Posted on 08/29/2003 7:14:37 AM PDT by schaketo
August 29, 2003 - A group of current or former Episcopalians, seeking to distance themselves from their troubled denomination’s recent history and action, is planting seeds for a traditionalist Anglican congregation in Hanover.
Twenty three people, most of them members of or associated with Episcopal parishes in western Hanover, met Saturday morning (August 23) at Ashland’s Quality Inn for a communion service and a question-and-answer session led by the Rev. Charles H. Nalls of Washington.
Nalls is vicar of the Parish of Christ the King in Georgetown, a church associated with the 25-year-old Christ the King Province which broke from the Episcopal Church in the United States after the denomination approved the ordination of women as priests and adopted a new prayer book.
The exploration of the Hanover group, called "A Mission of the Parish of Christ the King" in the service leaflet, was initiated earlier in the year. That came before the most recent turmoil in the Episcopal Church over the ratification of the election of an openly gay man as bishop of New Hampshire and adoption of a resolution which allows member dioceses the option of blessing same-sex relationships.
"We have been down several times in the last five to six months," Nalls said. "We want to do mission work in this area and begin a traditional Anglican parish."
John Dixon, a former member and senior warden at Fork Church on Old Ridge Road, has provided the primary push behind the local effort.
"We are not ‘angry-cans,’" Dixon offered. "I am just looking for a safe place to worship."
He and others cited the recent decisions at General Convention as examples of the errant turns they believe the church has taken in recent years, noting that their dissatisfaction is more long term than a few weeks.
Calling the current state of the Episcopal Church "a deep tragedy," Nalls said that he understood what people at the Saturday meeting must be experiencing.
"We know what it means to have to leave [an existing church]. We know what you are going through," he offered. "We know you are looking for a church where you do not have to fight a political battle at every coffee hour."
Nalls provided a brief history of the Christ the King Province, its liturgy and use of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and its relationship to two other traditionalist Anglican breakaway groups. He noted that while the province adheres to all things Anglican, it is not recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the chief primate of the Church of England and mother to the Episcopal Church.
He also participated with others at the Ashland meeting in a discussion of what control — or lack of control — local congregations have over their church property, saying it was difficult but not impossible to get control but not without a significant expenditure of time and money.
"We have not had a property test in Virginia," said Nalls, who is also an attorney and executive director of the Canon Law Institute.
Nalls was joined by the Rev. Samuel Edwards, who presided over the communion.
Edwards knows first hand the price paid for a protracted battle with the Episcopal Church over policy, theology and property ownership. He resigned his membership from the church in June 2002 and joined Christ the King after a lengthy and bitter legal battle with the bishop of the Diocese of Washington (D.C.), Jane Dixon, who wanted the conservative priest out of her jurisdiction and sued him in civil court.
"The Episcopal Church is neither desirous of reform from within nor capable of reform without," Edwards said at the time. "Indeed, the evidence indicates that, while some people of good will remain within it, the institution taken as a whole is unremittingly hostile to any calls to halt and reverse its decline from authentic Christianity."
Nalls represented Edwards and the Maryland’s parish vestry as private counsel in the civil challenge posed by the Diocese of Washington.
Both Nalls and Dixon were emphatic that a new parish allied with Christ the King will be formed in the Ashland area. Initial plans call for interested persons to begin meeting for a Bible study.
Dixon said that other Episcopalians in the Richmond area have called and written about the effort.
"I have received numerous call and e-mails," he said in an e-mail following the meeting. "Some were serving in various leadership positions in metro ECUSA churches and have expressed a desire to join us but still need time to think things through."
Dixon added that the current core group numbers about a dozen but predicted that the size would grow as others find out about the endeavor.
Among those attending the Ashland meeting were parishioners at Church of Our Saviour (Montpelier), Fork Church, (Beaverdam), St. Paul’s (Hanover), St. James the Less (Ashland) and All Saints (Richmond).
While this is true, I am informed that the Anglican Provice of Christ the King is in discussion with the archbishop of Canterbury over the issue of recognition. (At the same time, given some recent remarks by said archbishop, I wonder if that's wise...)
This one?
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