Posted on 06/04/2005 5:59:47 PM PDT by sionnsar
David Virtue mentioned that there was talk that several bishops from both conservative and liberal camps of ECUSA to meet in Los Angeles were going to discuss a possible division of assets should there be a church split. But I didn’t want to post on it until something more certain came out. But now it has.
We shouldn’t get our hopes up, but that bishops from different sides of the Episcopal Church will even discuss this is progress.
Up to now, the policy has largely been to kiss the bishop’s . . . ring or leave your parish property. Most parishes who could no longer endure ECUSA and its apostasy have had to leave their properties, St. Nicholas in Midland, Texas being a recent well-publicized example. They approached Bishop Ohl with the fact that the membership didn’t want to be in ECUSA anymore, that they were already bleeding members and money, and asked to work something out with him. And the bishop promptly asked them to leave their buildings . . . that THEY paid for.
Other parishes and their bishops are locked in legal battles over parish property -- not an edifying sight to the world.
There probably will be (and should be) a split in the Episcopal Church. As has been said, “there are two religions in the house.” And it’s best that they part ways. Let’s hope and pray that they part ways with some degree of grace, including working out how to divide assets among themselves instead of kicking congregations out in the streets and fighting in courts. That bishops will be discussing such a possible division of assets is reason for thanks and prayer.
HEARD ON THE GRAPEVINE. Bishop J. Jon Bruno is calling together 10 revisionist bishops and 10 orthodox bishops in July to reflect on the ultimate question, which is, if the Episcopal Church cannot get along and reconciliation is not possible, how are we going to divvy up the church without millions of dollars spent in litigation costs? Has Bruno been hit by lightning? We'll keep you posted.
The second link, from Drell's Descants (blog), is to
David Virtue has a Crystal Ball These Days - The Living Church Reports on the LA Meeting:
Notice how the article has “Division of assets ‘is one possible outcome,’ but not the purpose of the meeting. Perhaps the Living Church read Virtue’s article, called Naughton, and thus, this article. I’ve also gotten confidential word from the Diocese of Los Angeles that this will not be about divying up property. We shall see.
Here is the article:
LA Bishop to Gather Colleagues for Further Conversation
6/3/2005
The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles, has agreed to host a number of bishops for a four-day meeting in early July that will continue the conversation that produced the covenant statement overwhelmingly approved by the House of Bishops in March at Camp Allen in Texas.
Division of assets “is one possible outcome,” but not the purpose of the meeting, according to Jim Naughton, communications director for the Diocese of Washington. Mr. Naughton confirmed that the Rt. Rev. John B. Chane, Bishop of Washington, had been involved in planning the agenda for meeting in Los Angeles. The purpose of the meeting “is to discuss how the Episcopal Church can work through this together” and remain faithful to our consciences, Mr. Naughton said.
The meeting continues an informal conversation which began at the House of Bishops’ meeting and includes the same bishops who helped draft the covenant statement. If after four days of discussion, it appears there is no way the Church can move forward together than it is possible, but by no means certain, that conversation in the future will turn toward developing a proposal to divide assets.
The covenant statement called for a moratorium on the consecration of all bishops until after the 2006 General Convention and was developed in response to a request from the Anglican primates that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada not consecrate self-professed homosexuals as bishops until the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Bishops discusses the matter.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Seems to me in the tradition of Martin Luther and Henry VIII.
There appears to be too much "talk" on these Biblical issues of faith.
Agreed. But I think the time of "talk" is coming to an end. It certainly needs to be...
Bookmarking again.......
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