Posted on 02/10/2007 3:55:05 PM PST by sionnsar
To the Wardens and Vestry of St. Andrew’s
St. Andrews in the Pines, the "Parish", is an Episcopal Church in communion with the Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta and with The Episcopal Church. Your Petition dated April 23, 1976 acknowledges your pledge to "proceed according to the rules of the Atlanta Diocese". Your By Laws recognize the authority of the Bishop of Atlanta. By your participation in and privileges enjoyed as a Member of Annual Council, you have attorned to the doctrine and discipline of The Episcopal Church.
The Wardens and Vestry are charged in the Canons of The Episcopal Church (I.17.8) to perform their duties in accordance with the Canons and Constitution of The Episcopal Church and of the Diocese in which your office serves.
I am advised by David E. Wardell, Senior Warden, by his letter dated February 5, 2007 of the meeting of the Vestry whereby the vestry voted ". . . sever the ties of St. Andrew's in-the-Pines Episcopal Church with The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and the Episcopal Church (TEC) effectively immediately."
This action of the Wardens and Vestry is clearly in violation of the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church, of this Diocese, and of the charge set out in National Canon I.17.8. You, and each of you, are no longer qualified to serve as Wardens, Vestry Persons, or Officers, and you, and each of you are hereby removed from office. You are no longer authorized or directed to act for the Parish. You are expressly admonished from the removal of any assets of the Parish.
As Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta, I am assuming total charge and responsibility for the Parish.
You are directed immediately to (i) return all keys, passwords, records, and property of the Parish to the Parish office; (ii) Turn over all funds (accounts, records, and all financial information) of the Parish to the Treasurer of the Diocese of Atlanta at 2744 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30305; (iii) do not remove any Parish property and return any removed property of the Parish to the Parish office. (iv) cease and desist from giving any direction to any employee of the Parish and (v) cease and desist from holding yourself out as having any authority over the Parish or its assets.
Employees of the Parish and any others seeking authorization or direction with respect to any matter concerning the property or business of the Parish should contact The Reverend Canon Richard H. Callaway, Canon to the Ordinary, at 404-601-5320, ext. 115. Employees are requested to continue to perform their jobs in the normal manner. We will be in contact with continuing parish employees.
Respectfully,
The Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander Bishop of Atlanta February 8,2007
*****
Bishop's 02/09/07 Letter to Congregation
Saturday, February 10, 2007
by Bishop Alexander
TO: The Faithful People of God who are St. Andrew's in the Pines Episcopal Church
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
This morning, representatives of the newly-formed St. Andrew's Anglican Church met with me together with representatives of the Diocese of Atlanta. The meeting was conducted in a spirit of goodwill in spite of signficant differences with respect to the facts before us. I anticipate that we will meet again soon.
In the meantime, the former vestry of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, in their new role as the Vestry of another congregation, have claimed the facilities and barred me from the church for meetings with members of the congregation this weekend.
I shall honor their wishes in a spirit of generosity during this difficult time, but my doing so should in no way be regarded as any equivocation on my part with respect to my canonical and legal responsibilities in the matters before us.
Alternatively, I would be pleased to meet with all those who consider themselves continuing members of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Peachtree City, together with former members, and other interested parties who desire to continue to affiliate with the Diocese of Atlanta and The Episcopal Church.
This meeting will take place on Thursday, February 15, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. at The Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Fayetteville.
END
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. It will be war to the knife, and he will use every weapon at his disposal to punish and humiliate the members of this parish.
Georgia law is in the bishop's favor -- BUT the joker in the deck is what happens in Dar-Es-Salaam. Georgia law recognizes the hierarchical churches as being in charge of the property -- BUT, what if the local leadership of the hierarchical church has been thrown out of the Anglican Communion? Then it's no longer in charge, is it now?
Glad it's not MY church building and graveyard riding on whatever the Georgia Supreme Court happens to decide.
I smell much money for lawyers in this...
This is going to be very, very interesting. Peachtree City is a very conservative, very church-going community. I was amazed that any Episcopal church was able to flourish here, but obviously, the congregation has been uneasy about its affiliation with the sodomite leftists who run TEC. St. Andrew's has a lot of friends in the non-Episcopal community here because it runs a popular pre-school and kindergarten program. I think the locals will be a tad upset if the leftist bishop tries to padlock the doors of the place.
He doesn't give a tinker's damn what any of the locals think.
He wants the money.
I heard through the grapevine that he is in the process of closing the last Anglo-Catholic parish in town. He wants their property -- it's the last remaining large piece of land zoned commercial in a very hot neighborhood. And he won't care what it does to that community either.
He is a toad.
Well, St. Andrew's is a pricey piece of real estate too, and they're in the process of expanding. I just hope he doesn't turn it into a gay nightclub.
The bishop has installed his own "interim rector" and they will have an "exploratory period" to decide whether or not to continue. The newsletter says two years, I have no idea whether they will honor that agreement.
The Supreme Court has had to slap down the Georgia courts before on issues of church property.
Isn't this bishop the THIS FAR BY GRACE author? A documentary of a bishop's "evolving" thinking on the gay-marriage issue?
And didn't he start off as a Lutheran musician-liturgy guy?
You've come a long way, (Rt. Rev.) Baby!
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