A New Communion
By Jacinthia Jones and Patsy
Fralich Keith
June 14, 2003
The priest, church officers and more than half of the parishioners of the 300-member Church of the Annunciation in Cordova have left the Episcopal Church, USA, over theological differences and united with the Anglican Mission in America.
"We just felt like we couldn't stay in the Episcopal Church and hold true to our Anglican roots," said Rev. Herbert Hand, 44. He was ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1983 and served as pastor of Church of the Annunciation for five years.
"It was not an easy decision for me, professionally or financially," he said before worship services Sunday, adding the group's decision to leave followed three years of prayer, fasting and study.
The congregation has reorganized as Faith Anglican Church. About 170 people are taking part in two morning services in a rented banquet hall next to the Butcher Shop on Germantown Parkway.
The disassociated parishioners are among a growing number of disenchanted Episco palians nationwide who have severed ties with the denomination saying that the church has departed from Biblical authority. The Cordova group is the first in Tennessee to leave the Episcopal Church, which is the American branch of the worldwide Anglican community.
Last month, the dissident members issued a statement citing their belief in "biblical authority and the orthodox Christian doctrine and practice."
In the statement, the group of more than 150 members and "supporters" of the Church of the Annunciation expressed displeasure with the direction of the Episcopal Church. "Beliefs in the basic tenets of the Christian faith have been challenged regarding the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, the divinity of Christ and issues regarding human sexuality," the statement reads.
"We saw (the church) moving farther way from Biblical authority," added Dr. Frank Adcock, a lifelong Episcopalian and vestry member.
West Tennessee Bishop Don E. Johnson met with church members May 31 and accepted the resignations of church rector Hand, Adcock and the rest of the nine-member vestry.
"I hated to see them leave," Johnson said in an interview earlier this week. "They represented a traditional voice in the church that I always liked to have represented. By their leaving it diminished the presence of that voice in the diocese and I particularly regret that."
But Johnson disputed assertions that the Episcopal Church has moved away from its creeds or from scriptural teachings.
"It is accurate that there are different interpretations within the Episcopal Church about what certain portions of scripture teach," Johnson said. "There are a few - a very few - who are way out on the extreme in their interpretation and the vast majority of the Episcopal Church strongly disagrees with them.
"Yes, there are one or two bishops who would fall into that category and have gotten quite a bit of notoriety in their teaching and in their book writing, but that is the exception and not the rule," he said.
In recent years, the church has experienced an ideological split over issues such as the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of women and sexually active homosexuals, the bodily Resurrection of Jesus and other matters.
The issue of sexuality continues to dominate headlines.
The denomination officially upholds Christianity's traditional teaching against same-sex relations. In 1998 the international Anglican Communion called gay sex "incompatible with Scripture." Last month, world Anglican leaders announced that, for lack of consensus, they could not support ceremonies blessing same-sex unions.
However, various dioceses have demonstrated a growing tolerance of homosexuality. Last week, clergy and lay members in New Hampshire elected as their next bishop a homosexual man who lives with his partner.
Rev. V. Gene Robinson's election must still be confirmed next month by the church's national General Convention. And church observers say the action will likely force the church to address the issue head on.
The General Convention also will address whether there should be a blessing for homosexual persons or unmarried heterosexual persons who live in committed, monogamous relationships.
All of which strays too far from traditional church teachings, some say.
"One thing we strive to do is to be a church for all people," says Hand. "We want to welcome every person whether they're white, black, heterosexual or homosexual. . . . But in welcoming them, we don't want to uphold a lifestyle of adultery or homosexuality or drug use."
Nationally, the Episcopal Church has lost more than a fifth of its membership over the last 30 years, dropping from 3 million in 1970 to 2.3 million baptized members today. But church leaders note that all the mainline religions have been losing members as well.
Johnson said church membership in the West Tennessee area has remained stable at about 14,000, with about 11,000 Episcopalians attending Sunday services each week.
The bishop said the Church of the Annunciation at 8282 Macon will continue as an Episcopal church. In most cases, the local diocese keeps the property when a congregation leaves. A handful of congregations elsewhere have unsuccessfully contested property claims in court.
About 70 remaining members along with those from the displaced Church of the Holy Apostles in Hickory Hill are worshiping there together.
Meanwhile, the new Faith Anglican Church has affiliated with the three-year-old Anglican Mission, an evangelical mission organized by Anglican bishops from Africa and Asia to "provide seeds of hope for the dire situation in the United States," according to the association's Web site.
The mission represents about 55 member churches and affiliated groups with 12,000 members. Retired Memphis Bishop Alex Dickson sits on the mission's leadership council, headquartered in Pawleys Island, S.C.
Faith Anglican's new bishop is Bishop T. J. Johnston in Little Rock.
Faith Anglican is still settling into its new home in the banquet hall. After officially leaving the Episcopal Church on a Saturday, the congregation had less than 24 hours to prepare for Sunday services.
"It was a glorious day," recalled Adcock, the church vestry member. "Who would think everything could come together so quickly?
"We had an altar (made by a church member), hymnals, prayer books and Bibles. We had communion vessels and a processional cross."
The only thing missing was a keyboard, which the new church easily rented.
Source: http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/faith_values/article/0,1426,MCA_4076_2032764,00.html