wfn.org | Episcopalians: Presiding Bishop's statement on Church of the Good Shepherd

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

September 6, 2002

2002-204

Episcopalians: Presiding Bishop's statement on Church of the 
Good Shepherd 

For more than a year I have sought to resolve the impasse 
between the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Diocese of 
Pennsylvania and the rector and vestry of the Church of the Good 
Shepherd, Rosemont. Although I have no canonical authority in 
this diocesan matter, I have employed every means at my disposal 
to help find a way forward that honored the concerns of all, and 
strongly urged that they enter into a process of mediation. 
During this time, I have met with Bishop Bennison as well as 
Father Moyer and members of the Vestry of the Church of the Good 
Shepherd.

To my mind the difficulties between the parties are at heart 
pastoral, and therefore resolution could have been found without 
recourse to canons and rubrics. This failure to resolve the 
conflict has been costly for all involved. As chief pastor of 
the Episcopal Church in the United States it grieves me deeply 
that this rift has occurred in the body of Christ. It grieves me 
further when a bishop's ministry is not welcomed by a 
congregation, a diocese loses the services of one of its 
priests, and the mission of the church risks losing the 
commitment and energies of dedicated members of a congregation. 

I am aware that some have said this conflict is an indication 
that those with "traditionalist" views do not have a place in 
the Episcopal Church.  I cannot say strongly enough that this is 
not the case. Unfortunately, it is the difficult and anomalous 
situations that draw notice, as if they were normative. Indeed, 
this occurrence is a sad exception to how the ecclesial life of 
the Episcopal Church in the United States is lived.

The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
 Presiding Bishop and 
Primate
 The Episcopal Church, USA

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