wfn.org | Washington bishop, Accokeek vestry settle differences

[Daphne Mack <dmack@episcopalchurch.org>]

2002-198
Washington bishop, Accokeek
vestry settle differences

by Jan Nunley
jnunley@episcopalchurch.org

(ENS) The 18-month-long impasse between a vestry in
Accokeek, Maryland and the Diocese of Washington
over the election of a rector was broken August 29 with
the issuance of a joint statement between the vestry and
Bishop John Chane, naming the Rev. Stephen Arpee as
the parish's new rector. Arpee has served in recent
months as priest-in-charge for the parish. 

Agreement was reached between Chane and the vestry
during a series of private conversations conducted since
early June. The conversations involved Chane, diocesan
chancellor Paul Cooney, senior warden Barbara Sturman
and other members of the vestry. 

The agreement also binds the Accokeek vestry not to
appeal to the Supreme Court a decision in the case of
Dixon v. Edwards. The case was brought by
Washington's then-bishop pro tempore Jane Holmes
Dixon in June, 2001 asking that a federal judge prohibit
the Rev. Samuel Lee Edwards from officiating at Christ
Church and declare his contract with the parish invalid,
and prohibiting the vestry from barring Dixon from
performing episcopal acts there. Two lower federal
courts had ruled in Dixon's favor. 

"The course of events involving the Parish and the
Diocese over the past several years has been painful for
all concerned," said the statement. "However, even as all
concerned must acknowledge this pain, it is essential to
affirm that the call of the Gospel is a call to live into a
relationship in the future that is grounded firmly on our
common commitment to our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Our recent discussions have offered the
opportunity to discuss areas of disagreement in the
context of mutual respect and trust." 

The Accokeek vestry has agreed that the parish will
"resume its participation in both the legislative and
pastoral life of the Diocese of Washington," and Chane is
to conduct a regular visitation to Christ Church on
September 22, 2002. Chane was consecrated as the
eighth Bishop of Washington in June. Dixon retires as
bishop suffragan on August 31. 

Controversy in court

The vestry and the diocese had been embroiled in
controversy since March, 2001, when Dixon informed
the vestry that she refused Edwards' election as rector on
the grounds that he was not "duly qualified," based on
reports of his teachings while executive director of the
traditionalist group Forward in Faith/North America
(FIF/NA) and on what Dixon termed his "unwillingness to
guarantee his obedience" her as his bishop and his "lack
of commitment to keeping Christ Church and church
property" in the Episcopal Church. Edwards' backers
claimed that Dixon had exceeded a canonical time limit
for objection to his election, while Dixon and her
attorneys argued that no such time limit existed in the
canons. 

Edwards and his family moved into the parish rectory,
and he continued to function there as an unlicensed priest
beyond the 60 days permitted by canon. The following
Sunday Dixon was met at the parish door by vestry
members who refused to allow her to officiate at services
and threatened her and her supporters with criminal
trespass charges. Shortly afterward, Dixon filed suit and
in October, 2001, a federal district judge ruled in her
favor, ordering Edwards to vacate the rectory. 

An appeals court upheld the decision in May, 2002,
stating that "in the Episcopal Church, the priests and the
laity of a diocese are subject to the authority of their
bishop." A month later, Edwards renounced his orders as
an Episcopal priest in order to be received as a priest in
the Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK), a
breakaway church formed in 1977 to protest the
ordination of women and the proposed revision of the
1928 Book of Common Prayer by the Episcopal Church.

Presentment charges were filed against both Dixon and
Edwards during the controversy. The charges against
Dixon were dropped by the Title IV review committee,
while one of the charges against Edwards was sustained
and a trial set for his home diocese of Fort Worth. The
trial was canceled in light of his renunciation of orders and
Edwards was deposed by Fort Worth bishop Jack Leo
Iker. 

Original documents related to the Christ Church,
Accokeek controversy are available as PDF files on
the Episcopal Diocese of Washington's web site in the
section marked Press Releases .

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of
Episcopal News Service.