Published: November 01, 2007 11:18 pm      

All eyes on local Episcopal meeting

Episcopalians nationwide are watching as leaders and delegates of the Episcopal Church’s Pittsburgh Diocese converge on Johnstown today to consider separating from their national affiliation.

“It is like my parents are getting divorced,” said Cindy Leap, parishioner at St. Mark’s Episcopalian Church in Johnstown. “I have to pick whether to go with my mommy or daddy.”

A constant struggle over beliefs is deeply affecting local and national congregations, said the Rev. Mark Zimmerman of St. Francis in-the-Fields Episcopal Church near Somerset.

“This is not about the Episcopal Church. There is nobody who is not going to be touched by this,” he said.

“Every major denomination in America is wrestling with this issue. Even though it takes us out of our comfort zone, we have to wrestle with it.

“God is calling us to take a stand.”

The 142nd convention for the Pittsburgh diocese, whose leaders have spoken in favor of a more conservative church, meets today at the Pasquerilla Conference Center in Johnstown to consider an amendment to its constitution to allow its separation from the Episcopal Church of the United States. The diocese’s parishes then could join a more conservative group, the worldwide Anglican Communion, rather than its American arm.

If the resolution passes, the pullout would have to be ratified at a second convention.

Pittsburgh is one of at least four Episcopal dioceses out of 110 – along with Fort Worth, Texas; Quincy, Illinois; and San Joaquin, Calif. – that are taking steps to break away.

A handful of congregations, including some members at St. Francis in-the-Fields, are considering leaving the denomination on their own.

The Pittsburgh diocese also is one of at least six in the country that have spoken against the leadership of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who has supported gay relationships, including the 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop in New Jersey.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, Schori threatened disciplinary action if Duncan does not change his direction.

“I call upon you to recede from this direction and to lead your diocese on a new course that recognizes the interdependent and hierarchical relationship between the national Church and its dioceses and parishes,” Schori said in the letter, published by the Episcopal News Service at http://episcopalchurch.org.

The letter accompanies a story that centers on multimillion-dollar litigation about church fights over real estate across the country.

A spokeswoman for the national church declined to comment.

Peter Frank, spokesman for the Pittsburgh diocese, said the letter is meant to intimidate and influence today’s vote.

“This is not an effective technique,” Frank said. “In past situations where the church has made threats, it tends to galvanize people to support their leadership.

“Certainly this will be a watched convention across the country.”

Bishop Duncan would not comment on the correspondence until today, Frank said.

“We are trying desperately to get the national church to acknowledge that we are acting on principle,” Frank added. “We have a clear sense: This religion we signed up for does not believe what we do anymore.”

Edith Humphrey, who teaches New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, expects the resolution will pass today.

“I think most people in the diocese agree with our bishop that we cannot go on like this,” said Humphrey, who serves on the Pittsburgh diocese’s Commission on Ministry and has authored books and articles on Biblical theology and spirituality.

“Anyone with a deep view of the sacrament is uneasy at a table with those with unlike beliefs. It is expressing unity with a body that is un-unified.”

For parishioners such as Leap, who believes those who want to leave are in the minority, the constant fighting is heartbreaking and infuriating. “The Episcopal Church takes you as you are.”