(Press Release) Deputies to the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh’s 143rd Annual diocesan convention voted by strong margins on October 4 to join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
Vote totals on the key constitutional provision that opened the way for the change were as follows. A total of 191 laity voted. 119 voted in favor. 69 voted against, 3 abstained. A total of 160 clergy voted. 121 voted in favor. 33 voted no. 3 abstained. 2 invalid ballots were cast.
“We deeply value our shared heritage and years of friendship with those still within that denomination, but this diocese could not in good conscience continue down the road away from mainstream Christianity that the leadership of The Episcopal Church is so determined to follow,” said the Rev. Peter Frank, director of communications for the diocese.
The passage of the vote by the diocesan convention, the diocese’s highest governing authority, means that the entire Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, including all of its congregations and clergy, is now part of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. The diocese expects a small group of 210 clergy and a minority of its 70 parishes to withdraw from the diocese and reorganize under the authority of The Episcopal Church. The diocese is committed to making such decisions of conscience as easy as possible for all those involved.
The Province of The Southern Cone decided in 2007 to offer temporary oversight and pastoral care to mainstream Anglicans disengaging from The Episcopal Church. They hope there will be a new Anglican province in North America for those Anglicans who hold to historic faith and order. In the meantime, scores of individual congregations and four dioceses either have, or are considering, accepting the generous offer of The Southern Cone. The dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy will both make their final decision in November.
“We are deeply thankful to the Province of the Southern Cone for offering us a clear way to stay within The Anglican Communion as the necessary work of building a new province goes forward. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Christians of many denominations and traditions both here in Pittsburgh and around the world that have prayed for us, encouraged us and stood with us as we have made this decision,” said Frank.
The Anglican Exodus continues from the Episcopal Church. I wonder what the current active membership is now. Less than 700,000 I would think.
For those who missed Anglican TV’s coverage:
[url=http://catholicandreformed.blogspot.com/2008/10/to-grey-havens-diocese-of-pittsburgh.html]Convention Report[/url]
Once Quincy and Fort Worth leave TEO, the four former TEC dioceses will be enough to form their own province and elect their own archbishop if I understand the general rules correctly. Then they can apply for Anglican membership as a new province.
[blockquote]Then they can apply for Anglican membership as a new province. [/blockquote]
Interesting, David+. So, at that point, 815 would be doing The Worst Thing Ever and crossing borders if they proceed with their rump dioceses in DioSJ and Pitt. Am I getting you?
#3 David+ says:
They can certainly apply. Assuming they’ve coordinated with CCP, then I imagine that the GAFCON Primates would be happy to recognize them as such. Whether the rest of the Primates, the ABC, or any other of the Instruments would do so is another question entirely.
And if the GAFCON Primates’ response to such non-recognition is to say, “The heck with all y’all then,” well, then, there you have your formal schism in the Communion.
interesting that the clergy has often been more hesitant than the lay leaders to take decisive action (the explanation being that the former are worried about their jobs) but here we see the effect +Duncan has had on his men and women – less than half of the clergy voted not to leave as compared to the laity.
Bravo!
Good for Pittsburgh!
Blog.
I hate to be a downer but I don’t like those margins. Over 1/3 of the laity voted no, and a quarter of the clergy. That’s not a particularly resounding decision. This is tragic. Necessary (Duncan’s deposition made it so), but tragic.
Hmmm, I would say a 2 to 1 and especially an almost 4 to 1 would be called landslide votes.
Cross post from Stand Firm:
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OK, I found it! Rev Jim Simons, of Across the Aisle, had thought the vote would be close – closer than last year’s vote because last year’s vote was just a warm up. Also, Bp Duncan had asked people to vote for it even if they were ultimately against the measure because it would give Bp Duncan more leverage with 815. Of course, we must thank the ham-handed Ms Schori for her “deposition†of Bp Duncan. Even with this folly, Jim Simons+ thought the measure might be defeated.
So I tracked down last year’s numbers and compared them to today’s (numbers in parentheses are percentages):
Last year:
Lay vote: 118 (67) – 58 (33)
Clergy vote: 109 (82) – 24 (18)
Today:
Lay vote: 119 (62) – 69 (35)
Clergy voted: 119 (75) – 33 (20)
Pretty similar. A 2 to 1 margin in the laity and 3.75 to 1 in the clergy. Thank you Chief Kaitiff!