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COLORADO: Bishop asks 116 parishes for support
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
September 29, 2004
Please stop withholding money: That's the plea Colorado Bishop Rob O'Neill makes in a pastoral letter sent this weekend to an Episcopal diocese $500,000 short on giving this year.
O'Neill's letter went to pastors and all 116 parishes but it appears to be directed mostly at conservatives who have withdrawn financial support from the diocese in protest against the church's gay rights policies.
O'Neill asks the traditionalists to reconsider their actions "not as a sign of relinquishing their convictions but rather as a tangible sign of good will and trust, freely offering something for the greater good."
Just how deeply divided the diocese is between liberals and conservatives might become clearer Friday and Saturday when the annual state convention convenes at the Holiday Inn DIA.
One crucial matter will be to elect deputies to the 2006 general convention of the Episcopal Church USA in Columbus, Ohio.
Delegates will also consider a resolution whether Christian marriage should be defined as "a solemn covenant between one man and one women only."
The convention begins with a 7 p.m. liturgy Thursday at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral.
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