This week, priests from the six churches - Christ Church in Watertown, St. John's Church in Bristol, St. Paul's Church in Darien, Trinity Church in Bristol, Christ & The Epiphany Church in East Haven, and Bishop of Seabury Church in Groton - each received a "pastoral directive" and were summoned by registered letter to meet with Smith.

"At first, I thought I was being subpoenaed. It turned out to be a letter from my bishop commanding that I meet with him," said the Rev. Christopher Leighton, pastor of St. Paul's Church in Darien. Leighton said being summoned to a compulsory meeting with Smith was a tactic that added more tension to an increasingly strained relationship.

In March, the U.S. Episcopal bishops created a framework for the kind of alternative oversight the six churches are seeking. Called "Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight," the procedure was designed to allow churches that refuse to accept the consecration of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire to become aligned with another bishop, "who neither supported the election [of Robinson] nor supports the ordination of homosexuals to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church."

Robinson's consecration a year ago, which was supported by a majority of Episcopal bishops, including Smith, has brought the U.S. Episcopal Church to the brink of schism with the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Smith said Thursday he expects the six churches will get another bishop to oversee them, though many details still need to be worked out.

"I want the delegated oversight to be implemented," Smith said. "It's something that is offered in the church, that respects and accommodates the views of those who have petitioned for it."

So far, only one parish church, in Newark, N.J., has been granted delegated oversight.

Under a DEPO agreement, Smith would voluntarily relinquish many activities at the six churches, such as performing confirmations, baptisms and rites of initiation. At the same time, Smith would retain constitutional and canonical jurisdiction over the congregations, and the parishes would pledge funds to the diocese at a level that is agreed upon.

Leighton said St. Paul's Church has stopped contributing to the diocese and instead sends its money to other Episcopal ministries.

"We have felt led by God to continue to give our money - not to a bureaucracy filled with error - but to people who need help," Leighton said.

The rectors of the six churches wanted to undergo the DEPO process as a group, but several said Smith has insisted that they do so as individual churches, which has put the process at something of an impasse.

Smith declined to express his personal feelings about the quest of the six parishes, except to say "we worked very long and hard at the bishops meeting to create DEPO, recognizing that it would meet the pastoral needs."

"It's the [Episcopal] Church's attempt to accommodate the pastoral needs of our parishes and to maintain our unity," he said.

The Rev. Allan Benedict, rector of Christ Church in Watertown, said the process could take months, since the bishop who would be chosen for oversight must be acceptable both to Smith and the churches.

But, Benedict added, that will not stop the crisis facing the Episcopal Church.

"I believe that ultimately, the worldwide communion will take action against the U.S. Episcopal Church," Benedict said. "They will either have to reverse their decision [on Robinson] or go their own way."

The Rev. Mark Hansen is rector of St. John's Church in Bristol, which in the wake of Robinson's approval voted in February to affiliate with the Anglican Network, a new group of "biblically orthodox" parishes.

Hansen criticized the designated oversight plan as inadequate and said it unilaterally imposes a take-it-or-leave-it approach. He said a number of specifics still need to be worked out - such as future succession of clergy at parishes under delegated oversight, which is not spelled out in the DEPO framework.

Further, it "keeps all the power in the hands of an existing bishop," Hansen said. "[Smith] doesn't relinquish one iota of power."

The bishops of the U.S. Episcopal Church are refusing to see that "reality has been radically and irrevocably altered," Hansen said. "A tectonic shift is going on, and they are trying to manage it in a business-as-usual way. ... There is a power struggle going on that transcends Bristol, a drama being played on the global stage."

END

Churches Want A Conservative Bishop
Seabury, other churches troubled by their leader's support of gay bishop

By Bethne Dufresne
General Assignment Reporter/Columnist
THE DAY

Published on 7/17/2004

NEW LONDON, CT 7/17/2004--Power, not sex, is the crux of a dispute within America's Episcopal Church over the consecration of the church's first openly gay bishop.

So said a spokesman Friday for six churches, including Bishop Seabury in Groton, that are seeking to be led by a bishop other than the head of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith, who supported the consecration.

The six churches are the only ones among the state's 178 Episcopal congregations to apply for what is called “Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight.” But the Rev. Mark Hansen of St. John's Episcopal Church in Bristol said it won't remove them from Smith's jurisdiction.

A major concern, said Hansen, is the selection of future pastors. Church tradition says the presiding bishop must approve the parish's selection. Hansen and his group want written assurance that parishioners can “call” pastors without fear of veto by a bishop, such as Smith, who doesn't share their opposition to gay clergy.

“Not one of us intends to leave the church,” assured the Rev. Ronald A. Gauss of Bishop Seabury, who is on vacation and spoke via phone from Kentucky.

But parishioners are “very worried,” he said. “If I were to retire,” he explained, “the church might not be able to call up the person they want.”

The global Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church here is a part, has been deeply divided over the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, a divorced man who lives openly with his gay partner. Church leaders in some nations have gone so far as to suggest that the American church be thrown out of the Anglican Communion.

Many in the Episcopal Church have embraced the decision to ordain Robinson, and most appear to have accepted it. But a number of orthodox Anglican parishes, including Groton's Bishop Seabury, have joined the American Anglican Council, not a breakaway church but formed in opposition to the U.S. church's liberal direction.

To keep the Anglican Communion whole while a commission appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury studies the fissures, global primates mandated “adequate or alternative Episcopal pastoral oversight.” This, said Hansen, would allow “biblically orthodox” parishes like his to report to a bishop in line with their thinking.

But “through a sleight of hand,” said Hansen, the American House of Bishops changed “alternative” to “delegated.”

Smith acknowledged that the two are “fundamentally different.” But “we have our own policy, our own church canons,” he said. “Other provinces have different procedures.”

Alternative oversight places a church “under the jurisdiction of another bishop entirely,” said Smith. “Delegated means the diocesan bishop remains the bishop of all the parishes, but certain functions can be delegated to another bishop.”

As Smith struggles to keep the Connecticut diocese united, dissenting churches are seeking as much distance as possible. The group also includes Christ Church in Watertown, St. Paul's Church in Darien, Trinity Church in Bristol and Christ & The Epiphany Church in East Haven.

Pastors of the six churches asked to meet with Smith as a group, but he has insisted on meeting with each individually.

Hansen said this a “divide and conquer” tactic.

Smith said it's his duty to treat each parish as a unique unit. “Each parish is very different,” he said, and one other bishop might not be able to meet all their needs. “This is one of the things I want to talk about,” he said.

Smith ignored the group's request that he apologize for his vote in favor of Robinson, and their request for “written assurance that you and the Diocese of Connecticut will not foster a ministerial environment that is hostile to our parishes' mission and ministries.”

Hansen will meet with Smith later this month, but Gauss said vacations –– his and Smith's –– might keep them from meeting until the end of August.

Gauss said he was in no rush, that these things take time.

Hansen was offended by Smith's terse July 9 letter to him that began, “In my capacity as canonical overseer I issue to you a Pastoral Direction.” Smith went on, in three sentences, to tell Hansen when and where they would meet one-on-one.

Hansen, echoing the sentiments of another of the six pastors, said it sounded like he was being “served with a subpoena.”

But Smith made no apologies for his directive. “It is what it is,” he said.

“I don't know why he (Smith) won't meet with us as a group,” said Gauss. “But I will obey his directive. He is still my bishop.”

END