Colorado Episcopal church votes to join Nigerian diocese  | News | Advocate.com

||  News  ||
March 28, 2007
Colorado Episcopal church votes to join Nigerian diocese

Colorado's largest Episcopal congregation was left in turmoil after leaders voted to leave the denomination and the state's bishop responded by dismissing the parish's leadership. The controversy at Colorado Springs' Grace Episcopal Church and St. Stephen's Parish is the latest in a tense dispute among Episcopalians and their fellow Anglicans worldwide over how they should interpret what the Bible says about sexuality and other issues.

The vestry of Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish on Monday voted to bolt from the national church and instead join a conservative Anglican diocese based in Nigeria. The move came three months after its pastor was placed on suspension amid an investigation of church finances.

The Right Reverend Robert O'Neill, bishop of the diocese of Colorado, rejected the church's move, dismissing the local leaders and saying the Colorado Springs parish would remain part of the Episcopal Church. ''The fact is people may leave the Episcopal Church but parishes cannot,'' O'Neill said in a statement.

The church's longtime rector, the Reverend Donald Armstrong III, who was suspended late last year, said O'Neill no longer has jurisdiction over the parish. ''He doesn't have an army. The courts will not interfere in an internal church dispute,and the congregation is solidly behind us,'' Armstrong said.

Beckett Stokes, a spokeswoman for the Colorado diocese, said church law states that all parish property and assets are held in trust for the diocese. She declined to comment on Armstrong's reaction.

The leaders of Grace and St. Stephen's voted to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a missionary diocese of the Church of Nigeria led by Archbishop Peter J. Akinola.

Armstrong has led the 2,500-member congregation for 19 years. The diocese said in a statement January 3 that he had been placed on 90-day leave the previous week, following a nine-month review of the church's finances. It did not release details of the allegations against him.

Parish leaders cited the handling of Armstrong's suspension, along with the denomination's rejection of the ''historic faith,'' as reasons for the vote.

Senior warden Jon Wroblewski said the parish had fought for a return to orthodoxy within the denomination but has lost hope in reform. ''It's clear that The Episcopal Church no longer believes in the historic, orthodox Christian faith common to all believers. It's also clear that purported Episcopal values of 'inclusion' do not apply to orthodox believers,'' Wroblewski said in the statement.

Several Virginia Episcopal churches voted late last year to align with Akinola, including prominent congregations in Fairfax and Falls Church. Clergy in the breakaway churches were warned by Episcopal leaders that they could be removed from the ministry.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, a fellowship of churches that traces its roots to the Church of England.

Anglicans have been debating for decades how they should interpret Scripture on salvation, truth, and sexuality. Those divisions reached the breaking point in 2003 when Episcopalians consecrated the church's first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. (Colleen Slevin, AP)

© 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

Be the first to comment on this story.

Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

Comments that do not concern specific articles in The Advocate or on Advocate.com will not be posted or published. See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • Police Woman
    Long before Sam Adams made waves as Portland, Ore.'s gay mayor, the macho world of Oregon police enforcement was crashed by lesbian Jennifer Bills
  • Phair Play
    Fifteen years after the release of her revolutionary album Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair performs all of the album's 18 tracks in Chicago -- with mixed results
  • Aloha From Hawaii
    Advocate.com correspondent Job Brother takes a look at Starwood Hotels' newest property on Kauai and some of the resort group's recently remodeled gems on Oahu.
  • She Still Bops
    With Cyndi Lauper and a who's who of queer and queer-friendly talent, the True Colors tour is entertainment for all orientations and all generations.
  • State of the Unions
    Searching for the perfect tux? Wondering what you need to know to tie the knot? Look no further. The Advocate has joined forces with our friends at Out to bring you a comprehensive guide to all things marriage.
  • Obama Woos Clinton Donors, LGBTs Included
    Sen. Barack Obama meets with Hillary Clinton's donors in D.C. on Thursday, but the campaign's efforts to romance Clinton's LGBT fund-raisers is still finding its groove.
  • I'm a Dad
    Actor, singer, and all-around entertainer Sam Harris talks about his journey of adoption and the joys of taking on his latest title: father.
  • Good Golly, Miss Molly
    Molly Ringwald discusses her new ABC Family series, her daughter's gay godfather, her obsession with eBay, and why Andie could never have ended up with Duckie
  • Provincetown Film Festival
    Jane Lynch, Alan Ball, and John Waters descend on the Cape. Will Henderson gives us the queer highlights from this year's festival.
  • Hair Apparent
    Jaclyn Smith on the success Bravo’s Shear Genius, her Angel years and the quest to gain more inner strength
  • Katy Perry Isn't One of the Boys
    With a number 1 single just around the corner and Madonna among her fan base, Katy Perry's two gay songs have made her a pop sensation.
  • The Gay Goodfellas
    Inside the Gill Action Fund, the most effective pro-gay political weapon you never heard of.
  • Obama And One-Man, One-Woman Marriage
    Sen. Obama reminded us this week that he believes marriage is between a man and a woman, something LGBT people might have easily forgotten over the course of the primary.
  • The Whole World Is Watching
    The media spotlight turned to California last week as the first marriages were performed. Although for the most part it was a rare glimpse at the human angle of our battle, sometimes their silence spoke louder than words
  • The Godfather of Electro-pop
    Former Depeche Mode and Erasure member Vince Clarke reunites with bandmate Alison Moyet this summer for a Yaz reunion tour. The straight man to some pretty gay acts tells us why he stopped singing, what broke Yazoo up, and why the future of electro-pop music may be monkey brains
  • It's The Economy, Stupid
    California's non-partisan Legislative Analyst Office is studying the economic impact of a state ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriages. Will the findings sway voters in the fall?