Posted on 11/23/2005 6:32:12 AM PST by NYer
A congregation that refused to pay its dues in protest of the Episcopal Church of the USA's ordination of a homosexual bishop has been dissolved by its diocese.
Rochester's Episcopal diocese in New York voted Saturday to shut down All Saints Episcopal Church in Irondequoit, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.
The church's property and other assets are to be turned over to the trustees of the diocese.
The church refused to pay $16,000 it owed the diocese after the 2003 ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire – a practicing homosexual – and the denomination's decision to give individual dioceses liberty to bless same-sex unions.
Parishioners gathered in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Rochester to find out the result of the vote.
"Goodbye now and God bless you," said All Saints' leader, the Rev. David Harnish, as he left the room where the vote took place.
Harnish then went to the lobby where a small group from his church had gathered.
"The same bishop who strongly opposes the death penalty has issued an ecclesiastical death sentence," he told the parishioners. "But we are alive and well."
The Rev. Canon Carolyn Lumbard, a spokeswoman for the diocese, told the Rochester paper she had come to know many at All Saints after working with them for four years.
"I know their struggle is their struggle, just like my struggle is my struggle," she said. "I don't understand theirs and they don't understand mine, either."
But she emphasized the congregation still must pay its share of the dues.
Similarly, regardless of what you think about the laws of the U.S., "If you don't pay your taxes, you go to jail," said the Rev. Diana Purcell-Chapman, who says she reluctantly voted in favor of the resolution. "It had to be done."
Rev. Denise Yarbrough of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Penn Yan, N.Y., said, "We didn't kick them out. They chose to go."
Yarbrough, a lesbian, said she and others offered to dialogue with parishioners, but they were refused.
All Saints plans to continue operating and possibly be a home for others in the diocese who disagree with the Episcopal Church of the USA, according to Walck.
"We will be a church and we will be functioning," he said.
You got the score wrong, those parishioners are free of that Church now!
I was so thrilled when he was elected . . . felt like jumping up and down and yelling "YESSSS!" like those young American seminarians in St. Peter's Square.
In the U.S. Episcopal Church, queers rule today. That's why I quit.
Another case of follow the money.
I guess this church's hieracrchy doesn't believe in being "inclusive" if some believe that homosexuality is a sin. So much for "diversity" of opinion.
MMM - the hypocrisy of it all.
Another case of follow the money.
I guess this church's hieracrchy doesn't believe in being "inclusive" if some believe that homosexuality is a sin. So much for "diversity" of opinion.
MMM - the hypocrisy of it all.
The TRUE church, the Body of Christ, is not a building. The gay looters don't understand that.
Are there ANY non-gay churches in Rochester? Perhaps these folks can form the kernel of a new Anglican-Use Catholic diocese in Rochester. Lord knows, the Roman Catholic diocese under Bishop Clark is as close to outright heresy as one can get.
I DID do that! My kids came running in asking what was up!
I hadn't been watching the TV cause I just didn't think anything would happen that quickly. I happened to wander into the Hobbit Hole and 2J had posted that the bells were ringing. I knew what she meant and immediately turned on the TV and saw that Ratzinger had been elected! I went to call my hubby, SirKit, and saw that I had a voice mail from his brother, who is a Priest on the MS Gulf Coast that simply said, "The right man at the right time, God Bless Benedict XVI".
To appreciate the situation in Rochester (or Albany, or Rockville Centre, or Los Angeles), read the following:
Still Proud Of Bishops He Gave U.S. - Archbishop Jadot At 93. He is to blame for the bad bishops and the scandals in the US. Fortunately, all of these men are nearing retirement age (though not soon enough for those of us who live in dioceses run by them).
When I saw that photo, I decided I did not want to be anywhere he was. He is scary.
I do not understand. Why is a larger organization in control of local churches? Who built the church? I am curious since I am Southern Baptist and we raise our own money to build or enlarge our churches.
"We will be a church and we will be functioning," he said."
"Bull. That ain't no church."
As I read the story, the pastor who stated, "We will be a church and we will be functioning" was the pastor of the congregation who had their church dissolved by the homo heirarchy. I understood it to mean that even tho these particular Episcopalians had been disenfranchised, they still plan to worship together outside of the Homosexual Episcopalian Church.
NYer -
Today is Archbishop Jadot's 96th birthday. What should we get him?
We had the radio tuned in once we heard the smoke was up . . . the cardinal read the announcement V-E-R-Y slowly in Latin - he got to "Josephum" and I said, "It's Ratzinger." . . . it seemed like 5 minutes before he said "Ratzinger" but he did eventually. (I did clap my hands and say, "All right!" Everybody looked at me funny, but they're used to my eccentric ways . . . )
"For that matter, is "dialogue" even a verb?"
I guess anything can be a verb these days. After dinner tomorrow, I plan to "cribbage" with my brothers.
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