SIX EPISCOPAL PARISHES SEEK CONSERVATIVE TIES

By Frances Grandy Taylor, Staff Writer THE COURANT HARTFORD, July 16, 2004

In the latest sign of the stresses tearing at a variety of denominations over social issues, six Episcopal parishes are seeking to remove their churches from the control of Bishop Andrew D. Smith, who leads the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.

The parishes want to become aligned with a bishop outside the state, one who is part of a network of conservative Episcopal churches that have come together in opposition to the consecration last year of the church's first openly gay bishop.

This week, priests from the six churches - Christ Church in Watertown, St. John's Church in Bristol, St. Paul's Church in Darien, Trinity Church in Bristol, Christ & The Epiphany Church in East Haven, and Bishop of Seabury Church in Groton - each received a "pastoral directive" and were summoned by registered letter to meet with Smith.

"At first, I thought I was being subpoenaed. It turned out to be a letter from my bishop commanding that I meet with him," said the Rev. Christopher Leighton, pastor of St. Paul's Church in Darien. Leighton said being summoned to a compulsory meeting with Smith was a tactic that added more tension to an increasingly strained relationship.

In March, the U.S. Episcopal bishops created a framework for the kind of alternative oversight the six churches are seeking. Called "Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight," the procedure was designed to allow churches that refuse to accept the consecration of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire to become aligned with another bishop, "who neither supported the election [of Robinson] nor supports the ordination of homosexuals to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church."

Robinson's consecration a year ago, which was supported by a majority of Episcopal bishops, including Smith, has brought the U.S. Episcopal Church to the brink of schism with the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Smith said Thursday he expects the six churches will get another bishop to oversee them, though many details still need to be worked out.

"I want the delegated oversight to be implemented," Smith said. "It's something that is offered in the church, that respects and accommodates the views of those who have petitioned for it."

So far, only one parish church, in Newark, N.J., has been granted delegated oversight.

Under a DEPO agreement, Smith would voluntarily relinquish many activities at the six churches, such as performing confirmations, baptisms and rites of initiation. At the same time, Smith would retain constitutional and canonical jurisdiction over the congregations, and the parishes would pledge funds to the diocese at a level that is agreed upon.

Leighton said St. Paul's Church has stopped contributing to the diocese and instead sends its money to other Episcopal ministries.

"We have felt led by God to continue to give our money - not to a bureaucracy filled with error - but to people who need help," Leighton said.

The rectors of the six churches wanted to undergo the DEPO process as a group, but several said Smith has insisted that they do so as individual churches, which has put the process at something of an impasse.

Smith declined to express his personal feelings about the quest of the six parishes, except to say "we worked very long and hard at the bishops meeting to create DEPO, recognizing that it would meet the pastoral needs."

"It's the [Episcopal] Church's attempt to accommodate the pastoral needs of our parishes and to maintain our unity," he said.

The Rev. Allan Benedict, rector of Christ Church in Watertown, said the process could take months, since the bishop who would be chosen for oversight must be acceptable both to Smith and the churches.

But, Benedict added, that will not stop the crisis facing the Episcopal Church.

"I believe that ultimately, the worldwide communion will take action against the U.S. Episcopal Church," Benedict said. "They will either have to reverse their decision [on Robinson] or go their own way."

The Rev. Mark Hansen is rector of St. John's Church in Bristol, which in the wake of Robinson's approval voted in February to affiliate with the Anglican Network, a new group of "biblically orthodox" parishes.

Hansen criticized the designated oversight plan as inadequate and said it unilaterally imposes a take-it-or-leave-it approach. He said a number of specifics still need to be worked out - such as future succession of clergy at parishes under delegated oversight, which is not spelled out in the DEPO framework.

Further, it "keeps all the power in the hands of an existing bishop," Hansen said. "[Smith] doesn't relinquish one iota of power."

The bishops of the U.S. Episcopal Church are refusing to see that "reality has been radically and irrevocably altered," Hansen said. "A tectonic shift is going on, and they are trying to manage it in a business-as-usual way. ... There is a power struggle going on that transcends Bristol, a drama being played on the global stage."