It’s all here …

Dilemma

Knowing what's best
By Christie Campbell
Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter
February 1, 2008

A growing division in the Episcopal Church over the interpretation of Scripture and church teachings could affect churches in Washington and Greene counties.

The majority of churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted in November to disaffiliate with the Episcopal Church. The diocese includes 73 congregations in Southwestern Pennsylvania, six of which are in Washington County and one in Greene County.

The churches are supporting the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, who has upheld conservative teachings of the church. Duncan has presided over the diocese since 1997.

It’s all here …

One parish's nightmare

Episcopal church discloses theft of up to $200,000
By Nic Corbett
Tallahassee Democrat 
January 31, 2008

Between $100,000 and $200,000 has been reported stolen from the Episcopal Church of the Advent, and a former church employee is now under investigation, according to the Leon County Sheriff's Office.

Church leadership called a last-minute meeting Wednesday night at the sanctuary at 815 Piedmont Drive to explain the situation to parishioners. About 100 of them came.

"What's happening to us is not a killing blow," said Al Kaempfer, chair of the church's finance committee. "We have good, strong assets as a church."

The loss was discovered after an audit, Kaempfer said. Some of the parishioners gasped when he told them the church's finances hadn't been audited since 1998.

After the church split in February 2006, it took about a year before the church's leadership could get things back in order. The audit is one of the business practices recently implemented as part of that reorganization.

It’s all here …and please, folks, if you're clergy or a lay leader in a parish, bookmark this link or download this 4MB PDF, then read, mark and inwardly digest the Episcopal Church's Manual of Business Methods in Church Affairs...it's free to you from the Episcopal Church's Finance Office!

Gathering

Episcopal leader appoints clergyman to serve Bakersfield churches
By LOUIS MEDINA
Bakersfield (CA) Californian
Jan 25 2008

A national Episcopal leader visited Bakersfield Thursday, heard believers’ concerns about the San Joaquin Diocese’s recent secession from the church and appointed a local clergyman as a temporary missionary priest to serve Bakersfield area believers.

He also said the national church considers the diocese’s Dec. 8 decision to place itself under overseas Anglican rule illegal.

The Rev. Canon Robert Moore, of Seattle, who was appointed by the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, as an “interim pastoral presence” in the San Joaquin Valley, spent the day in the greater Bakersfield area as part of a five-day “listening tour” that will culminate in a valley-wide conference in Hanford on Saturday.

It’s all here …

Breakaway bishop

New Anglican American bishop to visit Christ Church Sunday
Jennifer Edwards
Midland (TX) Reporter-Telegram
01/26/2008

The new Anglican bishop for protesting Episcopal churches, including Christ Church Midland, will pay a visit and lead worship Sunday.

On Sept. 2, Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda consecrated the Rev. John Guernsey as bishop over all American Anglican congregations currently under the protection of the Uganda's Anglican Church.

Though he visited the area before his consecration, it will be the first time he's visited Christ Church Midland, he said. While here, he'll also visit Good Shepherd Church in San Angelo and an emerging group in Lubbock.

It’s all here …

Negotiations

Episcopal official listens to concerns of Lodians
By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel
January 22, 2008

An Episcopal official appointed to reassure parishioners in Lodi and other communities that all is well in the San Joaquin Diocese talked to 25 leaders from St. John's Episcopal Church on Monday about what could be a tumultuous reorganization of the diocese.

The Rev. Canon Bob Moore, a retired priest from Olympia, Wash., began a diocese-wide "listening tour" with a meeting in Lodi. He went to San Andreas later on Monday and will spend the week talking to parishioners south to Bakersfield who want to remain within the American Episcopal Church.

The diocese is in a major state of transition, now that the diocese has chosen to part ways with the Episcopal Church USA over gay rights and women's issues.

It’s all here …

Trinity to revisits deal breaking from church in Indian River County
By Elliott Jones
Treasure Coast Palm
January 25, 2008

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Trinity Episcopal Church's initiative to break from the Episcopal Church appeared to be close at hand — until some parishioners recently spoke out about it.

The church's lead minister, the Rev. Lorne Coyle, has been pushing for separation because of disagreements with the national church over religious beliefs, he said last year.

