Updated again later Saturday evening
Quite a bit of press coverage in advance of today’s voting by the Diocese of Fort Worth.
Agenda information here.
Houston Chronicle Fort Worth Episcopals set to leave national church
Dallas News Fort Worth Diocese to officially split from Episcopal Church today over social issues
Wichita Falls Times Record News Episcopalian realignment vote will affect local church properties
Religious Intelligence Fort Worth on verge of secession
Saturday evening update
Associated Press Fort Worth Is 4th Episcopal Diocese to Break Away
Dallas Morning News Fort Worth Diocese officially breaks away from Episcopal Church
The bishop’s address is published in full here.
Statement of delegates who will remain in TEC
The detailed results of the voting on the various resolutions are available from Katie Sherrod, see here.
Later Updates
Statement by the Presiding Bishop
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Fort Worth Episcopal Diocese votes to leave mother church
Living Church Fort Worth Convention Joins the Southern Cone
Episcopal News Service Fort Worth delegates vote to leave Episcopal Church, realign with Southern Cone
This report by Pat McCaughan is comprehensive.
And there is an earlier version with other detail, here.
Locations of those who are not leaving The Episcopal Church are listed here and here.
Thank Mr. (Fr.?) Fraser, for being brave, honest and willing to hit the nail on the head. It’s nothing but institutional bigotry following fearful minds of single issue-obsessed religious fanatics who are acting antithetically to the founding precepts of the United States.
So was just looking at the Episcopal Cafe site and they had this interesting comment about the numbers that are leaving the TEC. Looks like it will be less than 2% of the total membership. Go here to seehttp://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/2_percent.html
Fiona – an interested Canadian Anglican
Hmm, to my reading, one garners a sense of just how tense, polarized, and heavy the differences in Ft W have become – reading in between the lines. Iker has a lot to answer for, and no doubt by going where he goes, he is already answering for his antiwomen, antigay rhetoric. One prays that all the Remaining Episcopals in Ft w (including the progressive ones, or middles, or remaining conservatives) will still be able to uphold historic big tent church life. The false witness of Fr. Wooten against everybody else in the Wichita Times article quotes is typical, yet… Read more »
God Bless Bishop Iker for standing firm and for contending for the Faith once for all delivered to the saints. God bless the diocese of Fort Worth, now out from under the Episcopal Church USA. May he and they know the freedom they deserve in Christ.
Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
God bless the Episcopal Church, and the stalwart faithful in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth (may they receive a faithful shepherd, soon!).
“May he and they know the freedom they deserve in Christ.”
How, exactly, did they not enjoy “the freedom they deserve in Christ” as part of PECUSA?
There is a natural tendancy for faithful Episcopalians to castigate the break-aways, but for Christ’s sake, we should mourn their leaving, not cast stones. Bishop Iker is outspoken in his opinions, but one needn’t demonize him just because one holds other views. He is not a mysogynist; he holds a position of conscience. Perhaps if we judged less and cared about one another more these unhappy divisions could be avoided.
May he and they know the freedom they deserve in Christ.
Posted by: Ian Montgomery on Saturday, 15 November 2008 at 7:42pm GMT
Right, the freedom to continue to hate their brothers, sisters and neighbors at The Body of Christ and the freedom to steal from TEC…the freedom to continue with the unchecked ¨false witness¨…what other seemingly selfish and drunkenlike acts of self-centered demoralization and temporary freedom to you think they´ll enjoy?
“God Bless Bishop Iker for standing firm and for contending for the Faith once for all delivered to the saints.” Sounds good , but on careful analysis it is not the case. “Orthodox “Fort Worth has ordained women deacons, allowed them to preach…which is a novelty, and goes against tradition as much as Women priests and Bishops. “Orthodox” Fort Worth allows divorce and re-marriage..and this is an attraction to many ex-Roman Catholics. Fort Worth’s strongest area of growth is amongst this grouping particularly Hispanics. Bishop Iker is not leading them to the Promised land…he wants to take them to another… Read more »
“The gospel work to which Jesus calls us demands the best efforts of faithful people from many theological and social perspectives, and The Episcopal Church will continue to welcome that diversity.” – Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Schori – This is the sort of radical ‘inclusiveness’ in the Gospel that the wider Anglican Communion could well do to emulate. Bishop Katherine is here demonstrating the charism for which she was made a Bishop on the Church of God. Leadership is not limited to the male of the species, and many of us in the wider Church are envious of the quality of leadership… Read more »
“God Bless Bishop Iker for standing firm and for contending for the Faith once for all delivered to the saints.”
Actually, it appears to be that he hasn’t the slightest clue about what that Faith is.
ruidh, Maybe it’s the rest of us who don’t have the slightest clue. Maybe we have just been kidding ourselves all these centuries (I sometimes feel that old) with this “Love thy neighbour” business. Maybe the “transformative power of God” isn’t really about restoration of Creation to a state of Grace after all, perhaps it IS to be found in the degree to which fear of punishment can force conformity to particular social norms. Maybe demonizing people you disagree with IS actually a Gospel value. I mean, it’s not like modern day conservative Anglicans invented it. Maybe spreading misinformation, making… Read more »
Just prior to the actual FW vote, a young lady came forward to speak, and she asked this poignant question..” Where will you run, in fifteen years time when the Archbishop of Canterbury is a woman? ” The comment was not appreciated by Bishop Iker.
“ruidh,
Maybe it’s the rest of us who don’t have the slightest clue.”
I am prepared to learn that by beliefs are worong in some fundamental way. If we look back in history at the wide variety of beliefs, practice and actions taken in the name of Christ, one thing is patently clear — almost everyone gets something wrong.
It’s a good thing, then, that we are justified by faith and not by belief.
“It’s a good thing, then, that we are justified by faith and not by belief.”
I really don’t think there are that many conservatives who understand the difference, which is another of the roots of the problem.
God bless Bishop Iker that in the 1990s he swore an affadavit ( to prevent a departing congregation taking their building to Antioch!) affirmming that property in the Diocese of Fort Worth is held by the diocese in trust for the national Church. Not even the most right wing of Southern Baptist Texas Judges will be able to get around that one.
“God bless Bishop Iker!” – R.I.W. –
Robert, can you arrange for your friend, former Bishop Iker, to be welcomed into the fellowship of your Roman Catholic Church?
This might save a lot of heartache for the future members of the ‘Church of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in North America’. They might then be persuaded that Rome is a safer Sanctuary than what is being proposed for them in Chicago on December 3rd, 2008.
Bishop Iker already ‘has mitre, will travel’.