Colonel_Reb
Hall of Famer
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Based on what the article says at the end, it doesn't seem "conservative" at all.
[url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12 /03/AR2008120303065.html[/url]
Conservatives from the Episcopal Church voted today to form their own branch of Anglicanism in the United States and said they would seek new recognition in the worldwide church because of their growing disenchantment over the ordination of an openly gay bishop and other liberal developments.
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In the past five years a small but growing number of Episcopal parishes and dioceses have voted to leave the church but today's vote, at a meeting in Wheaton, Ill., represents the biggest split yet for Anglicans and presents a new challenge to U.S. church leaders as well as the church's world spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
The conservatives remain upset about the 2003 ordination of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as well as the role of women clergy in the church, the church's definition of salvation and changes to the church's main book of prayer.
It was unclear how other branches of Anglicanism, a loose affiliation of 77 million people that is the third largest Christian church in the world, will react.
Bishop Martyn Minns, a Virginia-based conservative leader, said that a new constitution and canons approved by conservatives would be reviewed this week by seven like-minded Anglican leaders, mostly in Africa, who were expected to approve it. He said meetings both formal and informal would begin with other branch leaders to seek approval.
But leaders of the 2.2 million member church said the Episcopal Church remains the only recognized Anglican church in the U.S.
We "simply continue to be clear that The Episcopal Church, along with the Anglican Church of Canada and the La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico, comprise the official, recognized presence of the Anglican Communion in North America," Rev. Charles K. Robertson, an advisor to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, said in a statement. "And we reiterate what has been true of Anglicanism for centuries: that there is room within The Episcopal Church for people with different views, and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ."
Minns said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, another conservative leader, had been meeting in recent weeks with Williams and that the archbishop was aware of their plans to declare a second province. Attempts to reachWilliams in London tonight were unsuccessful.
In the past year, fourU.S. dioceses have broken from the Episcopal Church, citing Robinson's ordination as well as brewing dissent over issues such as the necessity of Jesus for salvation and the literal truth of the resurrection. In Northern Virginia, more than a dozen churches voted to break from the Episcopal Church. That split has cost millions in legal fees and remains in Fairfax District Court as the two sides fight over church property.
While today's votes took some some church leaders by surprise, conservatives have been speaking of forming an alternate body for decades. One challenge they have faced are their own internal divisions, over issues ranging from the role of laypeople to female clergy. Minns said the new canons allow female deacons and priests in churches that choose them, but do not allow women bishops. </H1>Edited by: Colonel_Reb
<H1>
Based on what the article says at the end, it doesn't seem "conservative" at all.
[url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12 /03/AR2008120303065.html[/url]
Conservatives from the Episcopal Church voted today to form their own branch of Anglicanism in the United States and said they would seek new recognition in the worldwide church because of their growing disenchantment over the ordination of an openly gay bishop and other liberal developments.
<DIV id=_after_content_column>
In the past five years a small but growing number of Episcopal parishes and dioceses have voted to leave the church but today's vote, at a meeting in Wheaton, Ill., represents the biggest split yet for Anglicans and presents a new challenge to U.S. church leaders as well as the church's world spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
The conservatives remain upset about the 2003 ordination of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as well as the role of women clergy in the church, the church's definition of salvation and changes to the church's main book of prayer.
It was unclear how other branches of Anglicanism, a loose affiliation of 77 million people that is the third largest Christian church in the world, will react.
Bishop Martyn Minns, a Virginia-based conservative leader, said that a new constitution and canons approved by conservatives would be reviewed this week by seven like-minded Anglican leaders, mostly in Africa, who were expected to approve it. He said meetings both formal and informal would begin with other branch leaders to seek approval.
But leaders of the 2.2 million member church said the Episcopal Church remains the only recognized Anglican church in the U.S.
We "simply continue to be clear that The Episcopal Church, along with the Anglican Church of Canada and the La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico, comprise the official, recognized presence of the Anglican Communion in North America," Rev. Charles K. Robertson, an advisor to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, said in a statement. "And we reiterate what has been true of Anglicanism for centuries: that there is room within The Episcopal Church for people with different views, and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ."
Minns said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, another conservative leader, had been meeting in recent weeks with Williams and that the archbishop was aware of their plans to declare a second province. Attempts to reachWilliams in London tonight were unsuccessful.
In the past year, fourU.S. dioceses have broken from the Episcopal Church, citing Robinson's ordination as well as brewing dissent over issues such as the necessity of Jesus for salvation and the literal truth of the resurrection. In Northern Virginia, more than a dozen churches voted to break from the Episcopal Church. That split has cost millions in legal fees and remains in Fairfax District Court as the two sides fight over church property.
While today's votes took some some church leaders by surprise, conservatives have been speaking of forming an alternate body for decades. One challenge they have faced are their own internal divisions, over issues ranging from the role of laypeople to female clergy. Minns said the new canons allow female deacons and priests in churches that choose them, but do not allow women bishops. </H1>Edited by: Colonel_Reb