Episcopal Diocese Wooing Breakaway Groton Church Back Into The Fold
[Ed. Note: When the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of Bp. Seabury and Timberridge Presbyterian (Atlanta) last Monday, it meant that the diocese would quickly insist on the parish vacating the building. Bishop Ian Douglas has allowed that the parish can stay if they are willing to do so without their long-time rector, the Rev. Ron Gauss. Gauss was removed from priesthood and most likely will not ask to be readmitted to TEC. Bp. Seabury believed they had a chance to keep their building and property because they - from the very beginning - were self-financed and did not receive a penny from the diocese to establish the parish. The courts did not agree. We will follow this story and publish the results of the next parish vote here. Cheryl M. Wetzel]
http://www.courant.com/community/groton/hc-groton-episcopal-church-0621-20120620,0,3082343.story
Following the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision this week not to hear the case of a conservative Episocopal parish in Groton that split from the larger church, Connecticut’s Episcopal bishop said Wednesday that the diocese is trying to reconcile with the breakaway congregation.
The high court said Monday that it would not hear arguments about whether the Bishop Seabury Church in Groton should have to return property to the Episcopal diocese, which it left in 2007. The state Supreme Court ruled last year that the 136-year-old parish had to return the property — the 6.5-acre church site, the sanctuary and its contents.
Bishop Seabury Church was one of six parishes in Connecticut that split from the Episcopal Church of the United States after it ordained an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003 and elected a woman as presiding bishop in 2006.
Bishop Ian T. Douglas of the Connecticut Diocese said Wednesday that of the five other parishes in the state that broke from the church, two have closed down, two have rejoined the church under his supervision and another is negotiating its return under supervision.
“The rate of parishes leaving has been in decline,” Douglas said. “If anything it’s been just the opposite, parishes seeking to have reconciled relationships.”
The Episcopal Church has more than 170 parishes in Connecticut.
Douglas said he is now starting talks with the leader of the Groton congregation, Father Ronald Gauss, about five options the parish has for returning to the church.
Those options could allow the parish to be overseen by Douglas or another bishop within the Episcopal Church. The Groton parishioners also could become part of the Catholic Church but still be affiliated with the Episcopal Church and then rent their current building from the Episcopal diocese.
The Groton parish could even incorporate as a congregation separate from the Episcopal Church, but Douglas said renting buildings to groups that do that has been “generally discouraged” across the church, meaning Seabury would likely have to move from its current premises.
Or, Douglas said, the Groton parishioners could simply leave the Episcopal Church and worship elsewhere.
But he said the diocese would not object to having a parish that disagrees with some of its policies, such as ordaining homosexual bishops, if its members hold the same core Christian beliefs.
“We do not all march to the exact same tone in the way that we subscribe to our faith, yet we all would subscribe to the same creedal foundations of the faith,” Douglas said.
Gauss said scenarios that allow his 250-member congregation to rejoin the church could require him to leave the parish, a statement with which Douglas agreed.
That’s because Gauss was deposed — stripped of his standing in the Episcopal Church of the U.S. — after his parish broke away. Seabury is currently affiliated with the Anglican Church of Nigeria.
Gauss said five other area churches have offered his parish space if the congregation is forced to leave its building at 256 North Road in Groton. One neighboring church also has offered Seabury money if the parish needs financial support, he said.
Whatever Seabury decides to do, Gauss said, the decision would not be determined solely by one-on-one talks between him and Douglas. He said he would make the decision with his parishioners, just as he did when Seabury left the church five years ago.
“We’re a church where all choices are made through the members,” Gauss said.
http://www.courant.com/community/groton/hc-groton-episcopal-church-0621-20120620,0,3082343.story
U.S. Supreme Court Declined To Consider Fight Over Bishop Seabury Church Property
By WES DUPLANTIER, wduplantier@courant.comThe Hartford Courant7:15 p.m. EDTJune 20, 2012
HARTFORD —
Following the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision this week not to hear the case of a conservative Episocopal parish in Groton that split from the larger church, Connecticut’s Episcopal bishop said Wednesday that the diocese is trying to reconcile with the breakaway congregation.
The high court said Monday that it would not hear arguments about whether the Bishop Seabury Church in Groton should have to return property to the Episcopal diocese, which it left in 2007. The state Supreme Court ruled last year that the 136-year-old parish had to return the property — the 6.5-acre church site, the sanctuary and its contents.
Bishop Seabury Church was one of six parishes in Connecticut that split from the Episcopal Church of the United States after it ordained an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003 and elected a woman as presiding bishop in 2006.
Bishop Ian T. Douglas of the Connecticut Diocese said Wednesday that of the five other parishes in the state that broke from the church, two have closed down, two have rejoined the church under his supervision and another is negotiating its return under supervision.
“The rate of parishes leaving has been in decline,” Douglas said. “If anything it’s been just the opposite, parishes seeking to have reconciled relationships.”
The Episcopal Church has more than 170 parishes in Connecticut.
Douglas said he is now starting talks with the leader of the Groton congregation, Father Ronald Gauss, about five options the parish has for returning to the church.
Those options could allow the parish to be overseen by Douglas or another bishop within the Episcopal Church. The Groton parishioners also could become part of the Catholic Church but still be affiliated with the Episcopal Church and then rent their current building from the Episcopal diocese.
The Groton parish could even incorporate as a congregation separate from the Episcopal Church, but Douglas said renting buildings to groups that do that has been “generally discouraged” across the church, meaning Seabury would likely have to move from its current premises.
Or, Douglas said, the Groton parishioners could simply leave the Episcopal Church and worship elsewhere.
But he said the diocese would not object to having a parish that disagrees with some of its policies, such as ordaining homosexual bishops, if its members hold the same core Christian beliefs.
“We do not all march to the exact same tone in the way that we subscribe to our faith, yet we all would subscribe to the same creedal foundations of the faith,” Douglas said.
Gauss said scenarios that allow his 250-member congregation to rejoin the church could require him to leave the parish, a statement with which Douglas agreed.
That’s because Gauss was deposed — stripped of his standing in the Episcopal Church of the U.S. — after his parish broke away. Seabury is currently affiliated with the Anglican Church of Nigeria.
Gauss said five other area churches have offered his parish space if the congregation is forced to leave its building at 256 North Road in Groton. One neighboring church also has offered Seabury money if the parish needs financial support, he said.
Whatever Seabury decides to do, Gauss said, the decision would not be determined solely by one-on-one talks between him and Douglas. He said he would make the decision with his parishioners, just as he did when Seabury left the church five years ago.
“We’re a church where all choices are made through the members,” Gauss said.
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