For the 110 Episcopalians who shared their stories at “The Abundance of God’s Love” retreat at Shrine Mont in Orkney Springs, Virginia, October 7-8, their tales were not entirely unique.
Unhappy with the actions of the Episcopal Church at General Convention in 2003 and 2006, their congregations’ leadership decided to reconsider their membership in the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia.
Parishioners noticed a shift in the climate of their congregations: Episcopal flags were removed, or rectors focused their preaching primarily on “the issues.” They entered into “40 Days of Discernment” — in hindsight, with a sense of naiveté, said some participants. And they all entered into a journey categorized by confusion, frustration and, for some, hopelessness.
“It’s like the stages of grief,” said Suzanne Fichter, parishioner of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Herndon. “Denial, anger, acceptance.”
In the Diocese of Virginia, the majority of 15 congregations would vote to quit the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia. In several places loyal members of the Episcopal Church remained. In four of them — St. Stephen’s, Heathsville; St. Margaret’s, Woodbridge; The Falls Church, Falls Church; and Church of the Epiphany, Herndon — those loyalists reorganized. They called congregational meetings and elected new vestries and new delegates to diocesan council. They have returned to weekly Episcopal worship, albeit in exile from their church properties, and returned to mission and ministry in their communities.
RE: ‘All will be well . . . ‘
No, no, no . . .
All [i]Is[/i] Well [TM]
All is well? After printing out all the charts for churches in the Diocese of Virginia, and comparing their attendance figures (ASA) and membership numbers, we learn this:
30% of the churches say their ASA has increased since 2003
61% of the churches have seen decreased Sunday attendance since 2003
Only 13% of the churches in the diocese have increased membership and ASA since 2003
Of that 13% (21 churches, not counting churches under 80 people where fluctuations tend to be variable) more than a quarter of the churches actually saw their attendance drop in 2006.
Fully 55% of the churches in the diocese saw attendance drop in 2006, that’s 87 of the 157 reporting.
This does not include losses from the 11 churches that left the Episcopal Church or the other new church plants that closed during the last few years … those chats are no longer available from TEC, even though the Diocesan leadership refers to them in some form as continuing congregations.
And a funny thing too … many churches that list lower Sunday average attendance show that they have actually had an increase in membership. Which means … we have a lower percentage of people who want to attend services on a regular basis than before.
You will have to draw your own conclusions. But it seems clear to me that since the radical decisions made by General Convention in 2003, our churches have been losing members and dropping in Sunday attendance.
If this is well, what would unhealthy look like?
“Parishioners who wanted to remain Episcopalians but were no longer welcome at the now-Nigerian church”
Feeling “no longer welcome” and being “no longer welcome” are miles apart. In this case it is definitely the former.
I guess that Epiphany Episcopal is a now-Richmond church?
Funny, you’d think that if the Episcopal Epiphany folks actually were unwelcome, that they wouldn’t want to continue to attend the Anglican Epiphany’s events. Several ladies who left Epiphany after our vote to leave TEC were very warmly welcomed at Women’s Retreat in the Spring of 2007. Further, several still attend the Friday Women’s Bible study at the Anglican Epiphany. The friendships continue in spite of our differences over TEC politics.