[see_the_light]

Brothers

This parishes have seen the EVIL of having a so-called church led by a woman, with homers as pastors and where sissy boys could make a travesty of marriage.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Maybe they are ready (Buildings and land at Truro and the Falls Church are valued at about $25 million, according to Fairfax County records) to be accepted by JESUS and the LOB?


7 Virginia parishes vote to quit US Episcopal Church
Oppose position on including gays
Truro Church rector Martyn Minns (right) and Falls Church rector John W. Yates II spoke after the parishes' vote yesterday. (CHRIS GREENBERG/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
By Bill Turque, Washington Post | December 18, 2006

WASHINGTON -- At least seven Virginia Episcopal parishes, opposed to the consecration of a gay bishop and the blessing of same-sex unions, have voted overwhelmingly to break from the US church in a dramatic demonstration of widening rifts within the denomination.

Breaking News Alerts Two of the congregations are among the state's largest and most historic: Truro Church in Fairfax City and the Falls Church in Falls Church, which have roots in the 1700s.

Their leaders have been in the vanguard of a national effort to establish a conservative alternative to the Episcopal Church, the US wing of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion.

The result of the weeklong vote, announced yesterday, sets up the possibility of a lengthy ecclesiastical and legal battle for property worth tens of millions of dollars.

Buildings and land at Truro and the Falls Church are valued at about $25 million, according to Fairfax County records.

The votes are fresh evidence of an increasingly bitter split within the US Episcopal Church. Seven of its 111 dioceses have rejected the authority of Presiding US Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, installed in November as the first woman to head an Anglican church. Schori supports V. Gene Robinson, a gay man elected bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

"I grew up in the Episcopal Church. I hope I don't cry when I talk about this," said a shaken Katrina Wagner, 37, an accountant and member of Truro's vestry, after the congregation's vote was announced. "But the issue is: Are we going to follow Scripture?"

Bishop Peter James Lee of the Diocese of Virginia said yesterday in a statement that he was saddened by the churches' decision but that he would not yield in seeking to retain ownership of the parishes' land and buildings.

The two congregations voted not only to sever ties with the US church but also for a resolution saying they should keep the property.

"As stewards of this historic trust, we fully intend to assert the church's canonical and legal rights over these properties," said Lee, who is scheduled to meet today with the executive board and standing committee of the diocese to discuss the situation.

Truro and the Falls Church, with a combined membership of more than 3,000, will form the core of what is envisioned as a new Fairfax-based mission of the conservative Episcopal Church of Nigeria. The head of the Nigerian church, Archbishop Peter Akinola, has voiced support for a pending law in that country that includes prison sentences for gay sexual activity.

The Rev. Martyn Minns of Truro Church, who is missionary bishop of the splinter group known as CANA, Convocation of Anglicans in North America, said that although the dissident Virginia churches believe that homosexuality is banned by Scripture, they do not support criminalization of gay sex.

Akinola's spokesman and his advocates have said he does not advocate aggressively pursuing the jailing of homosexuals. His advocates say he is trying to navigate an explosive cultural situation in Nigeria and appease Muslim leaders.

Eight Virginia congregations are taking part in the vote to separate, representing about 5 percent of the 90,000-member Virginia diocese. Another church participating in the vote, St. Paul's in Haymarket, is expected to release results today.

The defections are likely to continue. Two other small Northern Virginia churches, Our Saviour Episcopal in Oatlands and Church of the Epiphany in Herndon, are expected to vote on separation early next year.

Minns said he expects about 20 parishes nationwide to join CANA by year's end.

Conservative congregations have left the church in the past, including in the 1970s when ordinations of women began, and a number have done so since Robinson's election. In some cases, dissident churches have fought their diocese for the church property.

Many court rulings have been in favor of the dioceses, although some recent cases in California have gone the other way.

Truro and the Falls Church were formed before the US denomination existed. George Washington was a member of the vestry at the Falls Church.

A packed church of nearly 1,000 Truro congregants sat in rapt silence at the end of the 11:15 a.m. service yesterday as Jim Oakes, the senior warden, announced that more than 90 percent of eligible voters resolved to sever ties with the US church and retain control of church property.

