wfn.org | ACNS - Presiding Bishop's Statement on Church of Good Shepherd Conflict

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ACNS 3128 - USA - 11 September 2002

'The difficulties . . . are at heart pastoral':

The Presiding Bishop's statement on the conflict at 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 Revd Frank T Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church, USA

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