The Diocese of Quincy is reorganising itself, see ENS report, Diversity embraced as steering committee leads reorganization by Joe Bjordal:
A newly appointed steering committee, representing persons in the Diocese of Quincy who want to remain in the Episcopal Church, has met with the Presiding Bishop in New York, welcomed a bishop as consultant, and released a vision statement and immediate goals for the reorganizing diocese.
Last November, a number of clergy and laypersons in the Peoria, Illinois-based diocese voted to leave the Episcopal Church due to theological disagreements and align with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
The reorganization moves are in preparation for a special synod meeting which has been called by Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori for Saturday, April 4 to be held at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Peoria. In a notice issued February 27, Jefferts Schori called for the synod, saying there was “no bishop of the Diocese of Quincy, or any qualified members of the standing committee of that diocese.”
The notice from the Presiding Bishop can be found in full here.
The Diocese of Fort Worth is seeking to recover control of its assets, see ENS report Continuing diocese requests ‘orderly transfer of assets’ by Pat McCaughan:
The standing committee of the continuing Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth (Texas) and Provisional Bishop Edwin Gulick have written to former bishop Jack Iker to request a “peaceful and orderly transfer of property and other assets.”
“Our hope is to work together with those who left the Episcopal Church to make this period of transition as painless as possible in what has been a sad time for all of us,” said the Rev. Frederick Barber, president of the standing committee. “Those who left remain our brothers and sisters in Christ. But we also know we have a sacred responsibility to the Episcopalians of the diocese to be good stewards of property that is held in trust for generations of Episcopalians past and to come.”
The March 3 letter, written by chancellor Kathleen Wells, also asked that Iker and others not interfere with the reorganization of the continuing diocese; refrain from using the diocesan logo and seals and meet with representatives of the continuing diocese “to plan the orderly transition” of property and assets. Last November, Iker and some members of the diocese voted to realign with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
The letter itself can be read in full as a PDF file here.
…and that response, in a word, is RENEWAL: thanks be to God! 😀
‘”The position of the Diocese (of Quincy) and the Episcopal Church is that the dissenters have broken vows as both clergy and communicants to uphold the constitution and canons of the Church, thus making themselves ineligible for any position of authority in the Diocese”, said the steering committee members’ – ENS Report – It would appear that the Faithful Remnant of the TEC Diocese of Quincy are ready to take up their case with the departing dissidents – on the sure grounds of failure to uphold the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church. This must surely bring about the… Read more »
“Ms. Wells, an attorney with the TOASE law firm in Fort Worth, requested that Bishop Iker, who is now affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, along with his entire diocese, cease using the name Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and relinquish his authority. She also wants him to turn over the diocesan seal and cease using the diocese’s logo and emblems.” – article – Virtue-on-line – It seems that even the oxymoronically-named site ‘virtue on line’ is beginning to get the point – that TEC is intent on wresting property that the dissidents who fled to the… Read more »
The wheels of cause and effect grind on so slowly, and exceedingly fine. Eventually we can look forward to two reconstituted dioceses in Quincy and in FW. What will happen to those who left? Well, nobody wishes them any suffering in particular; except that involved in deflating their high hubris insofar as they lay claim to resources held in common trust (with the middles believers and with lefty or progressive believers) – which they have now said they have a special strong calling from Jesus to violate and appropriate, while they trash talk anybody who doesn’t want to violate as… Read more »