Outside after the service, members were somber but resolute about a decision that they say culminated a long period of disenchantment with the Episcopal Church, dating back to the ordination of women in the 1970s. Their alienation grew with Robinson's election.

"I want to do what's right in the Lord's eyes," said Vicki Robb, 53, an Alexandria public relations executive, who said the church's leftward drift was becoming intolerable.

[Arethusa]

Originally Posted by see_the_light

Brothers

This parishes have seen the EVIL of having a so-called church led by a woman, with homers as pastors and where sissy boys could make a travesty of marriage.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Maybe they are ready (Buildings and land at Truro and the Falls Church are valued at about $25 million, according to Fairfax County records) to be accepted by JESUS and the LOB?

Well, see, the Diocese owns all of the churches' assets, not the individual parishes, so the riches don't mean much to anyone at this point except the lawyers.

[Pastor Isaac Peters]

Rebuking women and homers who want to play-act at being bishops is a baby step in the right direction, but just a baby step. Breakaway Whiskeypalian parishes tend to stick with Angler-can't-ism, even though that "church" has committed apostasy from Biblically correct Christianity on so many other issues. Selective Biblical absolutism isn't Biblical absolutism at all, and being almost True Christian™ will almost save them from eternal damnation.

[see_the_light]

Originally Posted by More Saved Than Thou

Rebuking women and homers who want to play-act at being bishops is a baby step in the right direction, but just a baby step. Breakaway Whiskeypalian parishes tend to stick with Angler-can't-ism, even though that "church" has committed apostasy from Biblically correct Christianity on so many other issues. Selective Biblical absolutism isn't Biblical absolutism at all, and being almost True Christian™ will almost save them from eternal damnation.

But they do hold FULL authority on those parishes, including material questions and possessions, they MIGHT be given a chance to correct all those endless errors and rejoin the TRUE FAITH now that they are no longer under the sway of women and homers.

Saving those souls and their earthly possessions from satan would certainly please THE LORD?

[TwinkBoy]

Goshhhh....you people are REALLYyyyy homophobic here. No offense intended. Just a short "observation" from reading some of the posts here. Maybe all the homophobia stems from never having known one but we'll change all that shortly .

Anywaysss....everyone should be aloud to go their own way and develop their own PERSONAL THEOLOGY IMHO. If these Episcopal parishes are unhappy with the direction of their overseer church then they certainly have the right to break off and form into something else. BUTttt...of course they will have to start with NOTHING as the property, etc. do NOT belong to them but to the national church and Diocese.

Just thought I'd POPppp in my two pennies worth on this discussion.

Chow

Love & Light,
Twink

[see_the_light]

Originally Posted by TwinkBoy

Goshhhh....you people are REALLYyyyy homophobic here. No offense intended. Just a short "observation" from reading some of the posts here. Maybe all the homophobia stems from never having known one but we'll change all that shortly .

Anywaysss....everyone should be aloud to go their own way and develop their own PERSONAL THEOLOGY IMHO. If these Episcopal parishes are unhappy with the direction of their overseer church then they certainly have the right to break off and form into something else. BUTttt...of course they will have to start with NOTHING as the property, etc. do NOT belong to them but to the national church and Diocese.

Just thought I'd POPppp in my two pennies worth on this discussion.

Chow

Love & Light,
Twink

DON'T YOU DARE "POP YOUR PENNIES" AROUND HERE!

There is but ONE CHURCH and THE LORD made it LOCAL (as the LOB ) no national paipist influences around here!

PRAISE THE LORD!

[Brother Temperance]

Originally Posted by TwinkBoy

Maybe all the homophobia stems from never having known one but we'll change all that shortly .

Anywaysss....everyone should be aloud to go their own way and develop their own PERSONAL THEOLOGY IMHO.

For starters, there is nothing personal about theology. It relates to the Lord and Creator of the entire world and everything in it, you don't get much less personal than that. But it's the sentence in bold that troubles me most. Do you mean that in the Biblical sense?