Virginia Churches Commended for Leaving ECUSA

by Jody Brown and Allie Martin
December 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Evangelical activists are voicing their support for the Episcopal churches in Virginia who, over the weekend, voted strongly in favor of leaving the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. And even though the combined average attendance of the eight churches exceeds that of many entire Episcopal dioceses, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA says the congregations' departure doesn't threaten the denomination's survival.

It was August 2003 when ECUSA leaders consecrated V. Gene Robinson as bishop of Diocese of New Hampshire, making him the denomination's first openly homosexual bishop. His ascension to that position was preceded by warnings from many leaders in the Anglican world that it would "tear the very fabric" of the worldwide Communion and likely cause local churches and dioceses to break away from the Episcopal Church.

Sunday's action by eight churches in the Diocese of Virginia -- including two of the most prominent Episcopal churches in the state -- is evidence that those warnings were nigh unto prophetic, as those congregations voted to affiliate themselves with conservative Anglican groups in Africa and to join the newly established Convocation of Anglicans in North America. (See earlier article)

Out of Options
Rev. Rob Schenck is president of the Washington, DC-based National Clergy Council (NCC) and a member of Christ the Redeemer parish in Centreville, Virginia, one of the congregations that voted to leave the Episcopal Church. Schenck says the move was necessary, and that several of the churches that voted to severe ties with the denomination were out of options.

"The Episcopal Church as a whole departed long ago from biblical doctrine and biblical teaching," says Schenck. "In recent days, their leadership have made pronouncements even suggesting that there are ways outside of Christ that one can be saved." (See earlier article reflecting comments by ECUSA's presiding bishop)

The NCC leader says the denomination's "radical departure from accepted Christian doctrine" reflects the fact that the Episcopal Church has not only left worldwide Anglicanism, but also historic Christianity. "The new Episcopal religion," he says, "should be more accurately called New Age spiritualism." And those churches that are leaving ECUSA, he says, will be blessed.

"God bless these leaders and churches for their bold move," says Schenck. "They're not just talking the talk, but walking the walk .... [T]hat's the kind of brave Christ-like leadership our nation and the church needs."

Homosexual Bishop 'Tip of the Iceberg,' Says IRD Spokesman
Another observer in the Washington, DC, area echoes that support -- but says consecration of a homosexual bishop is but one reason for the current schism in the Episcopal Church. Ralph Webb, director of Anglican Action at the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), says election of V. Gene Robinson to oversee the New Hampshire Diocese provides just one example of how ECUSA has "drifted away" from it scriptural foundations.

"Beyond wanting to be faithful to scripture, the churches [that voted to leave ECUSA] felt that their mission work was impaired by remaining within the Episcopal Church," says Webb. "Perhaps most importantly of all, they felt that they could not be faithful Anglicans while remaining in the Episcopal Church." Robinson's consecration, he believes, merely "heightened" the issues within the denomination.

Still, Webb acknowledges that the churches' decisions were not easy. "We recognize that their decisions were made soberly and only after much prayer and deliberation. They face a new day before them; a day full of many challenges, but also many opportunities." And the departure of eight churches within a single dioceses, he adds, should cause the Episcopal Church to ask itself some tough questions.

But it is unclear if Sunday's actions in the Diocese of Virginia will result in such self-examination. According to Associated Press, Katharine Jefferts Schori -- the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church -- says her denomination's survival is not threatened by those congregations' vote to join a rival Anglican group.

Presiding Bishop: ECUSA Will Remain Healthy, Engaged
Jefferts Schori dismisses the notion that the Convocation of Anglicans in North America might replace the Episcopal Church as the American branch of Anglicanism. "I think some people hold that fantasy," she says, but added, "I don't think that's going to happen any time soon."

The presiding bishop does not seem to be deterred by the departure of almost ten percent of the roughly 90,000 congregants that make up the Virginia Diocese. Those eight congregations, she tells Episcopal News Service, make up "a very, very small percentage of the church" that consists of some 7,200 congregations across the nation. And the "vast bulk" of the church, she insists, "is healthy [and] engaged in mission and ministry -- and that is going to continue."

Both Jefferts Schori and Virginia Bishop Peter Lee have expressed their concern for those in the departing parishes who wish to remain with the Episcopal Church. In some of those churches where membership has been significantly reduced, says Lee, there are "faithful Episcopalians who need to be given every encouragement to establish structures necessary for their continuity as the Episcopal Church."

Lee had stated earlier that the diocese intends to "assert the church's canonical and legal rights" over the property holdings of the eight Virginia churches. But the potential battle over the property has been delayed for now. Representatives from both sides of the debate -- the Diocese of Virginia, and the two largest churches that are leaving (Truro and Falls Church) -- have agreed not to proceed with either litigation or property transfer for 30 days. The buildings and land at both of those churches has been valued at about $25 million.