Recently, church leaders and a diocese board reached an agreement in principal that could have allowed the separation, with those in favor of the separation keeping the property, including a new multimillion-dollar sanctuary.

When opponents of the church break-up learned of the proposal, they began voicing their dissent to Bishop John Howe with the church's Central Florida Diocese, based in Orlando. That caused the agreement to fall through, according to Howe's assistant, The Rev. Ernie Bennett.

It’s all here …

Quiet Deal May End Bristol Church Furor
Episcopal Congregation Likely To Quit Building
By ELIZABETH HAMILTON
Hartford Courant
January 25, 2008

A bitter and potentially expensive battle over the question of who owns a historic Episcopal church in Bristol may be drawing to a quiet close.

Lawyers for a Bristol congregation, which defected from the Episcopal Church to join a more conservative Anglican group last year, and the Connecticut Diocese are negotiating an end to litigation over the church property, according to church sources.

Members of the Trinity Church parish and its pastor, the Rev. Donald Helmandollar, probably will vacate the property once the diocese's lawsuit against Trinity is dismissed, the sources said.

It’s all here …

Rejection

Congregation won't budge on church
By PAUL PAYNE
Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat
January 22, 2008

The Petaluma congregation that split from the Episcopal Church over the issue of homosexuality, taking a landmark downtown church with it, has rejected an offer to return the building, and the two sides appear headed to court, a local vestry member said Monday.

The impasse between St. John's Anglican Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California grew from the national schism that began with the ordination of a gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003 and church support for same-sex unions.

Following the lead of several dozen congregations nationwide, St. John's 240 members voted in 2006 to cut ties with the national organization, renaming itself an Anglican church while holding on to the 117-year-old complex.

The congregation last month turned down an offer from the diocese for the building and refused efforts at mediation, said John Mills, a leader among Petaluma parishioners who did not secede.

It’s all here …and when the predictable cry of "persecution" is raised, remember that mediation was refused...

Interpretations

Church Faces A Hard Road After Split
By ELIZABETH HAMILTON
Hartford (CT) Courant
January 21, 2008

As the annual meeting was drawing to an end Sunday afternoon, and the light from the enormous window behind the pulpit was fading, a member of Bishop Seabury Church stood up and announced that the Holy Spirit had sent him a message.

The congregation, he said, should go forward, lay hands on the Rev. Ronald Gauss and the entire vestry, and pray for them, which they did, every man, woman and child, in an emotional moment that spoke clearly about the changes on the horizon for this vibrant, evangelical church.

Bishop Seabury, an Episcopal Church for 132 years, has severed ties with its historic roots by joining the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), and putting itself under the spiritual and ecclesiastic direction of a more conservative bishop.

It’s all here …

Holy Cross members regroup after split
Interim pastor named to lead Episcopalians
By MEALAND RAGLAND-HUDGINS
January 21, 2008

Carrie Barham was a member of Holy Cross Church for three months before she and many of the church's members left to form Faith Anglican Church two weeks ago.

"It feels like a divorce where you have to pick between two parents. I love the people at Holy Cross, but I love the others, too," she said in the sanctuary of her former church Sunday.

The Right Rev. John Bauerschmidt, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, met with Holy Cross' parishioners and supporters Sunday afternoon to discuss the church's immediate plans for the future.

It’s all here … and note please, in the first story...

Sad stories

Somerset congregation splits
By MICHELLE GANASSI
Daily American
January 19, 2008

Starting Sunday, members of St. Francis-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Somerset will have two options for church services.

The Rev. Mark Zimmerman announced he is leaving the church to start the Somerset Anglican Fellowship, which will still be governed under the Anglican Communion.
St. Francis released a statement Friday stating: “As in most religious communities, there are current issues in the Episcopal Church that are being faced, discussed, and acted upon on an international, national, state, diocesan and local level. Time and space constraints limit a full explanation/discussion of the actual issues in this forum. Suffice it to say there have been two primary groups at St. Francis who now desire to follow separate paths along a fork in the road.”

