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Published on 12/14/2008

By Clayton Stairs

cstairs@gtowntimes.com

Local Episcopalian priests say South Carolina's diocese is unlikely to be affected by the decision last week by theological conservatives upset by liberal views of U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans to form a rival North American province.

It is part of a long- developing rift over the Bible that erupted when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop.

The announcement represents a new challenge to the already splintering, 77-million-member world Anglican fellowship and the authority of its spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

The new Anglican Church in North America includes four breakaway Episcopal dioceses, dozens of individual parishes in the U.S. and Canada, and splinter groups that left the Anglican family years ago.

Its future status in the Anglican Communion is unclear.

"We in the Anglican Mission celebrate this remarkable achievement and the unity it represents," Bishop Charles H. Murphy III, Anglican Mission chairman, said in a statement. "I am particularly pleased with the mission focus of this constitution and its emphasis on the local church as the 'fundamental mission agency,' with church members serving as primary mission agents. Having served on the Governance Task Force that developed this new Constitution, I was able to help shape a constitution that provides for our unique situation as a missionary outreach that continues to be a part of the Province of Rwanda."

It is unprecedented for an Anglican national province to be created where any other such national church already exists. But traditionalists say the new group is needed to represent the true historic tradi

SEE ANGLICANS, Page 4

tion of Anglican Christianity.

The Rev. Ed Kelaher, rector of All Saints Parish Waccamaw Episcopal Church in Pawleys Island, says that when these four Episcopal diocese decided to join the Anglicans, the National Episcopal Church stated that only the individuals left, not the diocese.

"They just appointed new people in their places for the diocese standing committees," Kelaher said. "Their position is that a diocese can't leave the national church."

He points out that if a two-thirds majority of arch bishops in the Anglican Mission approve the new province, there will be two separate provinces in one country, which is rare.

The Rev. Tommy Tipton, rector of Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church in Pawleys Island, says this new province will likely have little or no effect on the National Episcopal Church.

Since only 100,000 members have left and there are approximately 2.3 million members of the Episcopal Church in America, that is less than five percent of all the clergy, bishops and diocese members, he said. He adds that the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina is standing strong.

"I have heard nothing from our leadership in the Diocese of South Carolina that would lead me to think the leadership would consider leaving the Episcopal Church," Tipton said. "This is not a split in the Episcopal Church. It is a split of a splinter group that has already left the Episcopal Church."

The Rev. Paul C. Fuener, rector of Prince George Winyah Episcopal Church in Georgetown, agrees. He says although South Carolina is listed in many publications as the "fifth" diocese which may leave the National Episcopal Church, that is unfounded, he says. He agrees with Burwell's sentiment (above).

"At present most everybody wants to hold together as a diocese," Fuener said. "We have never talked internally about leaving. If we were to join this new province, we would have to split because everyone wouldn't want to do that. We tend to be united as a diocese."

He says the formation of a new Anglican province would be "truly extraordinary."

"It is not every day that an entire diocese of one of the Anglican provinces gets together and says it is no longer going to be in the province," Fuener said. "It is sad to me, not upsetting, that it has come to that point where the actions of our national church have driven people to this conclusion that they can't stay."

Breakaway diocese

Bishop Robert Duncan, who leads the breakaway Diocese of Pittsburgh, is the proposed new leader of the North American province, which says it has 100,000 members.

"The Lord is displacing the Episcopal Church," Duncan said in a news conference in Wheaton, Ill., where the proposed constitution for the new province was drafted. He noted that membership and worship attendance in the U.S. denomination have been declining for years.

"We are a body that is growing, that is planting new congregations, that is concerned to be an authentic Christian presence in the U.S. and Canada," Duncan said.

The Rev. Charles Robertson, adviser to Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, said in a statement 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."

Central to the new organization's constitution is a declaration that the Bible is regarded as the "final authority and unchangeable standard."

"The public release of our draft constitution is an important concrete step toward the goal of a biblical, missionary and united Anglican Church in North America," Duncan said.

But observers in the Episcopal Church say the event does not hold much significance for the rest of the Anglican Communion.

"We've seen it coming for years. It's not a rival denomination. At best, it would be a church within a church," said the Very Rev. John Burwell of the Church of the Holy Cross, which has congregations on Sullivan's Island and Daniel Island. "They're still part of the Anglican Church. They just don't want to be part of the Episcopal Church," he said.

"We intend to stay and fight. We intend to stay in the Episcopal Church and act as the conscience of the Episcopal Church," Burwell said.

The Anglican Communion links 38 self-governing provinces that trace their roots to the missionary work of the Church of England. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the U.S., while the Anglican Church in Canada represents the communion in that country.

Anglicans have debated for decades over what members of their fellowship should believe. Tensions boiled over in 2003 when Episcopalians consecrated New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, who lives with his longtime male partner.

Around the same time, some Canadian Anglican leaders began authorizing blessing ceremonies for same-sex unions, saying biblical teachings on social justice required them to do so. The actions pushed the Anglican family to the brink of schism.

A London spokesman for the Anglican Communion did not respond to a request for comment.

The impact of Wednesday's announcement on the 2.1 million-member Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Church of Canada, which has about 640,000 people on its rolls, was unclear.

There are conservatives in both countries who will not join the new province and instead have vowed to stay within their national denominations despite theological differences.

The new province will not be fully formed for months, or perhaps longer, as it goes through the process of approving a new constitution and leadership. Members of the new church also must overcome their own theological differences over ordaining women and other issues.

In the four breakaway Episcopal dioceses, legal challenges over property will likely take resources away from building the new province. The four dioceses are Fort Worth, Texas; Pittsburgh; Quincy, Ill.; and San Joaquin, based in Fresno, Calif. National Episcopal leaders are helping local parishioners reorganize those dioceses.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.