"As a result the business of the convention remains unfinished, and at some point Bishop Herlong will have to call us to reconvene."

The motion to adjourn was based on the questionable legality of eight 'proxy' votes of clergy who were not in attendance at the meeting at Christ Church Cathedral at Ninth Avenue North and Broadway.

"The liberals are in a slight majority among the clergy, while liberals are thought to be a slight minority among the laity. If it passed, liberal parishes would have sent money directly to the naitonal church, by-passing the diocese. Since it has not passed (it was never voted on), orthodox parishes will have to find a way to give that prevents money from going to the national church," said Allen.

"Specifically, what happened was that they [the liberals] obtained "proxies" of eight priests canonically resident in the Diocese of Tennessee, but not physically resident, and certainly not registered and present at the convention. These could be retired priests living in other states. They then made an argument that these proxies must be allowed, and furthermore that the number required for obtaining a majority in the clergy order must be increased to account for not just those clergy delegates present and registered (as is the custom), and not just those present and registered plus the "proxies," but to include all those who could potentially have been present and registered - in other words, to include all priests canonically resident, with or without cures, even though they be in a nursing home in Texas at the time of the convention," said Fr. Allen.

"This argument was based on a very tendentious reading of the Tennessee Code (under which the Diocese of Tennessee functions as a not-for-profit corporation). There was considerable discussion about this point of order, with the diocesan chancellor ruling that the proxies must be allowed," he said.

"On the second day of the convention, the issue was re-opened, and the case against the inclusion of the proxies was articulated by Fr. Ray Kasch and Ms. Jane Stranch [Esq.] (newly-appointed vice-chancellor of the Diocese). The Chancellor ruled that it was too late to change his previous ruling. A motion for adjournment came."

In the Diocese of Tennessee, no "conservative" resolution can pass because the liberals would call for a vote by orders, and they are in the minority among the clergy, said Allen.

Newspaper reports saying that the convention adjourned "to spare rancorous debate over contentious resolutions," were not true, said Allen. "We adjourned for this reason: the normal, customary, agreed upon procedures had been subverted by an angry and malicious minority. It was not only the conservatives who voted for adjournment. It was plain that any decision reached by the convention would be meaningless and subject to appeal because of the subverted procedures."

Fr. Allen told Virtuosity that the whole episode was shameful, "and I am embarrassed for our church, though encouraged that the majority of delegates had the good sense to see what was happening and say "no."

Fr. Allen said Bishop Bertram Herlong's leadership was exemplary. "He kept his cool and wit when he had every justification for blowing a gasket."

The Rev. Ken Swanson, dean of Christ Church Cathedral, a one-time conservative, said the vast majority of delegates were against proxy voting, including many liberals and moderates. ''That unified us,'' said Swanson, who now describes himself as a moderate.

The Rev. Freddy Richardson of the Church of the Holy Cross in Murfreesboro, who made the motion to adjourn, said there was a lot of tension in the air. ''I felt that legal decisions were being made on the fly and we needed time.''

The motion to adjourn passed 105-93, more than 2½ hours before most delegates had expected to leave.

''We've come to an interesting point in our common life,'' said Bishop Herlong after the vote to adjourn. ''It's sort of interesting that we continue to have surprises.'' The Diocese of Tennessee covers Middle Tennessee.

In his closing remarks to the convention, Herlong charged the delegates to return to their churches refocused on their mission, to pray longer and to give more of themselves to their congregations, both financially and spiritually.

Herlong said he would call another special meeting of the convention to take care of business that the church is required to do. However, he later added that it is possible that the special convention could be as short as five minutes and be held on the day of the 2005 annual convention. It would be necessary for him to confer with diocesan lawyers before a final decision could be made, he said.

END