The parish became aware of Fr. Williams's resignation in the last October issue of the parish's newsletter, THE MESSENGER. A letter from the senior warden Peter Bower dated October 24 informed the parish of clergy who will be supplying in November. He also said he was resigning in good conscience, "since I cannot continue to work or worship under his [Bishop Creighton's] direction."

Fr. Williams had been forced to resign by the revisionist Bishop of Central Pennsylvania, the Rt. Rev. Michael W. Creighton, and by a divided parish, a minority of whom had come to resent the parish's membership with Forward in Faith after the bishop came down hard on the vestry and the parish at a meeting in September. See Virtuosity story at: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1296

Fr. David Moyer, president of Forward in Faith, North America attended the meeting, along with several parishioners from Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont and said that FIFNA was a recognized ministry within the Episcopal Church and by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Creighton was nonetheless successful in manipulating the church body into believing that a pastoral emergency existed which purportedly "excluded" members resistant to Forward in Faith, even though a majority of active church members, more than one half, signed the petition to join the orthodox organization.

"The bishop's campaign managed parishioner affections with false accusations, a freezing of the parish's main endowment, and a vicious letter designed to scare the membership. It worked so well that the chief contributing members also left," said Professor Gary Hafer an active parishioner.

At the time of the congregational meeting, this writer was present and, following the meeting, I asked the bishop to his face if he intended to leave the parish and its priest alone and allow them to be a Forward in Faith parish. He said he would. He lied to me.

The bishop decided to withhold access to the church's endowment funds until this Forward and Faith issue has been resolved. The bishop held the parish's endowment fund hostage, said the senior warden.

The parish will lose as much as 75 percent of its congregation. Next week Fr. Williams will officially announce the formation of the Church of the Incarnation, Anglican and will come under the ecclesiastical authority of Archbishop Louis Falk of the Anglican Church of America which is a member of the Traditional Anglican Communion and its Primate John Hepworth.

Fr. Williams told Virtuosity, "I am truly saddened by what has happened, but I fear for my own soul's health and those who are valiantly fighting for orthodox truth in light of the liberal persuasion of the bishop and his unwillingness to accommodate those of us who are conservative, despite the fact that he says he is inclusive and welcomes all points of view." Clearly he does not, said Fr. Williams.

On October 4 the bishop wrote a threatening letter to the parishioners of Christ Church saying he had been deceived by the rector and that a so-called vestry meeting turned into a parish meeting. He conveniently forgot to mention that a dozen other diocesan clergy also came along to the meeting to support the bishop against the priest. Creighton again reiterated that it was "absolutely inappropriate to affiliate with Forward in Faith" and argued that "The Episcopal Church is comprehensive and everyone's perspective is valued and welcome." Creighton voted for the consecration of V. Gene Robinson. But he was not going to allow this orthodox parish to align with an orthodox organization like FIFNA. That was forbidden.

Now that the church has been emptied, the more daunting task will be to find parishioners to fill and to finance the empty church. Clergy supply is not a problem with two Anglo-Catholic priests, one retired, who have both compromised with the Diocese, will supply on Sundays and Wednesdays, Virtuosity was told.

Ironically both these priests had previously pledged support for the rector; now they are part of the diocesan "healing" team. An "open vestry meeting" has been called for Thursday, November 4 by Archdeacon Paul Donecker to reorganize the parish. A two-year interim priest will start in December, but no name has been made public.

With the loss of most of the parish the diocese faces a huge problem financing the church property, Virtuosity has learned. Mr. Jesse Fiske of Fiske and Sons, the restoration company who has performed numerous projects around the church after decades of neglect under previous administrations, informed the rector last week that the historic tower was buckling at its center and could fall at any moment. Along with much needed roof repairs and a damaged infrastructure, the total bill is well over $1.1 million.

Professor Hafer, who also walked out with the priest, said that stakes and ropes quartered off the outside entrance to the tower and that someone had placed a bright "Keep Out" sign on the double doors. "Even if the diocese fixes the tower, I think it¹s a good idea to keep the sign up," he said.

The bishop is apparently so worried that Fr. Williams will start another work in Williamsport that he sent the senior warden a FAX to tell him that what the vestry did in giving "severance" (salary and housing allowance until December 31) was in fact a "gift" and therefore he would not sign off on it unless the rector agreed not to start a work that would be in competition with the ongoing ministry of Christ Church parish in Williamsport!

Undaunted, Fr. Williams said he was delighted at the new ecclesiastical development. "I am looking forward to what the Lord will do with his faithful people here in this city. We had a party and we are all elated. I am not against the Bishop of Central PA but I want to be a witness and have the opportunity to proclaim the gospel as handed to us from the apostles."

END