North American Anglicans separate

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7762110.stm
Traditionalist Anglicans have formally announced that they are setting up a new church in the US and Canada.

The new Anglican Church in North America claims 100,000 worshippers, in four dioceses and dozens of parishes.

It means in each country there are now two competing churches, both claiming allegiance to the Anglican Communion.

The American Church's liberal stance on homosexuality has led some traditionalists, including some whole dioceses, to leave the Church.

They have instead formed a range of new alliances, often with Churches in Africa.

The move will reduce the rolls of the US Episcopal Church, which has 2.1 million members, and the Anglican Church of Canada, which has 640,000 members.

The status of church property in the four breakaway dioceses - Fort Worth in Texas, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, Quincy in Illinois and San Joaquin in California - will have to renegotiated.

Growing body

During a celebration service in Illinois, its leaders unveiled a draft constitution for the new Church.

"The Lord is displacing the Episcopal Church," said Bishop Robert Duncan, head of the breakaway Diocese of Pittsburgh, who heads the new group.

Bishop Gene Robinson
Openly homosexual Bishop Gene Robinson has split the Communion
"We are a body that is growing, that is planting new congregations, that is concerned to be an authentic Christian presence in the US and Canada," said Bishop Duncan.

But doubts remain as to whether or how it will be recognised by the wider Anglican Communion, says the BBC's Religious Affairs correspondent Christopher Landau.

The Communion's Secretary General, Canon Kenneth Kearon, has told the BBC that it is entering what he called uncharted waters, and he is calling on the leaders of the new Church to act in accordance with the Communion's existing regulations.

"The issue as I see it is whether in fact this body, or province as they're calling it, wishes to be recognised as a province of the Anglican Communion," he said.

"And I think if they do, there are clear procedures by which that might be explored. And I do urge those involved to address the structures of the Communion."

But those supporting the new North American Church believe that Anglicanism's structures have been unable to safeguard the Church's unity, and they now look to leadership from a group of largely African leaders.

Neither the liberalising American Churches nor this much smaller new Church want to leave the Anglican Communion.

But how they can exist together in the same global communion is looking increasingly problematic, says our correspondent.

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To me, this is the representation of the worst in religion. Hatred towards homosexuals should not be a centerpiece of anyone's faith, certainly not to the point of breaking off into a new denomination over it. But alas, some people fail to see the point of Christianity, which is love. The greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself.

Hah, yeah, Orwell (the user by that name, not the author, heh).

Now we have a religion literally born out of hate gays and liberals. Before this was merely a derogatory and speculative comment. Now it is fact.

And for a user with your SN to post this article, only serves to make ever more deliciously amusing.

can't say it's a surprise. may well happen here too, in time.

divide et impera

The more they split up, the less power they keep. So now they founded a cult that defines itself by hating homosexuals and other minorities. Sounds bad, but those people existed before, now at least people can see them in open light... and ignore them, since they are only a small minority too. They should hate themselves...

So now there are thirty-eight thousand and one Christian sects/denominations in the world.

Woo.

There have been a few other denominations that split off from the main groups because they felt their church was becoming too liberal, and often these splits have had at least something to do with homosexuality. There has been some conflict between my new church (a liberal PCUSA congregation) and neighboring churches (of the more fundamentalist PCA variety) in the course of some cooperative community service efforts because some members of the fundamentalist churches didn't think they should have anything to do with a church that accepts homosexuals.

Ohh. I was hoping by "separate" you meant they separated the bilateral left and right sides of their bodies. Ohh well. A man can dream.

Good riddance to the bigots. The Episcopal Church is better off without them.

Church of the Holy Separatists! topic

The LGBT community have had their own churches for years. I was surprised they stuck it out in the mainstream ones.

Religious bigots? Religion is bigotry, unfortunately.

Well, why shouldn't they be accepted among the broader faith community?


This is simply not true. And you realize the hypocrisy and bigotry you are displaying by declaring all religion to be bigotry?

Well, as probably the only actual Episcopalian in the forum (heck, I even got to carry the cross in processional as an acolyte... , I have to say, if you want schisms, splitters, backsliders, and new denominations, there's nothing like your Southern Baptists...

The Book of Common Prayer has had a major rewrite (how many churches have a 'Communion; Rite A or B'?.... Women don't wear veils any more (they hardly even wear dresses any more...
We even have women acolytes...what a world...

Strangely enough, it seems the African Anglicans are the more conservative ones here. They're a lot of what's behind the more conservative push in the worldwide community.

It's a funny old sect, but there's still some reasonable people showing up on Sundays...

Anglicans...reminds me of a time when Puritans were of one faith and one church. Everyone was safe from everything including witches and cats....

This does not surprise me the churches have been splitting for a long time, especially about hot topics like this. I think the last great split was over selling entrance into heaven......or was it over selling access to touch the saint's bones??? HMmm I forget sorry.