Via TitusOneNine:
The dispute
Christ Church in Emporia and Grace Church in Purdy joined the Anglican District of Virginia, which includes 23 parishes that quit the Episcopal Church. The ordination of a gay man as bishop in 2003 has caused a rift within the denomination.
By Steven G. Vegh
The Virginian-Pilot
October 11, 2008
Two small parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia have quit the denomination because of objections to gay ordination and have joined a like-minded group of dissident churches based in Northern Virginia.
The break away Anglican District of Virginia announced Friday that Christ Church in Emporia and Grace Church in Purdy had become members. The district now includes 23 parishes that have cut ties with the Episcopal Church.
The Southern Virginia diocese has about 120 parishes, including more than two dozen in South Hampton Roads.
Church of the Messiah in Chesapeake quit the Episcopal denomination in 2006. Grace Episcopal Church in Newport News left a couple of years earlier.
Messiah, Christ and Grace Church/Purdy all contend that their congregations own their church building and grounds. The diocese argues that it owns the properties and that the congregations were only trustees.
The Episcopal Church has seen an internal split over denominational leaders' endorsement in 2003 of the ordination of a noncelibate gay man as bishop.
Traditionalists denounce gay ordination and also say the denomination is drifting from orthodox interpretation of Scripture.
The Purdy and Emporia parishes left over those issues, said the Rev. Colin C. Cooper, who leads both congregations.
Cooper criticized the denomination's "general approach to Scripture that seems to say, if we come to Scripture and find something that doesn't fit with the way we think, we'll just reinterpret it."
Cooper said the Purdy congregation has about 40 members, while the Emporia parish has about 25. Both were established around 1840, he said.
The two congregations formally quit the denomination in June and now give allegiance to the Anglican Church of Uganda, he said.
The affiliation allows the congregations to remain part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the 77 million member church that includes Episcopalians.
The Southern Virginia diocese could go to court to confirm its ownership of the Christ, Messiah and Grace Church/Purdy properties, but has not so far, said Bishop John C. Buchanan, the diocese's interim leader.
The issue could be influenced by the outcome of a legal battle over property rights between nine churches in the Anglican District and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in Northern Virginia.
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