Episcopal group against Fort Worth diocese's secession
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Area Episcopalians who want to stay with the national church if the Fort Worth diocese withdraws have formed an umbrella group to help achieve their goal, the group's leader said Tuesday.
The Steering Committee North Texas Episcopalians hopes to establish "a more tolerant attitude" locally on issues that have divided the Episcopal Church in the United States, committee President Walter Cabe said.
"We might not agree on every position or action, but it's that diversity that has attracted us to remain Episcopalians," he said. "That's an important witness."
Controversial issues include same-sex unions and ordination of gay clergy and of women. The Episcopal church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion but is more liberal than much of the communion, with the Fort Worth diocese a leader in the conservative camp.
Fort Worth Diocese Bishop Jack Iker said in a statement Tuesday that the steering committee is "a self-selected vigilante group whose only stated purpose is 'to remain in The Episcopal Church' no matter what -- and regardless of what TEC believes or practices. They espouse a blind institutional loyalty that borders on institutional idolatry."
Proposed split
Fort Worth diocese delegates took a first step toward leaving the Episcopal Church at a convention in November 2007. A second and final vote is expected to be taken in November, diocese officials said. The Anglican Province of the Southern Cone of America, which includes several South American countries, has invited the Fort Worth diocese to join.
Archbishop Gregory Venables, presiding bishop and primate of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, has accepted an invitation from Iker to visit the diocese. On Friday and Saturday, he will meet with clergy and delegates for the November convention. On Sunday, Venables will be guest preacher at St. Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford in the morning and at evensong at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Fort Worth.
Cabe said that the steering committee is a way for several Episcopal groups to bond and work with the national church to stay intact. He said it should not be categorized as liberal or conservative.
"We want a more tolerant attitude toward one another, a willingness to engage in informal adult conversation and eliminate fear and intimidation," he said.
But Iker in his statement said that the diocese's main purpose is to be faithful to biblical teaching and that the annual diocese convention, composed of elected lay and clergy leaders from every diocese congregation, is the only body that can act on behalf of the diocese.
Property division
Episcopalians say that if the church splits, dividing church property could become controversial. The diocese has 56 parishes and missions, said Suzanne Gill, the diocese's communications director.
Gill said that she did not have an estimated value of diocese property but that delegates approved guidelines at the November conference that would aid in amicable settlements over property.
If two-thirds of the members of a parish want to stay with the Episcopalian church rather than realign, "we would want to let them keep their property if there are not liens on it," she said. "If everything is financially square, if you've paid for it and want to maintain it, we'll say: 'OK. Go ahead,'" she said. "We would rather have that than a legal battle that is spiritually, financially and emotionally hard."
Cabe said property issues "are at the heart of the tangible consequences" that might result if the diocese aligns with another province.
Online: www.fwepiscopal.org
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
The committee
Those represented by the steering committee include Fort Worth Via Media, North Texans Remain Episcopal, Remain Episcopal of Granbury, Steadfast Episcopalians and several clergy members. The steering committee, with a nine-member executive board, will set up a Web site soon, Cabe said.
