| WASHINGTON —
Leaders of a conservative network within the Episcopal Church
said Jan. 12 that bishops are prepared to minister to traditionalist
parishes beyond their dioceses “with or without permission.”
More than 3,000 conservatives rallied at an auditorium in Woodbridge,
VA, to underscore their opposition to the church’s first
openly gay bishop, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who was consecrated
last November in New Hampshire.
Leaders from 12 dioceses plan to meet in Plano, TX, Jan. 19-20
to formally launch the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses
and Parishes. Organizers say they do not plan to leave the Episcopal
Church, but instead work for change from within.
“We’re not going anywhere,” the network’s
leader, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, told The Washington
Post.
The Rev. Martyn Minns, pastor of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax,
VA, told USA Today that the network’s bishops “will
travel to any parish that asks for them to visit, teach and confirm
... with or without permission of the local diocesan bishops.”
The leader of the U.S. church, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold,
is working on a plan to extend “pastoral care” to
dissenting parishes, but those churches would still be subject
to direct oversight from their local bishop.
The Rev. Jan Nunley of the Episcopal News Service told the newspaper
that the conservatives’ plan to cross traditional lines
of authority and jurisdiction “flies in the face of 1,700
years of Christian tradition. The canons say you can’t do
that.”
Duncan told The Washington Post that the future is “going
to be interesting, since we’re claiming to be — we’re
acting as — the Episcopal Church, and the other side is
claiming it’s the Episcopal Church.” |
