Lexington church splits with Episcopal Church USA, diocese

Another church has decided to separate from the Episcopal Church USA and the Lexington, Ky., diocese. The Church of the Apostles, which was started eight years ago in South Lexington, met for the first time Sunday as Apostles Anglican Church, the Reverend Martin Gornik said. Church members voted to sever ties with the Episcopal Church and the diocese on January 16, Gornik said. "We couldn't find a way to stay and hold our conviction," he said. It was the second church to sever ties with the Episcopal Church in the last year. The historic St. John's Episcopal Church in Versailles, Ky., split when its conservative members broke off to form their own congregation. Controversy has rocked the Episcopal Church since 2003, when Lexington native Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, was appointed bishop of New Hampshire. Members of St. John's left in protest of the diocese bishop's support of an openly gay bishop. But Gornik said Robinson's ordination was simply the culmination of a change that he said has occurred over decades. "The trajectory of the Episcopal Church just continues to move away from what I would call biblical evangelical faith," he said. "This is about how to understand the authority of Scripture in your life." (AP)