Free Republic

In what can only be described as a bizarre turn of events, the ultra-liberal Bishop of Connecticut, The Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith has written a letter to the clergy of his Diocese saying he will attend the ordination of an evangelical priest at a conservative parish that will be conducted by the orthodox Assistant Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt. Rev. Henry Scriven. The Rev. Bill Hesse, a graduate of Trinity School for Ministry will be ordained to the priesthood in Bishop Seabury Church, Groton on May 12 - an ordination that has the permission of Smith. The priest of...

The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut on Saturday removed a priest from his duties in a clash over the elevation of a gay bishop in New Hampshire. Connecticut Bishop Andrew D. Smith stripped Mark H. Hansen, formerly of St. John’s Church in Bristol, "of the right to exercise the office of priest in the Episcopal church." Smith had "inhibited," or suspended Hansen six months earlier. "It’s a very sad day," Smith said in an interview Saturday. Hansen was among six priests and their respective parishes who had asked to be supervised by a different bishop because they disagreed...