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PITTSBURGH: Episcopal parish requests delegated oversight
Bishop signals openness to St. Brendan's request
PITTSBURGH (2/8/2005)--The Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh Robert Duncan has received a request for Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) from St. Brendan's Episcopal Church in Franklin Park.
Under the guidelines laid down by the Episcopal House of Bishops in March 2004, DEPO is a voluntary system in which parishes in disagreement with their bishop can request to receive limited episcopal pastoral care, such as annual visitations, from another bishop. The DEPO system grew out of a direction from the leadership of the Anglican Communion to put a structure in place to provide alternative episcopal oversight for orthodox churches in conflict with liberal bishops in the wake of ECUSA's communion-tearing decisions in 2003.
However, Bishop Duncan said he has stated for some time his willingness to make arrangements regarding alternative oversight for any church in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, regardless of their theological position.
"I have been clear from the beginning that DEPO is inadequate to address both the Primates' direction to ECUSA about orthodox parishes and the needs of all parishes, both conservative and progressive, that find themselves in significant disagreement with their bishops. The diocesan leadership team and Standing Committee president will be meeting with the leadership of St. Brendan's in the coming weeks. Until we hold that meeting, it would be premature to comment on what sort of arrangement may result," said Bishop Duncan.
"I have believed for many years that our church desperately needs a graceful way to accept the depth of our disagreements and, if the time comes, to free each other if our differences become too great," added Bishop Duncan.
While the Episcopal Church has been racked by conflict since the unilateral decisions of General Convention 2003, fewer than a dozen of ECUSA's more than 7,000 congregations have successfully entered into full DEPO agreements. "If we hope to open doors to reconciliation, we clearly need to be able to offer more than this to parishes at odds with their leadership, whether they are orthodox or progressive," said Bishop Duncan.
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