by Fred Moleck
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
I made reference to the Pittsburgh schism in last week’s TableTalk. The schism is the formal withdrawal from the national Episcopal Church of the United States by the majority churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh led by their ordinary, Bishop Robert Duncan.After months of conflict over theological points and disputes over the interpretation of scripture to prohibit gay marriages and fueled by the ordination of Bishop V. Gene Robinson in New Hampshire in 2003, battle lines were drawn that resulted in one lawsuit.
On October 5 the discussion ended as the diocese prepared itself to call the membership to vote on whether to stay or to leave.
The vote by lay representatives and clergy was overwhelming to secede, leaving only 17 congregations who elected to remain faithful to the national church.
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Shori of the United States has cited the remaining parishes as the “true” Episcopal Church of the United States.
Pittsburgh is the second to leave.
The departing churches and their communicants will re-align themselves with the Southern Cone of South America. Yes, South America.
The Southern Cone is in sync with Pittsburgh and numerous dioceses that have and will secede.
What is not clear to me is what happens to Bishop Duncan and his retinue. Do they stay in Pittsburgh or do they seek another building? Do they use Trinity Cathedral for their liturgies? Who pays their salaries?
Needless to say the profound sorrow that many Episcopalians in Pittsburgh are experiencing is enormous.
The best analogy to this secession would be divorce. There is bitterness that is shared by those on both sides of the split.
Then there is the pain of separating from those who loved us and who now will be challenged to love us in different emotional terrains
An unending battle is emerging of who owns what and who will be the beneficiaries. The battle of who is right and who is wrong will continue to continue.
As someone who has a degree with an emphasis on historical matters, I’m fascinated over the dynamics of a split in a church whose origins are in the establishment of the Church of England in the sixteenth century.
You know, Henry VIII who was called “Defender of the Faith” by Rome and was excommunicated because of his divorce. The split was firmed up by establishing the polity of the Church of England.
Queen Elizabeth sewed it up with her reign and the formalization of their public worship.
Of course, between those two monarchs was Mary I, a Roman Catholic, who was known as Bloody Mary because of her relentless execution of the new Anglicans.
. . . All in the name of whose is right and who is wrong.
Yes. Breaking up is hard to do.
You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@comcast.net