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Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Pittsburgh Episcopalians Deplore Pittsburgh, Pa. -- February 6, 2004 -- Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (PEP) deplores both the decision to enroll the Diocese of Pittsburgh in the Network of Anglican Communion Diocese and Parishes and the means by which the decision was made. The 20-member Diocesan Council voted 16-4 Tuesday night to affiliate with the newly formed "orthodox" network without discussion of its organizational or theological charters and without consultation with churches or parishioners of the diocese. Diocesan Council, following the lead of Pittsburgh bishop Robert W. Duncan, Moderator of the Network, has voted to associate this diocese with an organization whose aim is to divide the Episcopal Church, USA, and to create a new fundamentalist church to replace it as the sole true representative of Anglicanism in the United States. PEP believes that the vote violates the spirit of respect and toleration that has characterized the Episcopal Church since its founding more than two centuries ago. The resolution to join the Network offers flimsy justification for the Council action, repeating the claim that the Archbishop of Canterbury supports the formation of the Network. There is no public documentation of this claim, either from supporters of the Network or from Archbishop Rowan Williams, and statements from the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church suggest that it is either false or misleading. Under the guise of purifying the church of sinfulness represented by its ratification of a duly elected, openly homosexual priest as Bishop of New Hampshire, the leadership of our diocese has chosen a course that already has seriously wounded our church and threatens damage that may be irreparable. The Council's vote also represents a denial of elementary democratic rights to the parishioners of the approximately 70 Episcopal parishes and congregations in this diocese. Although the decision could affect the future of those parishes profoundly, Episcopalians in Pittsburgh were given no opportunity to question diocesan leaders about this decision or to discuss the provisions of the Network's charter or its accompanying theological statement, which alters church doctrine. Bishop Duncan has claimed that the Network "is committed to operate under the constitution of the Episcopal Church, USA," and this claim was repeated by the President of Diocesan Council before Tuesday's vote. In fact, the Network charter adopted on January 20 violates the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church, USA, by usurping the authority of the national church as the legitimate representative of Anglicanism in the U.S., by proposing forms of episcopal oversight that are contrary to canon, and by ceding to the Archbishop of Canterbury and to the primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion authority over the U.S. church not acknowledged by the church's constitution. In a transparent attempt to pacify loyal Episcopalians in the diocese, Diocesan Council President Battle Brown, in a Wednesday e-mail message to convention deputies, declared, "The Diocese, not your parish, is a member of the network." This statement, absurd on its face, ignores the fact that the diocese exists only as the sum of the parishes within it. Like it or not, all Episcopal parishes in this diocese will be affected by the Council's action. Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh salutes the four Council members who voted against joining the Network. PEP urges all parishes in the diocese to adopt resolutions repudiating Council's vote and declaring their determination to remain within the Episcopal Church, USA. Our goal is to restore the longstanding, but now fractured, comity among Episcopalians in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, so that our members can both worship together and work together for the betterment of all of God's people. On the Web: Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh: Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh: http://www.pgh.anglican.org Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes: Contacts: Lionel Deimel, President Joan Gundersen, Vice President for Policy & Planning Charles Robideau, Publicity Chair Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh is an organization of clergy and laypeople committed to unity and diversity of the Episcopal Church, USA, and of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. # # # |
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