Bishop-Controlled Church Wants Control of Reins Again
by Jim Brown
August 15, 2005
(AgapePress) - A spokesman for an Episcopal church in Connecticut that was forcibly seized by its liberal bishop because of its opposition to homosexuality says members of the congregation want their building and property back.
Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith recently made an unannounced visit to St. John's Episcopal Church in Bristol and suspended its orthodox priest, replacing him with a pro-homosexuality female priest. With the help of 12 assistants, Bishop Smith dismantled the church's website, hacked into its computers, and gained access to financial records.
Dr. William Witt, a spokesman for the vestry, says members of St. John's are doing the best they can to stick together as a parish.
"The vestry and the parishioners have basically been locked out of the building [and] our bank account has been frozen -- so that makes it a little bit difficult," Witt explains. "But ... we have been worshipping with another Episcopal church on Sunday mornings -- Trinity Episcopal Church, also in Bristow, another one of the 'Connecticut Six' parishes."
A group of orthodox Episcopal bishops has threatened to take Smith to ecclesiastical court over his conduct towards St. John's and five other dissenting Anglican parishes in Connecticut. But Witt says members of St. John's simply want Smith to let them run the affairs of their parish as they have always done.
"I think we'd like him to rethink his actions," he states. "[W]e're simply trying to be faithful to historic Christianity, and especially to the authority of Scripture -- that's what holds us together."
Witt says he believes the bishop is on a "power trip" and determined to crush any opposition in sight.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
