wfn.org | Calling of rector splits Maryland Episcopal parish

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2001-71

Calling of rector splits Maryland parish

by Jan Nunley

      A controversial choice for rector of a small Maryland parish is at the
center of a dispute over ecclesiastical authority in the Diocese of Washington.

      On March 8, bishop pro tempore Jane Holmes Dixon told the vestry of 
Christ
Episcopal Church and St. John's Parish in Accokeek, Maryland, that she 
could not
approve its calling of the Rev. Samuel Lee Edwards as its next rector. But
Edwards has moved his family into the rectory anyway, and started his duties
April 1.

      Edwards, former executive director of the organization Forward in
Faith/North America (FIF/NA), is opposed to the ordination of women to the
priesthood and episcopate. He stepped down from the FIF/NA position late last
year.

      In an interview, Dixon said the decision to withhold her approval 
came after
a number of Christ Church parishioners contacted her expressing "substantial
concerns" about published statements by Edwards regarding the Episcopal 
Church.
"People were emailing and calling me, saying 'are you aware of this man's
views?'" Dixon said in an interview. "I got on the Web and read these 
articles,
indicating he wanted to take parishes out of the Episcopal Church. I needed to
know whether he still believed that--whether he'd changed his mind. He hadn't.
And so I had to say no," Dixon said.

      "I cannot imagine a bishop, as chief pastor of a diocese, approving the
election of a priest to serve a congregation when that priest has a marked and
publicly stated antipathy--far beyond comment and critique--toward the 
church in
which he was ordained," said Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold in a statement 
March
16. "Therefore, as Presiding Bishop, I am in complete support of Bishop 
Dixon's
decision, arrived at after consultation with Father Edwards, not to approve 
his
election as rector."

Authority stems from canons

      According to Title III.17.3 of the canons of the Episcopal Church, the
ecclesiastical authority of the diocese must be satisfied that a person 
chosen as
rector is a "duly qualified priest"--not only ordained in the Episcopal 
Church,
but fit to be rector of the calling parish. Since Ronald Haines retired as
diocesan bishop at the end of December, Dixon, the bishop suffragan, has been
serving as bishop pro tempore and is the ecclesiastical authority in the 
diocese.

      "Courts of law have recognized this well-established ecclesiastical 
rule in
the Episcopal Church," said a statement issued by the diocese on March 16. "As
the Supreme Court of the State of New York observed in a judgment later 
affirmed
on appeal: 'The words "duly qualified" mean more than "duly ordained."  They
imply qualifications to preside over the worship and spiritual jurisdiction of
the parish…'"

      Dixon consulted with the Standing Committee and the Executive 
Committee of
the Diocesan Council, and reported that both groups supported her decision.

      Among the factors cited in the March statement were:

    *  Reports of Edwards' prior teachings concerning the Episcopal Church,
published in the FIF/NA magazine FOUNDATIONS, including a 1997 editorial 
calling
ECUSA "the Unchurch," a 1998 editorial saying that ECUSA practices
"institutionalized lawlessness," a 2000 editorial saying that the 
"machinery" of
the Episcopal Church is "hell-bound" and advocating "gumming up the works," 
and
another 2000 editorial urging clergy and congregations to "sever their
connections" with ECUSA;

    *  His "willingness to break certain solemn vows that he took at his
ordination" as an Episcopal priest;

    *  His "unwillingness to guarantee his obedience" to Dixon as his 
bishop; and

    *  His "lack of commitment to keeping Christ Church and church 
property" in the
Episcopal Church.

      "My major concern is for the spiritual well-being of the members of the
parish," Dixon explained. "We need them to be preaching and living the 
Gospel for
the community that surrounds them."

Objections raised

      In March, Charles H. Nalls, executive director of the conservative 
Canon Law
Institute in Washington, offered to serve as counsel to the vestry pro 
bono. It
is unclear who in the parish decided to retain Nalls, an attorney for the
Washington law firm of deKieffer & Horgan.

      Six days after Dixon announced her decision, Nalls distributed a 
five-page
rebuttal of her letter on the Internet. The letter claimed that Dixon's 
"right of
advice and objection" to Edwards' call was limited to the 30 days following
notification of the call. "There is no provision for extension of this 
period,"
which expired on January 22, Nalls said.

      In the letter, Nalls maintained that Dixon did not respond to Christ
Church's vestry until February 20, "more than sixty days after the 
notification,
thirty days after notification of the intent to contract and two weeks 
after the
ratification of the clergy contract,"  according to his letter.

      Canon III.17.2 specifies that no election for a rector may be held 
until the
name of the priest being proposed is given to the ecclesiastical authority, 
who
then has thirty days to respond. But the following section (III.17.3) states
that "if the Ecclesiastical Authority be satisfied that the person so 
chosen is a
duly qualified Priest and that the Priest has accepted the office," the 
election
may be recorded as valid. There is no restriction in the canon on the amount
of time given to the ecclesiastical authority to respond once an election 
is held.

      According to the same section, sex cannot be a factor in determining a
priest's qualifications, but the canon does not specify any other issues.

      Nalls said that Edwards "prepared and approved" the portion of his 
letter
denying Dixon's assertions about Edwards. "Though the recognition of who is 
or is
not a Bishop of the Anglican Communion is a matter that is not within his
competence," the letter said,  Edwards could recognize Dixon's "institutional
status within the Communion [but] could not recognize [her] as a bishop in the
succession of the apostles." He denied that Edwards intended to snub Dixon if
installed as rector.

Locked out

      But when Dixon attempted to visit the congregation for a parish 
meeting on
the afternoon of March 18, she and the 97 people gathered found the parish 
doors
locked--and the locks changed to prevent entry. The meeting reportedly had 
been
canceled by the senior warden, Barbara Sturman, at an earlier service.

      "About 80 of those people were from that parish," said Dixon, "and 
they said
to me, 'Bishop, how are you going to help us? We are members of the Episcopal
Church, we love it and we want to stay in it."

      Forty of those present signed a petition calling for a parish meeting 
with
the bishop on April 1. About 200 people showed up to hear Dixon's side of the
controversy.

      Until the situation is resolved, retired bishops Ted Eastman of 
Maryland and
James Montgomery of Chicago have agreed to worship with the parish "so they're
not without a pastor when I can't be there," Dixon said.

Working for mutual respect

      Sources in the diocese say the initial response from some quarters to
Dixon's election as suffragan resembled the reaction to the election of John
Walker as bishop suffragan of Washington in 1971. Some congregations in the
diocese reportedly called Walker by racist epithets and told him to "go 
home and
minister to your own people." "But you are my people," Walker would reply, 
and by
1976 he was elected diocesan bishop, the second African-American to serve 
in that
position in the Episcopal Church.

      According to a source, Haines' decision to support Dixon's 
visitations in
parishes opposed to women's ordination was based on Walker's experience. In 
the
five years since her consecration, Dixon has visited three of those parishes
twice: Ascension and St. Agnes; St. Luke's, Bladensburg; and St. Paul's, K
Street.

      "Both the clergy and I in those traditional parishes have worked hard at
mutual respect and mutual ministry," Dixon said. "There's no bar in this 
diocese to
calling a rector who's opposed to women's ordination, or to visits in those 
parishes
from bishops who are opposed to it.

      "But respecting the ecclesiastical authority is a different thing, 
and that's what
is at issue here."

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of the Office of News and Information
for the Episcopal Church.