Episcopalians weigh options as secession vote draws near

Posted at TitusOneNine:

Thursday, September 04, 2008
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As a final vote approaches on whether the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh should secede from the national church, local Episcopalians who want to remain part of the New York-based denomination are meeting to plan for their future.

"A Hopeful Future for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh: An Alternative Solution" will present reasons for opting to stay in the Episcopal Church.

It will also present what may happen with property, a new diocesan government and other issues if Bishop Robert Duncan and most local Episcopalians change their allegiance to the theologically conservative Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, which covers six nations in southernmost South America. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

"A Hopeful Future" will take place at 1 p.m. Sept. 13 in St. Paul Episcopal Church, Mt. Lebanon.

On Oct. 4, the diocesan convention is expected to take the second of two votes required to attempt to secede from the Episcopal Church. In the first, taken in November, laity voted 118-58 and clergy voted 109-24 to leave the Episcopal Church.

One other U.S. diocese, the Fresno-based Diocese of San Joaquin, Calif., has already realigned with the Southern Cone, though the Episcopal Church is disputing its right to property and has set up a competing diocese headed by a retired bishop from the region.

"A Hopeful Future" is not primarily an effort to defeat the realignment attempt, since a majority of those voting appear to support the switch, said the Rev. Nancy Chalfant-Walker, rector of St. Stephen in Wilkinsburg and a member of the steering committee of Across the Aisle, the group that is organizing the meeting.

Across the Aisle claims members from at least 29 of the 72 parishes and missions of the 11-county diocese.

"I think the vote to realign is going to happen," she said.

"We are going to talk about why one would prefer to remain within Episcopal Church rather than realigning and then present our view of what will happen, practically speaking, should the diocese vote to realign."

"A Hopeful Future" is intended for leaders of entire parishes that intend to remain with the Episcopal Church and for individuals who want to remain in the Episcopal Church if most of their parish leadership votes to join the Southern Cone.

Across the Aisle has made a deliberate effort to include theologically conservative, moderate and liberal members. Another steering committee member is the Rev. James Simons, rector of St. Michael of the Valley, Ligonier, who was a staunch supporter of Bishop Duncan on all issues except the decision to leave the Episcopal Church.

Although Mr. Simons shares Bishop Duncan's belief that many Episcopal leaders no longer uphold classic Christian doctrines or sexual ethics, he has said that he does not consider secession a good way to address problems in the church.

"We have reached 'across the aisle' in peace to those who are committed to Jesus Christ but who have different interpretations of scripture and events and who wish to remain part of one church," Mr. Simons said.

Peter Frank, a spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, said that "people are free to meet to discuss their future ... If they wish to no longer be part of the diocese [after a vote to realign], we will do our best to make that as painless and charitable as possible. "

For information on "A Hopeful Future" call 412-531-7153 or see www.stpaulspgh.org.


First published on September 4, 2008 at 12:00 am