It’s all here …

Orlando-area church that left Episcopal diocese finds home with Pentecostals
Pentecostal church serves as shelter for former St. Edward's Episcopal members
Rosemarie Dowell
Orlando (FL) Sentinel
January 19, 2008

MOUNT DORA - The only Episcopal congregation in Lake County to leave the national denomination over the issue of homosexuality and other doctrines has found a new home and ally in its quest to begin worshipping anew -- a tiny Pentecostal congregation.

The Rev. Woodleigh Volland and an overwhelming majority of his congregation at St. Edward's Episcopal Church departed the national Episcopal Church in late October but remained with the 77-million-member worldwide Anglican community.

The dissidents regrouped and formed a new church, Epiphany Celebration Anglican Church, but quickly found themselves with nowhere to worship or hold services.

It’s all here …

Dialogue

Bishop to visit Episcopal church in Elk Grove
Elk Grove (IL) Times
January 17, 2008

Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, will celebrate Sunday Eucharist at 9 a.m. Feb. 3 at St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Elk Grove Village.

Bishop Katharine, as she prefers to be known, is internationally known as the first woman primate, or leader, of a national church in the world-wide Anglican Communion. She is a supporter of the Millennium Development Goals for the reduction of world poverty, and is a strong defender of the church's liberal stance concerning its gay and lesbian clergy and members, while seeking dialogue with more conservative elements in the US and abroad.

St. Nicholas is an inclusive and welcoming mission parish of The Episcopal Church USA.

The church is located at 1072 Ridge Ave., Elk Grove Village. For information, call the church (847) 439-2067 or check church Web site www.onebreadonebody.org

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Episcopal aide seeks to mend relations
House of Deputies president visits Albany as church faces rift
By MARC PARRY
Albany (NY) Times-Union
January 18, 2008

ALBANY -- The highest-ranking lay officer of the national Episcopal Church will be in Albany Saturday for an event organized to build bridges between different wings of the church.

Episcopal House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson will speak at 2 p.m. at St. Andrew's Church, focusing on the state of the church and the broader Anglican Communion -- and how that affects the Albany diocese.

The address will be preceded at 1 p.m. by a celebration of the Eucharist, led by Albany Bishop William Love.

It’s all here …although we're not sure what the headline writer meant by referring to the President of the House of Bishops as an "Episcopal aide"...

N.Y. bishop to visit troubled St. Mark's
The Seattle (WA) Times
Friday, January 18, 2008

An out-of-state bishop has been called in to help resolve significant leadership issues at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, one of the city's most prominent churches.

The cathedral has been in turmoil since last spring, when two priests and an administrator were laid off because of a budget shortfall.

Some parishioners became angry when they found out about a raise for the Very Rev. Robert Taylor, dean of the cathedral. Pay equity among all the cathedral employees also became an issue. Last month, the cathedral's vice dean and chief operating officer — who came on board in February — resigned.

Bishop Gregory Rickel, head of the Episcopal Church in Western Washington, has asked Bishop Herbert Donovan, who lives in New York, to work with the cathedral.

It’s all here …

Splits and spats

Grace Episcopal's split becomes official Feb. 3
Departing members will form new church
BY LASHONDA STINSON
Ocala (FL) STAR-BANNER
Jan. 17, 2008    

OCALA - Feb. 3 will be a day of change and challenges for Grace Episcopal Church.

On that day, the Rev. Donald J. Curran will resign as rector of the historical church. The 12-member vestry board will follow. And so will several staff members, the musicians and a big chunk of the congregation.

Those leaving will make up a new church, Christ the King Anglican Church. Those staying will remain members of Grace Episcopal.

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Tennessee Bishop to meet with members of Holy Cross Church Sunday
Murfreesboro (TN) Daily News Journal

The Right Reverend John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee will be meeting with members of Holy Cross Church Sunday at 1 p.m.

“The meeting is to encourage the congregation and to show them that they are not alone,” said Bauerschmidt. ” I am going to make an address but I am really looking for information about what happened, what people think about it and how they wish to proceed.”

The priest and a number of the members of Holy Cross Church recently split from the Episcopal Church and formed Faith Anglican Fellowship.

