wfn.org | Episcopalians: New rector joins Colorado parish wounded by AMiA split

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

April 18, 2002

2002-096

Episcopalians: New rector joins Colorado parish wounded by 
AMiA split

by Dan Webster

(ENS) The covered dish potluck supper in the small parish hall 
in Cortez, Colorado seemed like any other church meal. The 
deviled eggs were there. The decorated cake heralded the proper 
greeting for the new rector.

But St. Barnabas is a parish that, until very recently, was 
caught up in a theological and ecclesial firestorm. Its 
parishioners--those who remained--were gathering to celebrate 
the installation of their new rector, following the departure of 
its former rector and a number of others two years ago to join 
the breakaway Anglican Mission in America. 

St. Barnabas was one of seven Colorado parishes who saw 
clergy and members leave to align themselves with the AMiA, 
which sees the Episcopal Church as "corrupted" by modern culture 
and asserts that it is the "true" expression of Anglican 
theology and tradition in the USA. Most have recovered and many 
have grown since their initial split. The diocese has 116 
congregations in 81 communities across the state.

Deep wounds and departures

The Cortez AMiA congregation, known as the Anglican Church of 
Saint Philip the Evangelist, now worships at St. Margaret Mary 
Catholic Church in Cortez, with an informal prayer service held 
on Tuesdays at a local nursing home. The Rev. Dennis Garrou, 
former rector of St. Barnabas, is pastor of the AMiA 
congregation and now resides canonically in the Province of 
South East Asia. "I had served as rector of an Episcopal parish 
in Cortez, Colorado, where the preaching of the Word of God was 
increasingly resented by a significant portion of our people," 
Garrou has said of the departure. "One leader even said to me, 
'We ought to have the freedom to disagree with the Bible.' That 
was the watershed for me." 

Garrou resigned effective May 31, 2000, and the next day, 
with thirty-three former St. Barnabas parishioners, formed the 
new congregation, which spent its first sixteen months in a 
meeting room of a local community college. The group was 
received into the AMiA in August, 2000.

In all, 14 diocesan clergy and about 600 members left 
Colorado parishes in 2000 to start their own AMiA-affiliated 
groups. "That's 600 in a diocese of 40,000," said the Rev. Canon 
Kelsey Hogue, who was the regional missioner who worked with the 
two-thirds of those remaining at St. Barnabas to begin 
rebuilding. "It has been a really painful time in their history. 
But we just kept reminding ourselves to step out in faith and 
trust in the Holy Spirit," he said.

The defections had striking similarities. Some clergy 
encouraged members to designate their Sunday offerings to the 
rector's discretionary fund and not the parish. Some vestries 
voted that designated sabbatical funds be given to clergy 
immediately before their departure for the AMiA. One parish 
discovered its memorial garden dug up--presumably so a defecting 
member could take the interred remains of a loved one with them. 
In all cases, remaining parishioners are living with deep 
wounds.

An instrument of inspiration

St. Barnabas' new rector, the Rev. Erika Meyer, is a former 
priest of the Diocese of Utah. She worked in youth and campus 
ministry, 1996-1999, and her last position was as interim rector 
at Grace Church, Waterford, New York, in the diocese of Albany.

"I feel really called to be here," the new rector said as she 
walked around the tan colored adobe-style church on the corner 
of North and Elm Streets. But she says she doesn't feel called 
to be a healer.

 "I need to be an instrument of inspiration. I want to have 
God use me to make a difference in their lives so that they can 
make a difference in someone else's life. Faith works in its 
fullest sense when we pass it on," she said. "People need hope 
and inspiration in their lives like they need food and water. I 
believe church should supply that in the most authentic way 
possible every Sunday."

Growing signs of hope

Signs of hope have sprouted in this extreme southwestern 
Colorado parish. A strong lay leadership has grown. Stan Morris, 
a member for 27 years, became senior warden when Garrou left for 
the AMiA.

 "It seemed we were falling apart and going broke," Morris 
said, "but we completely changed the vestry. I was frightened to 
death. So we held Morning Prayer the next Sunday and here we 
are."

That was nearly two years ago. And in a community of about 
10,000 population, friends with whom you used to worship just 
don't disappear. "Some of those who chose to leave are my 
friends and I still love them," said Jan Heyl, a church member 
for 15 years. "We all have to make our choices in life."

Help came from some of the 115 other parishes in the diocese. 
Another western slope congregation, St. Barnabas in Glenwood 
Springs, stood at the last diocesan convention to offer St. 
Barnabas in Cortez $6,000 to help pay for a full time rector. 
The Glenwood Springs church had just incorporated earlier than 
expected and shared its abundance with its namesake parish.

Big tasks, bigger God

But on this particular April evening those who chose to break 
bread together, both at dinner and at Eucharist, heard the Rt. 
Rev. Jerry Winterrowd, Bishop of Colorado, echo Hogue's sermon, 
"the best is yet to come for this congregation." "The tasks are 
big," said Hogue to the nearly 100 people gathered in the small 
church, "but because God is in our midst, it is doable."

"There is a sense of excitement and energy, fun and joy," 
said Cindy Bradley, junior warden and a member for 20 years. "We 
need to look at what we can all be doing together," she said 
following the installation service, "and we need to focus on us 
being the ministers."

Meyer seems to agree. "The thing that we don't do well as a 
church is a strong sense of discipleship, of a disciplined way 
of letting God transform us over time," she said. "Some folks 
find a way to do this through religious orders, but many 
ordinary Christians feel left to their own devices. The Prayer 
Book disciplines work well for some...but I need some simpler 
models aimed at teens and young adults as well."

Sunday attendance up

Sunday attendance has actually increased since the AMiA split. 
Much credit is given to the interim, the Rev. Pat Boots, an ELCA 
Lutheran pastor who worked very closely with Hogue and the lay 
leadership. When Pastor Boots arrived, average attendance at the 
early service was about six and 45 at the family service. Now 
the 8:00 a.m. service attracts about 25 and the 10:30 a.m. 
service is nearing 90 in attendance.

And Sunday school has grown by one. Johan Hedlund, the 
3-year-old son of the Rev. Meyer and husband Carl Hedlund, 
spreads his brand of joy and energy around the basement 
classrooms.

"There is a feeling of hope and renewal here," said Charles 
Hubbard, a long time Episcopalian and parishioner for six years. 
"That's exactly what this place needs."

------

--The Rev. Dan Webster is Director of Communications for the 
Diocese of Utah.