Nov 15, 2008 11:58 am US/Central
Fort Worth Diocese Votes To Leave Episcopal Church
BEDFORD (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Hundreds of clergy and parishioners crowded into the gymnasium of a suburban Fort Worth church Saturday and decided the fate of their church diocese and of the 19,000 church members under its umbrella.
In the end, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth became the fourth U.S. diocese to break from the Episcopal Church, citing differences on Bible interpretation ranging from salvation to the consecration of an openly gay bishop in 2003.
"We here in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth intend to be what we've always been, to believe what we always believed and to do what we've always done," said Rev. Jack Leo Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth.
And for the Fort Worth Diocese that means walking away from the Episcopal Church.
About 80-percent of those at the convention voted to align themselves with a more conservative Argentinean Anglican province to keep them in the Anglican Communion. The division between the diocese and the church, while spanning a broad number of topics, has centered on church interpretation over such things as women and gays in church service.
"When the Archbishop of Canterbury is a woman in 15 or 20 years, who will you be in communion with then?" one parishioner asked the convention.
Judy Mayo, a standing committee member for the Fort Worth diocese, expressed the frustration of hearing some of the complaints parishioners had about the more conservative interpretation the diocese supports.
"I heard a woman come in and ask over and over again why her husband could not teach sunday school and could not serve in youth ministry," Mayo said. "She felt ousted. She felt upset. The reason being her husband wore a skirt and heels to church on Sunday."
The diocese will now look to align itself with other like-minded churches to form a new Anglican association. Leaving some parishes feeling abandoned.
"Unfortunately I think this convention by its action has become something other than the Episcopal church," said Rev. Chris Jambor of All Saints Episcopal Church. "And those of us who wish to remain Episcopalian; we'll need to reconstitute the Episcopal Church in this area by calling another convention."
The other seceding dioceses are Pittsburgh, Quincy, Ill, and San Joaquin, California. Many suspect the legal fight that has broken out there over ownership of church property and money will repeat itself in the Fort Worth diocese.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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