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Irondequoit church granted appeal for land
Stephanie Veale
Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle

(January 16, 2008) — All Saints Anglican Church in Irondequoit has another chance to argue that it should keep what it believes is its property.

New York state's highest appellate court, the Court of Appeals, agreed Tuesday to hear the case between the congregation and the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester following the church's request to appeal earlier decisions issued at the state Supreme Court and Appellate Division levels.

The Court of Appeals is expected to hear the case sometime this year.

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Church brands draw members
Faiths market themselves by taking on names that define their beliefs, message
By BOB SMIETANA
Nashville (TN) Tennessean
January 15, 2008

On Sunday morning, just past the signs for Red Roof Inn and Go USA Fun Park on Armory Drive in Murfreesboro, and in the shadow of a billboard for Verizon Wireless, 110 people met to celebrate the first worship service of Faith Anglican Fellowship.

A temporary banner, with the church's name, stood in front of Integrity House, where worshippers gathered after leaving behind their former home, Holy Cross Church.
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Inside, the Rev. Frederick Richardson, Faith Anglican's rector, spoke of the mixed blessings of "new beginnings."

Frustrated that the Episcopal Church's battles over doctrine and sex were turning off newcomers, the former members of Holy Cross decided, in essence, to switch brands. No longer Episcopalians, they were now Anglicans, allied with more conservative believers in Uganda.

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Splits

Haven Parish Splits Over Orthodoxy
By Cary McMullen
The Lakeland (FL) Ledger
January 12, 2008

The long-simmering controversy in the Episcopal Church over Scriptural interpretation and the morality of homosexuality has split a congregation in Polk County.

The Rev. Andy Doan, former rector of Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Winter Haven, has left the congregation, and an undetermined number of parishioners have followed suit. Doan announced earlier this week he and some of those parishioners are forming a new congregation, Solid Rock Church, which will begin services on Sunday.

Doan was one of seven Episcopal priests who in October notified Bishop John Howe of the Diocese of Central Florida that they and parts of their congregations intended to "disaffiliate" with the Episcopal Church and began discussions about their departure with Howe and diocesan leaders.

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Separatists

Va. Diocese opens $2 million line of credit
By Julia Duin
Washington Times
January 8, 2008

The Diocese of Virginia, embroiled in the largest property dispute in the history of the Episcopal Church, is taking out a $2 million line of credit to finance lawsuits against 11 churches that left the denomination a year ago.

The announcement, made in the pages of this month's Virginia Episcopalian, is the latest in a series of legal battles that is draining the Episcopal Church of millions of dollars. The denomination has filed lawsuits in at least 12 states against churches leaving over disputes on biblical authority and the 2003 election of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, who lives with a homosexual lover.

The diocese says it will sell off "non-strategic" diocesan properties to raise the money needed to win back $30 million to $40 million worth of real estate and assets.

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Diocese bishop saddened by split
By Doug Davis
Murfreesboro (TN) Daily News Journal
1/8/2008

The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee is saddened by news that the priest and the majority of Holy Cross Church members have left the diocese to form Faith Anglican Fellowship in Murfreesboro.

"I am very sad about it," said the Right Rev. John Bauerschmidt, bishop of Tennessee. "It's a terrible thing when people separate themselves from the church."

Citing differences with the direction the national Episcopal Church is headed on issues such as church doctrine, interpretation of the Bible and homosexual priests, the Rev. Frederick Richardson and five church council members submitted their resignations to Bauerschmidt.

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Courageous schism
Opinion
Waterbury (CT) Republican American
1/8/2008

The history of the Christianity is replete with separations arising from doctrinal disputes. The Protestant Reformation challenging Roman Catholic teachings ultimately gave rise to the Lutherans, Presbyterians, Calvinists and Anglicans.

The Pilgrims' differences with the Anglican Church of England drove them to seek religious freedom on these shores. They coexisted in Colonial America with the Puritans who were faithful to the Anglican Communion; eventually, some Puritans who broke with the Church of England over theological differences organized the Episcopal Church.

