Diocese of Pittsburgh Votes Against National Actions; Two Parishes Are Threatened with Expulsion
The convention of the Diocese of Pittsburgh voted November 5 to permit nullification of decisions of the Episcopal Church's General Convention with which a majority of the diocese disagrees.
The convention also failed to reelect the Very
Rev. George Werner, former dean of Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh, and president of the House of Deputies, as one of its deputies to the General Convention.
And in a surprise move, diocesan bishop Robert Duncan announced that next year's convention will be asked to consider dissolving its relationship with two congregations that have challenged the diocesan leadership in court.
The constitutional amendment effectively repeals the unconditional accession made by the diocese to the authority of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church and to the national General Convention. The amendment to Article 1, Section 1 of the diocesan constitution, introduced at its 2003 convention, passed on the second reading at the 139th diocesan convention, held November 5-6, 2004.
The amendment declares that when Pittsburgh's
diocesan convention determines that General Convention's decisions are "contrary to the historic faith and order of the one holy catholic and apostolic church ... the local determination shall prevail."
Among clergy, 79 voted in favor, 14 against,
and 8 abstained. Lay delegates also passed the constitutional amendment by a lopsided margin, with 124 in favor, 45 against and 3 abstentions.
Moderate and liberal members of the diocese,
including the Via Media-affiliated group Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (PEP), expressed dismay at the outcome of the vote. A PEP release stated that, rather than heed the call of the recently released Windsor Report on communion for a moratorium on "provocative actions," the diocese has "charged ahead on a divisive course."
Discontent with General Convention roiled the
largely conservative diocese even before 2003, when the General Convention voted to confirm the election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire, and adopted a resolution that recognized the blessing of
same-gender unions as "operating within the bounds of [the] common life" of the Episcopal Church.
In his opening address to the convention,
Duncan acknowledged that "there will be conflict ... because we have a fundamental disagreement about the will and word and work of Jesus ... We are in the early stages of a profound reformation of the church in the West."
Referring to the Windsor Report, which makes
recommendations for healing and reconciliation throughout the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, Duncan said it is "abundantly clear" that the blessing of same-gender unions and the ordination and consecration of individuals living in same-gender partnerships are outside the limits of Anglican diversity. "The Episcopal Church has erred, just as we have held locally," he said.
Duncan, who is also the moderator of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes assured the convention that the Network bishops and a wider group of bishops who voted "no" to the consecration of Gene Robinson "will do everything within our power to act to bring the whole of the Episcopal Church back into line." A meeting of the 42 bishops who voted against Robinson's election is set for the end of November.
A second constitutional amendment was also
passed allowing canonically resident clergy the right to vote in diocesan elections, whether or not they actually reside in the diocese.
In a surprise announcement during the final
minutes of the convention, Duncan informed delegates that, with the advice and consent of the diocesan standing committee, the agenda of next year's convention would feature the possible dissolution of two congregations' ties with the diocese. Duncan added that he hoped this would move forward a process of "reconciliation and restoration" in the diocese.
Such an action could proceed under the
diocese's constitution, which allows the convention to dissolve union with any parish by a two-thirds vote if notice is given in the preceding annual convention.
The congregations--Calvary in East Liberty
and St. Stephen's in Wilkinsburg--filed suit last October against Duncan and other diocesan leaders, claiming that the passage of a resolution at a special diocesan convention refuting the holding of all diocesan property in trust for the entire Episcopal Church, as well as the constitutional amendment allowing nullification, endanger "the unity and integrity" of the property of the Episcopal Church.
Diocesan officials withdrew the property trust
resolution after the suit was filed, and attempted to have the suit dismissed in March, but the court ruled that it could continue. The diocese asked the court on October 24 to force Calvary to release parish assessment funds that have been paid into an escrow account since the filing of the suit. The motion stated that Calvary's assessment of $118,399 amounts to 10.5% of the diocese's assessment income for 2004. The court has not yet acted on the motion.
"We are fully confident that such expulsion
would never be upheld by either the National Church or the Court," said a statement released from Calvary's leadership on November 8. "Actually, the Bishop's very assertion shows the legitimacy of Calvary's and St. Stephen's concern that the constitution and canons of
the National Church will not be respected in this Diocese. In fact, the current Diocesan Convention enacted an amendment to the constitution and canons of the Pittsburgh Diocese, providing that the Diocese has the power to disregard the constitution and canons of the National Church and the resolutions of the National Church's General Convention.
"It is the ultimate irony that in the same Convention where the Diocese decides it can disregard the constitution and canons of the National Church and actions of the General Convention of the National Church, the Bishop also threatens with expulsion (for not following church order) two parishes that are attempting to require respect for the laws of the National Church and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," the statement concluded.
PEP president Lionel Deimel of Mount Lebanon said that he was "appalled that our bishop wrapped in the rhetoric of 'reconciliation' the intimidation of and threats against two loyal Episcopal Church parishes." In a November 6 news release, PEP affirmed that although "we are uncertain how events will unfold, [we are] certain to support these two parishes. We will continue to pray for true reconciliation and healing in the diocese of Pittsburgh and beyond."