P
Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316224,00.html
California Diocese Breaks With Episcopal Church in Rift Over Role of Gays in
the Church
Saturday, December 08, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO - An Episcopal diocese in central California voted Saturday
to split with the national denomination over disagreements about the role of
gays and lesbians in the church.
Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22
at their annual convention to remove all references to the national church
from the diocese's constitution, according to spokeswoman Joan Gladstone.
The Fresno-based congregation is the first full diocese to secede because of
a conservative-liberal rift that began decades ago and is now focused on
whether the Bible condemns gay relationships.
The diocese, in a later vote, accepted an invitation to join a conservative
South American congregation of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. The
Episcopal Church is the U.S. member of the global Anglican Communion.
The decision is almost certain to spark a court fight over control of the
diocese's multimillion-dollar real estate holdings and other assets.
The head of the U.S. denomination had warned Bishop John-David Schofield of
the Fresno-based diocese against secession.
"I do not intend to threaten you, only to urge you to reconsider and draw
back from this trajectory," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, head
of the U.S. denomination, wrote in a letter to Schofield earlier this week.
Schofield responded that the Episcopal Church "has isolated itself from the
overwhelming majority of Christendom and more specifically from the Anglican
Communion by denying Biblical truth and walking apart from the historic
Faith and Order."
The Fresno diocese has explored breaking ties with the American church since
2003, when Episcopalians consecrated the church's first openly gay bishop,
V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The resulting uproar throughout the world
Anglican fellowship has moved the 77-million-member communion toward the
brink of schism.
San Joaquin is one of three Episcopal dioceses that will not ordain women.
Last year the Episcopal Church elected Jefferts Schori as its first woman
primate.
Christian advocates for accepting gay relationships, including Jefferts
Schori, say they are guided by biblical teachings on social justice and
tolerance. But Schofield and other conservatives believe Scripture bars
same-sex relationships.
The diocese's holdings include 48 church buildings, including its Fresno
headquarters, a series of mission-style buildings surrounded by olive,
Chinese elm and cherry trees. Its total assets are worth millions, said the
Rev. Van McCalister, a diocesan spokesman.
About 55 conservative Episcopal parishes have split from the church in the
last few years and some have affiliated directly with Anglican provinces
overseas, according to national church statistics. But the courts have
mostly ruled against them.
San Joaquin is one of four full dioceses out of 110 in the nation - along
with Fort Worth, Texas; Quincy, Ill., and Pittsburgh - that has taken steps
toward breaking with the U.S. church.
California Diocese Breaks With Episcopal Church in Rift Over Role of Gays in
the Church
Saturday, December 08, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO - An Episcopal diocese in central California voted Saturday
to split with the national denomination over disagreements about the role of
gays and lesbians in the church.
Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22
at their annual convention to remove all references to the national church
from the diocese's constitution, according to spokeswoman Joan Gladstone.
The Fresno-based congregation is the first full diocese to secede because of
a conservative-liberal rift that began decades ago and is now focused on
whether the Bible condemns gay relationships.
The diocese, in a later vote, accepted an invitation to join a conservative
South American congregation of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. The
Episcopal Church is the U.S. member of the global Anglican Communion.
The decision is almost certain to spark a court fight over control of the
diocese's multimillion-dollar real estate holdings and other assets.
The head of the U.S. denomination had warned Bishop John-David Schofield of
the Fresno-based diocese against secession.
"I do not intend to threaten you, only to urge you to reconsider and draw
back from this trajectory," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, head
of the U.S. denomination, wrote in a letter to Schofield earlier this week.
Schofield responded that the Episcopal Church "has isolated itself from the
overwhelming majority of Christendom and more specifically from the Anglican
Communion by denying Biblical truth and walking apart from the historic
Faith and Order."
The Fresno diocese has explored breaking ties with the American church since
2003, when Episcopalians consecrated the church's first openly gay bishop,
V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The resulting uproar throughout the world
Anglican fellowship has moved the 77-million-member communion toward the
brink of schism.
San Joaquin is one of three Episcopal dioceses that will not ordain women.
Last year the Episcopal Church elected Jefferts Schori as its first woman
primate.
Christian advocates for accepting gay relationships, including Jefferts
Schori, say they are guided by biblical teachings on social justice and
tolerance. But Schofield and other conservatives believe Scripture bars
same-sex relationships.
The diocese's holdings include 48 church buildings, including its Fresno
headquarters, a series of mission-style buildings surrounded by olive,
Chinese elm and cherry trees. Its total assets are worth millions, said the
Rev. Van McCalister, a diocesan spokesman.
About 55 conservative Episcopal parishes have split from the church in the
last few years and some have affiliated directly with Anglican provinces
overseas, according to national church statistics. But the courts have
mostly ruled against them.
San Joaquin is one of four full dioceses out of 110 in the nation - along
with Fort Worth, Texas; Quincy, Ill., and Pittsburgh - that has taken steps
toward breaking with the U.S. church.