It’s all here … but talk about “revisionist”! Where was the editorial writer when the rest of the class was learning American history—especially the part about the Puritans (who morphed into the Congregationalists, now the United Church of Christ)? No surprise that this piece veers into fantasy fiction from there on…

Holy Cross congregation splits

Majority say Episcopal Church wrong about homosexuality
By SAMANTHA E. WILLIAMS and DOUG DAVIS
Murfreesboro (TN) Daily News Journal
January 7, 2008

The majority of Holy Cross Church’s members left the Episcopal Church Sunday to form Faith Anglican Fellowship, saying they believe the Episcopal Church had strayed from its core doctrine and Scripture on the role of Christ and homosexuality.

The Rev. Frederick Richardson, who has led the Murfreesboro Episcopal mission since December 2000 and will head the new Anglican fellowship, said his church and the national Episcopal church were going in opposite directions.

“We felt like it was the healthiest option for our congregation,” Richardson said. “We do not feel that continuing with the Episcopal Church would help us fulfill the mission God has called us to do.”

It’s all here …and apparently helping with the misinformation was

J. Brooks Christol, a media director with Navigation Advertising

Wait. Unless he’s a member of the parish--this is a mission congregation with less than a hundred people and they have the wherewithal to hire a PR guy for spinning duties?

Abandoned

Watertown Congregation Severs Ties With Its Church
1/1/2008
Watertown (AP)— The entire congregation of Christ Church in Watertown has abandoned the church, founded in 1764, and is severing ties with the national Episcopal Church.

It held its last service in the church on Sunday and future services of the newly named New Hope Anglican Church will be held in a community room at a nearby bank.

“We need to celebrate today, but we need to recognize there is a dying,” the Rev. Allyn Benedict said in his final homily at the church.

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Irony

Bishop Schofield removes Episcopal vicar from Atwater post
The Modesto (CA) Bee
By SUE NOWICKI

ATWATER -- Father Fred Risard, vicar of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church here, received an unwelcome e-mail on Christmas morning from the Diocese of San Joaquin. It said that the holy day was Risard's last day of service at the mission church and that arrangements would be made for him to pick up his personal things.

Risard said he'd known for months that his days with the San Joaquin Diocese were numbered. But in an earlier conversation -- he thinks it was in September -- with Bishop John-David Schofield, he said he was told he could remain in his post until the end of 2008 -- earlier if he found another job.

However, when Schofield arrived at the church Sunday to help celebrate the Eucharist and give the message, he said before the concluding blessing that, contrary to speculation among parishioners, he wasn't there to close the church or to fire the priest. Then he added that the priest had to go simply because of dwindling funds from dwindling worshippers.

The irony: Instead of the usual 20 people at worship, nearly 100 had shown up that morning.

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Anglican disarray

Faithful find controversy within ranks
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

In 2007, believers took their principles into the streets and the political arena. And sometimes, they found themselves opposing fellow believers. USA TODAY's Cathy Lynn Grossman recaps key events and controversies:

… Anglican disarray:

Cracks widened between conservatives in the Anglican Communion, the world's third-largest Christian denomination, and its U.S branch, the Episcopal Church, over homosexuality and whether the Communion can include opposing views. In February, the presiding bishops of the Communion's national and regional churches met in Africa and issued a vague threat that the Episcopal Church needed to change course by October. Nothing happened. By May, conservative archbishops in Africa and South America began ordaining their own bishops in the USA in violation of Anglican tradition. But Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the Communion, has been unable to halt the fractures. This month for the first time, the entire Diocese of San Joaquin in Fresno, Calif., seceded from the Episcopal Church. In Virginia, several historic, wealthy parishes that quit last year are in court fighting for control of properties.

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Conservative Anglicans Plan Separate Meeting
Washington Post
December 27, 2007

Anglican conservatives angered by the liberal drift of the U.S. Episcopal Church are planning their own world meeting on the future of the global Anglican Communion.

The meeting is set for July 15-22, shortly before the Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade gathering of world Anglican leaders that has become a focus of tension within the fellowship of churches.

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Bishop at forefront of Episcopal divide - Los Angeles Times

Bishop at forefront of Episcopal divide
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
December 24, 2007

FRESNO -- Bishop John-David Schofield's tone was urgent this month as he exhorted delegates from his Central California diocese to leave the Episcopal Church.

