Reuters: United States Saturday 08 December 2007

An entire California diocese of the United States Anglican Church has voted to secede in a historic split following years of disagreement over the church’s expanding support for gay and women’s rights.

Clergy and lay representatives of the diocese of San Joaquin, Fresno, voted to leave the Episcopal Church, which has been in turmoil since 2003 when it consecrated an openly gay bishop [Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire]. Last year, it elected a woman primate [Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori].

The San Joaquin vote was 173 in favour of a split, with 22 against, far more than the two-thirds majority needed. Last year, the 8800-member diocese, with 47 churches in 14 counties, overwhelmingly voted to leave the parent church, but held off on a final decision till Saturday.

Amid the dissent of recent years, the church said 32 of its 7600 congregations had left, with another 23 voting to leave but not taking the final step. San Joaquin is the first of 110 dioceses to complete the split.

“This is the first time, I believe, that a diocese has finally said ‘enough’ in terms of the liberal theology of the Episcopal Church,” Bishop John-David Schofield, of the San Joaquin diocese, said.

The 400-year old church represents less than 1 per cent of the US population, yet its members have a disproportionate influence on American political and societal life.

References

California diocese poised to quit Episcopal Church
Sat Dec 8, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0734748120071208?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

Historic split for U.S. Episcopals
By Adam Tanner, Sat Dec 8
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071208/ts_nm/episcopals_schism_dc

US church elects first woman leader
Stephen Bates in Columbus, Ohio
Monday June 19, 2006. The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1800899,00.html

Fears of split follow gay bishop vote
Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘Difficult days’ ahead for Anglicans
Wednesday, August 6, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/06/bishop/index.html

Episcopalians approve gay bishop
Opposition vows to seek intervention from Anglican leaders

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/05/bishop/

SPECIAL NOTE

Bishop John Shelby Spong is the Episcopal Church’s leading champion of the moral and civil rights of homosexuals to engage in sodomy, have their same sex relationships blessed by the Church and be installed into positions of leadership at all levels in the Church. For a devastating critique of his anti-Christian ‘theology’ and poor scholarship see:

http://www.christian-apologetics.org/Apologia/
A free download of a special publication focusing on Bishop Spong’s writings and lecture content is available in PDF format.