He wasn't even from New Jersey.

The cleric, dressed in white and gold vestments, who celebrated the sacrament of confirmation before about 325 people, was a conservative churchman from South Carolina who had arrived in Hackensack just hours before the ceremony.

Bishop William J. Skilton's official visit to St. Anthony's - a parish under the authority of Croneberger - served notice that the battle for the soul of the Episcopal Church has hit home in North Jersey.
The congregation had sought an outside bishop to perform pastoral duties as a way to signal its discontent.

"There are lines being drawn throughout the national and international church," said the Rev. Brian Laffler, St. Anthony's rector, after Tuesday's rite. "We're drawing this line because we understand the faith in another way than the Diocese of Newark."

Croneberger, who consented to Skilton's visit after a series of negotiations with the parish, agreed that the venerable Protestant denomination is facing the threat of schism.

"I think we have a deeply challenging task before us," he said in a telephone interview the day after the confirmation. "Particularly when you look at our country and see how deeply divided we are politically."

Parishioners at St. Anthony's practice a conservative brand of Christianity that opposes ordination of women and homosexuals. They've long felt out of place in the Newark Diocese - a seven-county network of 119 parishes where Croneberger and his predecessor have welcomed gay priests and approved the blessing of same-sex couples.

But last year's ordination of a gay bishop in New Hampshire has provided St. Anthony's with a bevy of potential allies worldwide - dissenting Episcopal churches and many of their Anglican cousins in Asia and Africa who believe homosexuality is a sin. They have focused their outrage on the majority of U.S. bishops who voted to elevate the New Hampshire bishop, V. Gene Robinson.

Some American congregations have tried to break from the U.S. denomination altogether by joining with overseas bishops. St. Anthony's has opted for a less extreme approach - staying within its diocese and getting permission from Croneberger to forge an official but limited relationship with a U.S. bishop who shares its positions. American bishops voted to allow such arrangements last year in response to the outrage about Robinson's elevation.

St. Anthony's, a mostly working-class congregation that favors a "high church" style of worship, is thought to be the only Episcopal church in New Jersey to take such action.

"This is something we felt we had to do," Laffler said.

And Skilton didn't disappoint. When it came time to deliver his sermon, the 64-year-old descended from the altar and spoke from the floor about how America needs to strengthen its religious commitment. He spoke of how Christians overseas are now targeting the United States for their missionary activities.

"The missionaries are coming here now," he declared.

Skilton didn't dwell on the crisis in the Episcopal Church and made a point of telling parishioners that he respects Croneberger for allowing him to officiate at the confirmation.

Even so, parishioners saw his visit as a small step in an eventual reconfiguration of the Episcopal Church along theological lines.

"He [Croneberger] doesn't follow the historic faith," said Bill Hermann, who drives nearly 40 miles from Morris County to attend St. Anthony's. "We feel much happier with someone who is an orthodox Episcopalian."

Nevertheless, Croneberger left no doubt that St. Anthony's will stay under his authority for the foreseeable future.

"My ego isn't so big that I have to have everyone agree with me," Croneberger said. "I don't have a problem with what St. Anthony's is doing, as long as we're clear about my canonical responsibility to maintain jurisdiction."

The battle in the Episcopal Church is expected to heat up in the coming months.

The fallout from Robinson's consecration has rocked the Anglican Communion, a worldwide Protestant denomination made up of 38 autonomous provinces, including the African and Asian churches that oppose the U.S. church.

The communion issued a report last month, criticizing Robinson's election and saying the bishops who approved it should apologize for hurting traditionalists. The report also asked church officials to stop officiating at same-sex-union ceremonies.

But American bishops - including Croneberger - aren't backing down.

Indeed, Croneberger took the report to task, saying it failed to address the "less than Christ-like" behavior by some conservatives against homosexuals.

Croneberger also told The Record that he hasn't asked local priests to refrain from blessing same-sex couples. He declined further comment on the report's recommendations, saying he wanted to review the document. He did say that he held out hope for a reconciliation.

"I'm perfectly able to stand on my side, and say it's OK for you to stand on a different side," Croneberger said. "The goal for me as bishop is to find a place beyond, where we can all meet. To get to that place is the challenge for us right now."

Skilton, the visiting bishop, said true reconciliation will probably be a long time coming. He said he expects to make more visits to St. Anthony's in the coming year.

"Reconciliation for some in the church means accepting of the [current] direction," he said in an interview before the confirmation ceremony. "I don't think reconciliation is going to be anything like that. God is the only one who is going to be able to reconcile, and it will be on his terms."

END