Episcopal Life Online
October 4, 2008
Bulletin: Pittsburgh votes to leave Episcopal Church, align with Southern Cone
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service, Monroeville, Pennsylvania] Deputies to the
143rd diocesan convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted
to realign the diocese with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone
(http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/province.cfm?ID=S5).
The vote came quickly after the convention gave second required
approval to constitutional changes that removed all mention of the
Episcopal Church.
Analysis: Whereas the Diocese of Pittsburgh's own story mentions "strong margins" and the actual votes for joining the Southern Cone, pecusa highlights the rapidity of the vote to leave pecusa.
"I believe that the vast majority of Episcopalians and Anglicans will
be intensely grieved by the actions of individuals who thought it
necessary to remove them from The Episcopal Church," Presiding Bishop
Katharine Jefferts Schori said after the vote. "I have repeatedly
reassured Episcopalians that there is abundant room for dissent within
this Church, and that loyal opposition is a long and honored tradition
within Anglicanism. Schism is not, having frequently been seen as a
more egregious error than charges of heresy. There is room in this
Church for all who desire to be members of it. The actions of the
former bishop of Pittsburgh, and some lay and clergy leaders, have
removed themselves from this Church; the rest of the Church laments
their departure. We stand ready to welcome the return of any who wish
to rejoin this part of the Body of Christ.
Analysis: The PB makes a statement that is likely to be only partially true. It may be true that "the vast majority" of Episcopalians will be "intensely grieved." But, given that Episcopalians could also mean members of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and other Episcopal churches aligned with the Anglican Communion, we can't be sure. Secondly, the vast majority of Anglicans are orthodox in theology and are "intensely grieved" by the schismatic actions of pecusa. Heresy divides and pecusa is responsible for the most egregious error of rejecting the counsel of the rest of the Anglican Communion.
"We will work with remaining Episcopalians in Pittsburgh to provide
support as they reorganize the Diocese and call a bishop to provide
episcopal ministry. The people of The Episcopal Church hold all
concerned in our prayers -- for healing and comfort in time of
distress, and for discernment as they seek their way into the future.
"The mission of God, in which The Episcopal Church participates, is to
love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We cannot do one
without doing the other. We believe that it is in serving the least
among us that we discover the image of God, and the presence of a
suffering Christ. It is in serving those least that we rediscover our
common mission, which transcends our differences. Jesus weeps at the
bickering of his brothers and sisters, particularly when they miss him
in their midst."
Analysis: Those who are part of the realignment of Anglicanism in North America are tired of bickering with heretics. We will continue the mission of Jesus Christ while pecusa and the Anglican Church of Canada implode from their insistence on adhering to a gospel other than the gospel of Jesus Christ and the apostles. pecusa liberal sectarian views started the crisis in Anglicanism, but pecusa will not accept responsibility for her schismatic actions. Meanwhile, the realignment will continue to gather former Episcopalians and others into an authentic Anglican expression of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic faith.
Deposed (http://episcopalchurch.org/79901_100988_ENG_HTM.htm)
Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan sat with convention officials in the
chancel of St. Martin's Episcopal Church (http://www.saintmartins.net)
in Monroeville from the beginning of the convention. The Rev. Jonathan
Millard, rector of the Church of the Ascension
(http://www.ascensionpittsburgh.org) in Oakland, Pennsylvania, was
elected to run the convention in the absence of a sitting bishop.
A fuller version of this story will be released later today.
Online at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_101319_ENG_HTM.htm
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