IN THE DIOCESE OF WESTERN NEW YORK

Five orthodox churches in the Diocese are gathering for prayer and a show of solidarity on Friday, April 2, 2004, at 7 p.m. They are at odds with their bishop, J. Michael Garrison, and many of them are wondering how they should proceed. Withholding funds might just be not enough for some of them. The bishop has threatened five parishes with ecclesiastical action if they don’t come into line. We await the outcome.

THE VIA MEDIA GROUPS MET IN ATLANTA THIS WEEK

And emerged pleading their case of why can’t we all just get along.

“There is room for everyone in the Episcopal Church,” said the Rev. Michael Russell, Rector of All Souls’ Episcopal Church in San Diego, CA, and a member of Episcopal Way of San Diego. “We believe that the Christian way is to love, work, and worship together—to resolve disputes within the church without tearing it apart.”

Right—and the Via Media groups exist only in orthodox dioceses, not in revisionist ones. They recently opened a chapter in the Diocese of Southwest Florida, where Bishop John Lipscomb resides—and he said publicly he was not happy at this development. The truth is there is not one vestige of via media in this group; it is a complete fiction. They are squarely in the opposing camp, and when push comes to shove, they will shove—with lawsuits—against anybody who doesn’t fall in line.

Griswold weighed in with this statement about the meeting:

“Our divergent points of view find their place of meeting and reconciliation in word and sacrament and a life shared in the service of the Gospel. The diverse center is the overwhelming reality of our church and its voice is urgently needed, both within the church and in our fractured and polarized world.”

VIRTUOSITY LEARNED THIS WEEK THAT WALTER RIGHTER

The former Bishop of Iowa who recently told the five Ohio “dissenters” they should just leave ECUSA has been functioning without permission in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.