When the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh meets in convention October 4, in addition to considering whether to align with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, deputies will be asked to create four new parishes.
Seeds of Hope, Bloomfield; Charis247 Community, Coraopolis; Somerset Anglican Fellowship, Somerset; and Grace Anglican Church, Slippery Rock, are all asking for admission to the diocese.
Admitting the four as parishes would add at least 12 votes (two deputies and one clergy person from each congregation) to total of those who will be asked to approve resolutions (see resolutions one, two and three here) to align with the Buenos Aires-based Southern Cone.
“This is the most important organizational decision that Pittsburgh congregations will face for years to come,” Jenni Bartling, the diocese’s congregational developer for church plants, said in July while announcing the anticipated vote. “Because all of our church plants will be directly affected by the decision[s] of Diocesan Convention, we believe it is important that as many as possible are able to vote on this issue, just like any other congregation of the diocese.”