Posted on 12/16/2005 5:46:30 PM PST by sionnsar
The good times spread to San Diego:
An Episcopal priest has resigned from his church and taken much of his congregation with him in the first significant sign that the divisions between the U.S. Episcopal Church and its Anglican counterpart have arrived in San Diego.
The Rev. Keith Acker, rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Alpine, resigned Monday and turned over the church keys to the diocese, San Diego Bishop James Mathes said yesterday. Most of the parish’s leaders also have resigned.Acker, 49, said last night that come Sunday morning he will be at his new parish, the Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity, at Alpine Elementary School.
"The Episcopal Church has distanced itself from the rest of the Anglican Communion and that, in fact, is where the difficulty lies," said Acker, who has been an Episcopal priest for 23 years. "I’ve always seen myself as an Episcopalian, but I was an Anglican first."
The 77-million-member global Anglican Communion is at odds with the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States over the ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire two years ago and for blessing same-sex unions.
The departure is a blow to Mathes, who appealed for patience, unity and communication as he took office. He said yesterday that he had tried several times to reach out to Acker and the congregation.
"I feel every effort to misunderstand has been seized and every effort to understand has been ignored," Mathes said.
Pete Carnley? Reaction! Oh and how are you coming on those P of R referrals, buddy?
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Recent California court decisions granted ownership of the local church to the departing congregation, not the denomination. Did the good pastor overlook something?
Looks like it was a nice facility. Perhaps it is burdened with debt, or perhaps they just didn't feel it was Biblical to litigate, even if they did have a good legal position.
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