For more than 20 years, Schofield said, he had watched in dismay as the national church strayed from Scripture and made controversial decisions about theology and sexuality, including the role of gays in the church. Now, he told delegates to his diocese's annual convention, it was time to act.

"God's timing is essential!" the bishop declared, his voice rising. "Delayed obedience to Scripture is seen as disobedience when opportunities and blessings are lost."

Schofield has emerged as a pivotal player in the drama surrounding the future of one of the nation's most influential denominations. At the meeting of delegates from across the Diocese of San Joaquin, he displayed the strong-willed personality that has won him both admirers and detractors.

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Remaining Episcopal

Diocesan split has some unwilling to cut spiritual ties
BY LOUIS MEDINA
Bakersfield (CA) Californian
Dec 21 2007

Remain Episcopal in the Diocese of San Joaquin: The name of this faith community that has existed in the Central Valley since 2003 could not be more reflective of its purpose.

Formed well in anticipation of a concern that has come to pass -- the Dec. 8 vote by the local diocese to split from the Episcopal Church and become Anglican, placing itself under the authority of the South American Province of the Southern Cone -- the group has three main goals according to its Web site, remainepiscopal.org:

* To serve and protect those who wish to remain in the Episcopal Church in the San Joaquin Valley.

* To actively invite others into the "inclusive Episcopal community."

* To educate and promote "the ethos of the Episcopal Church."

"We feel very strongly that we're not starting a new church, but that we are maintaining the Episcopal Church. The other folks are leaving," said Remain Episcopal member Tim Vivian. "It's drawn us very close together because we all felt like outcasts."

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An Episcopal divorce
Jennifer Wadsworth
Tracy (CA) Press
21 December 2007

St. Mark's Church in Tracy joined others in the conservative San Joaquin Valley in a vote to split from the national Episcopal Church USA.

Like 46 other Episcopalian parishes in the cluster of nearby counties, St. Mark’s Church in Tracy is now part of a much smaller denomination after local Anglicans voted overwhelmingly to cut ties with its North American province at a convention Dec. 8.

In the spirit of its founding nearly 500 years ago, when King Henry VIII cut ties with the Roman Catholic Church to annul a marriage he deemed inconvenient, Anglicans from 14 Central Valley counties that make up the Diocese of San Joaquin voted for the separation from Episcopal Church USA to protest the appointment of gay clergy and women in church leadership.

The separation could raise disputes over who legally owns the properties in the local diocese, and even spark a lawsuit, say officials from the Diocese of San Joaquin.

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To take a stand

Fresno Episcopal diocese splits from church
by Seth Hemmelgarn
The Bay Area Reporter
20 December 2007

Rebelling against the national Episcopal Church's support of gays, lesbians, and women, members of the Episcopalian Diocese of San Joaquin voted December 8 in Fresno to split from the national church.

The overwhelming 173-22 vote marks the first time an entire diocese has broken off from the national church. The results, by orders were: 70-12 clergy and 103-10 of laypersons. The diocese, which consists of about 9,000 members in 47 churches, encompasses a 14-county area in the Central Valley.

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One-sided reporting in Episcopal split
Opinion
Modesto (CA) Bee
December 20, 2007

Recent articles in The Bee discussed quite fully the views of those who have chosen to separate from the national Episcopal Church and align with the Southern Cone and, quite frankly, gave no account of the views and feelings of those in the Diocese of San Joaquin who disagree. I read the articles with sadness and chagrin, feeling the views presented were a distortion of the mission of the Episcopal Church in the United States and in this diocese. A number of us love the Episcopal Church and are proud of its 400-year heritage in America. Voice should be given to us, too.

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Katharine Jefferts Schori for President
She's among our most committed allies in the battle for LGBT inclusion and equality -- and she happens to wear a clerical collar.
By Teresa Morrison
The Advocate
December 19, 2007

It used to be that the gays merely caused popular disgust. Then in the Bush-Cheney era -- made possible by the Republicans’ ability to capitalize on our potential to incite the aforementioned popular disgust -- Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and their conservative Christian minions blamed us in quick succession for 9/11, the