From San Antonio-
Hundreds of members of Christ Episcopal Church, one of the largest and most influential Episcopal churches in South Texas, filled their parish hall Tuesday evening to meet with their bishop, Gary Lillibridge, and ask him this: Is there room in the Episcopal Church USA for their long-standing, conservative beliefs?
At the Episcopal Church's annual meeting last month, its leaders voted to open the door to ordaining gay clergy in committed relationships and blessing same-sex unions.
The decision has sparked much discussion among the 90 parishes in the Diocese of West Texas, a district with about 30,000 members that spans much of South and Central Texas. Lillibridge voted against the new policies at last month's convention, saying restraint at this unstable time is best for dealing with this controversial matter.
“At this point, it's going to take all of us working together with God's wisdom as a very diverse diocese to come up with a response,” he said after the meeting at Christ Church, the largest donor to the West Texas Diocese and its largest church with up to 800 people at weekly services.
But the new policies of the national Episcopal body have upset the worldwide Anglican Communion, which generally opposes homosexuality as conflicting with Scripture. The Episcopal Church is a member of the Anglican Communion, made up of provinces around the world with an estimated 74 million members.
Already, four convervative dioceses in the Episcopal Church and dozens of churches have severed ties, opting to construct new organizations with ties to conservative Anglican jurisdictions outside the United States. Christ Church, disappointed by the Episcopal Church's liberal direction, has developed ties with conservative Anglican bishops.
“What happened at the general convention really pushed the buttons for us in terms of us wanting to protect the heritage we feel we have as Anglicans and Episcopalians,” said Father Chuck Collins, rector of Christ Church. “For us, it's not a sexuality issue. It never has been. For us, it's an authority of Scripture issue.”
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