Nearly 100 lay
leaders in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh signed an
open letter supporting their bishop's plan to split the
diocese from the national church.
The letter was in
response to another letter written last month to Bishop
Robert Duncan by 12 clergy outlining their opposition to the
diocese's plan to break away from the national
Episcopal Church, the Anglican body in the United
States.
But lay leaders
said in their letter that the diocese ''can no longer
travel with a national Episcopal body that is departing from
its foundations.'' In 2003, Episcopalians caused an
uproar in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion by
consecrating their first openly gay bishop, V. Gene
Robinson of New Hampshire. The communion, a worldwide
fellowship of churches that trace their roots to the Church
of England, is now on the verge of schism.
The Pittsburgh
diocese in November took the first of two steps toward
breaking off and aligning directly with a like-minded
Anglican province overseas.
Last month, the
national church leader, Presiding Bishop Katharine
Jefferts Schori, told Duncan that she had sought permission
from an Episcopal committee to inhibit him, which
would bar him from performing religious duties.
The committee
blocked the penalty, but the Episcopal House of Bishops is
expected to consider imposing the punishment later this
year. (AP)
