(NPR) A Church Divided: Ruling Ends Virginia’s Episcopal Battle

Posted by Kendall Harmon

Virginia is the epicenter of the Episcopal schism. Heathsville is one of seven churches — including two of the largest and most historic in the country — that broke away from the denomination in 2006. Now that they've lost their lawsuit, they all have to find new homes.

Church of the Apostles is one of the seven breakaway churches. At its home in Fairfax, a half-dozen men wrestle with a 360-pound cross, panting as they remove it from its moorings in the sanctuary. Parishioner Wayne Marsh says the cross is going into storage and the church is being shuttered.

"It's sad and heartbreaking, and it's a tremendous loss," he says, "but God has just given me a peace to understand this is his will and we're going forward with it, not knowing exactly where we're going."

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • TEC Bishops • TEC Conflicts • TEC Departing Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Pastoral Theology • Theology: Scripture

5 Comments
Posted April 11, 2012 at 1:17 pm

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1. Jackson wrote:

It isn’t over yet. The Falls Church and Truro have filed papers with the court that would maintain an appeal.

April 11, 3:28 pm | [comment link]
2. Tired of Hypocrisy wrote:

A lot of questionable assertions went unchallenged in this NPR report.

April 11, 11:12 pm | [comment link]
3. A Senior Priest wrote:

The most deadly curse of all…“may you get what you want.”

April 12, 12:05 am | [comment link]
4. MichaelA wrote:

“Virtually everything you see here is going to stay; the high altar, the credence table, the hymnals and books of common prayer will all stay,” he says. “The Bibles will go with us.”

All the rest will be replaced eventually.

“After the vote, Lloyd says about three dozen of the more liberal parishioners left. Meade Kilduff, 93, was one of them. She describes the split as traumatic.”

Now the three dozen and their woman priest have the opportunity to show that they can grow a new congregation. Apparently lack of a property was an impediment to growth, so now there are no more excuses.

[Slightly edited by Elf]

April 12, 3:18 am | [comment link]
5. MichaelA wrote:

“That means the building will most likely be sold, with the money going to the diocese. In recent years, breakaway church properties have been sold to Baptists, Presbyterians, Jews; one church in New York was sold to an Islamic awareness center.”

I am surprised this is being stated so openly.  TEC has been working hard trying to downplay its actions, particularly in England.

“According to Jefferts Schori, the only people who can’t buy the buildings are the Anglicans.
“I’ve had two principles throughout this,” Jefferts Schori says. “One, that the church receive a reasonable approximation of fair market value for assets that are disposed of; and, second, that we not be in the business of setting up competitors that want to either destroy or replace the Episcopal Church.””

Its good to see Ms Schori admit that she greatly fears other Anglicans. This is why +Johnston and the current Episcopal Diocese of Virginia will make noises about working together with the dispossessed congregations, but will never do so. Good - better that these congregations have no illusions about who and what they are dealing with.

Ms Schori has left ACNA with no alternative but to plant more congregations in Virginia.

April 12, 3:25 am | [comment link]

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