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OKLAHOMA CITY: St. James Anglican Church Sets Sail From ECUSA

OKLAHOMA CITY: St. James Anglican Church sets sail from ECUSA

By David W. Virtue

OKLAHOMA CITY--Donald Gumm was the senior warden of St. James Episcopal Church in south Oklahoma City, when the church called time out and said enough was enough.

Now he's the Senior Warden of St. James Anglican Church in the same area.

The story is not unlike many where the congregation has come to a parting of the ways with their priest, bishop and the national church over Scriptural interpretation, sexuality issues and much more.

"We have had a long history of disagreements with Bishop Robert Manning Moody. We have stood up to him over the authority of Holy Scripture time and again, but he had his own ideas about what scripture meant," said Gumm.

The 74th General Convention at Minneapolis was the final straw for these godly folk. "Our congregation reached it's gag reflex. Over the years we have watched the Episcopal Church slowly turn in to something that we could no longer abide."

So the vast majority of the 140 souls at St. James Episcopal decided to leave the Episcopal Church and the church home to remain faithful to Holy Scripture and to God.

"We walked away from a church that was debt free and had plenty of money in the bank. We had had enough; enough of a tyrannical bishop and a priest that was a puppet of the bishop," said Gumm.

Following General Convention they had a congregational meeting to discuss the outcome of the convention. "Almost all of our congregation was opposed to what happened at the
Convention," said Gumm.

"Our rector, Fr. Richard Ressler, was silent at first and said that he wanted to remain neutral in order that he could be a pastor to the entire congregation. We had more discussions at vestry meetings and at informal gatherings after church. A delegation which included one of our deacons was sent to Plano for the first meeting there. They returned and filled in the congregation about the results of that meeting. Members of our congregation began to help with local efforts and eventually they formed the Oklahoma Anglican Council. An opinion poll sent to our congregation showed that 97% were opposed to the actions of the 74th General Convention."

It was further revealed that more than 60 percent were prepared to leave for the same reason.

"Many did leave and we had to take rather drastic measures to stay solvent and remain a parish. We were determined to remain a parish and to keep Bishop Moody from firing our vestry."

Then the rector sent a letter to the congregation saying that he agreed with the bishop on sexuality issues. "We had a meeting with the vestry and Bishop Moody at the home of our rector. After dinner we had a discussion regarding his position on the issues relevant to the 74th General Convention. Bishop Moody tried to convince us that his position was correct, but he failed to convince anyone of us.

Moody said, in so many words, "Either start supporting the Episcopal or I'm going to lock the doors."

He picked on the wrong bunch of folks, said Gumm. The senior warden resigned, the junior warden resigned, followed by the entire vestry, the altar guild, the choir and the acolytes, plus all but a handful of the members.

"At that point we began researching the possibilities of securing our property, but we learned that in the State of Oklahoma that was impossible."

At a vestry meeting in February, the rector announced that his "pastoral relationship" with the congregation was in peril.

Truth is, said Gumm, his "pastoral relationship" with the congregation was in peril because he was an ineffective priest.

"A meeting was scheduled with Bishop Moody, Richard Ressler, our Junior Warden and myself. I brought our former Senior Warden with me to the meeting since she had more knowledge about our rector that I did, being new at the office of Senior Warden. At that meeting our rector listed the things he was unhappy with and then stated that if he were to stay at St. James that he would have to insist that our deacon be removed."

Our deacon was truly loved by our congregation, said Gumm. "He has been with us for eleven years and has loved and cared for us. This same deacon went to Plano, something the Bishop was very unhappy about. The bishop then announced that he had already decided to remove our deacon. I told him that if he did remove our deacon many of the congregation would leave, with the result that the church would not stay open as a mission. Bishop Moody said that if that were the case he would shut the church down and let is sit fallow for a few years and then restart it, he didn't care."

Moody said that we were acting in an unhealthy manner because we didn't agree with him and that he was prepared to close our church if many left, said Gumm. "We convinced the Bishop to hold off on removing our deacon."

Gumm then began to put together a group of people whose knowledge and talents would lend to the formation of a new church.

"I realized that we were in the bishop's sights and that the end was near for us. Not too long after that meeting, our deacon came to me and told me that he wanted me to get him removed from the church. Our rector had made things so difficult for him that he could no longer take it, it was affecting his health. I asked the rector to contact the bishop to see about removing him."

The bishop agreed to remove him. "Two days after the deacon left I held a meeting of the congregation to discuss our plans for a new church. I explained to the congregation about the meeting with the bishop and information regarding our rector. I also talked to them about what work had been done so far and how we were prepared to hold church in another location the following Sunday."

Seventy eight people attended that meeting and seventy one signed on for the new church, said Gumm. "We had reached our limit, it was time to go. We made contact with the Network of Anglican Communion Diocese and Parishes. They went to work to help
provide oversight from an off shore bishop."

Gumm said arrangements were made to hold worship services in the chapel of a large Baptist church across the street and the following Sunday they held their first service as St. James Anglican Church.

"We were stunned nearly 120 people attended our first Morning Prayer service. A week later we held our first Eucharistic service with a visiting priest officiating. We are working to build a new church to the honor and glory of God and being faithful to His word."

Said another parishioner, "we are not looking back, we are looking to the future. At the close of the service someone spontaneously started singing "Amazing Grace" and there were tears of joy everywhere. Somewhere there is a young priest looking for a parish on fire for the Lord and when they get together we will see something miraculous. There have been answers to every problem we have come across and Gumm firmly believes that God is with them.

Fr. Richard Ressler is still at St. James Episcopal with about forty people. They will continue on as a mission having given up parish status.

END

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