Free Republic

Seven Florida Churches to Request Alternative Episcopal Oversight from their Bishop Source: Anglican Fellowship of Florida (Diocese of Florida Network of Churches) Date: June 16, 2005 Dear Friends in Christ, As you know, we have been working with other congregations to find the best way forward for us in the light of the continuing departure of ECUSA leaders from the faith once delivered to the saints. Now that the Florida Annual Convention has come and gone, the time has come for action. Clergy representing the seven congregations mentioned below are meeting with Bishop John Howard today at 2:00 pm to...

Bishop signals openness to St. Brendan's request The Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh Robert Duncan has received a request for Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) from St. Brendan's Episcopal Church in Franklin Park. Under the guidelines laid down by the Episcopal House of Bishops in March 2004, DEPO is a voluntary system in which parishes in disagreement with their bishop can request to receive limited episcopal pastoral care, such as annual visitations, from another bishop. The DEPO system grew out of a direction from the leadership of the Anglican Communion to put a structure in place to provide alternative episcopal oversight...

CONNECTICUT BISHOP THREATENS CANONICAL INITIATIVES TO ORTHODOX RECTORS News Analysis By David W. Virtue HARTFORD, CT--(7/30/2004)--Four orthodox clergy in the Diocese of Connecticut whose parishes have taken part in a 6-parish joint request for DEPO have appeared before Bishop Andrew Smith in response to a "pastoral directive." Three have been told that "canonical initiatives" will be forthcoming unless some resolution is achieved with respect to their differences with the bishop. The three who received implied threats from the bishop are the Revds. Christopher Leighton, rector of St. Paul's, Darien, one of the largest charismatic churches in the Episcopal Church USA,...

Six Episcopal Parishes Seek Conservative Ties By FRANCES GRANDY TAYLOR Courant Staff Writer In the latest sign of the stresses tearing at a variety of denominations over social issues, six Episcopal parishes are seeking to remove their churches from the control of Bishop Andrew D. Smith, who leads the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. The parishes want to become aligned with a bishop outside the state, one who is part of a network of conservative Episcopal churches that have come together in opposition to the consecration last year of the church's first openly gay bishop. This week, priests from the six...