Posted on 12/03/2006 3:15:58 AM PST by Moose Dung
FRESNO, CA--An Episcopal diocese in California overwhelmingly passed a series of resolutions yesterday that position it to secede from the Episcopal Church and affiliate with conservatives in the global Anglican Communion.
If the Diocese of San Joaquin affirms the move in a second vote next year, the small diocese, with 48 parishes and 7,000 members, would be the first to try to break from the Episcopal Church, which has been torn by conflict since the consecration of a gay bishop in 2003. Until now, only individual parishes have severed ties.
The vote by the diocese is one more step in a carefully planned strategy by conservative Episcopalians in the United States and primates of Anglican provinces, many in the developing world, to unite the conservatives, claim the mantle of Anglicanism and isolate the Episcopal Church, the 2.3-million-member American branch in the Anglican communion, which claims 77 million members worldwide.
The San Joaquin diocese, which does not ordain women, has long been one of the most conservative of the church’s 110 dioceses. It is among seven dioceses that were so disturbed by the church’s decision to consecrate a gay bishop that they have refused to accept the authority of the church and its presiding bishop. They have also appealed for “alternative oversight” to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who as head of the Church of England is considered the “first among equals” among the Anglican primates.
“This is the separation,” said Craig Petz, a lay delegate to the diocese’s convention in Fresno, Calif., where the vote took place. “It’s done. There’s no equivocating.”
Mr. Petz, from St. Mary’s Church in Manteca, Calif., said he was delighted by the resolutions, but an active caucus of clergy members and laity who strongly oppose separation from the church were despondent.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Take a look at this site; there are others out there that do similar things. I've never used them, but they appear to do what you're trying to do. It's not expensive, but neither is is cheap.
http://www.worksmart.net/ws/index.html
If you've got someone technical, you could just do an FTP server, and create file storage space with logins for all the users.
Many freepers kindly helped to get a FRhomepage organized on Internet Explorer and Safari. It should look organized, now.
The local congregation will likely lose the property, because the property is usually already deeded to the main denomination - even though it was paid for and maintained for years by the tithes and offerings of the local congregation. That's probably why there has not already been a mass exodus out of the denomination. Money.
You are absolutely right, when the membership is conservative and the leadership is liberal it causes the members to either stay home or go elsewhere.
She looks like (and sadly thinks like)David Souter, that hideous cancerous slimeback that 41 put on the court
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