Posted on 12/20/2005 7:53:05 AM PST by sionnsar
Source: Democrat & Chronicle
December 19, 2005
Marketta Gregory, Staff writer
IRONDEQUOIT — A church that was recently voted out of the local Episcopal diocese has aligned itself with the Church of Uganda.
All Saints Episcopal Church on Winona Boulevard refused to pay more than $16,000 it owed the diocese because it believes the diocese and the Episcopal Church of the USA shouldn't have supported the 2003 ordination of a gay bishop in New Hampshire and shouldn't have given individual dioceses the right to decide whether to bless same-sex unions.
Three Episcopal churches in the Los Angeles, Calif., diocese also have aligned with the Church of Uganda following the ordination of New Hampshire's bishop. A judge has ruled that two of those parishes are rightful owners of their church buildings but that issue has yet to be settled in the Irondequoit case.
The local diocese has requested the keys and All Saints has refused.
The Province of Uganda is a separate church within the Anglican Communion. Like the Episcopal Church, it has its roots in the Church of England. The Church of Uganda draws its members from the entire country of Uganda.
"We have received formal notification from the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop and Primate of the Church of Uganda, that All Saints' has been accepted in the Province of Uganda and is now under their authority and protection," states a letter sent to the local diocese by an attorney for All Saints Episcopal Church.
The $16,000, called an apportionment, is required from each of the Rochester diocese's 52 congregations, so many delegates to last month's diocesan convention felt it was unfair to withhold the money and voted to dissolve ties with All Saints.
"Their willingness to withdraw from the community of the Diocese of Rochester was expressed first in their refusal to keep their financial commitment, and is once again made clear by this action," to align with the Church of Uganda, the diocese stated in a printed statement.
All Saints' pastor and its attorney were not immediately available for comment today.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Marketta is a good friend of mine - she covers the relig beat for the D&C - she recently taught a creative writing class at our Church which was well recieved
It's a small world...
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