Sunday, March 28, 2010

OCEANSIDE: After split, St. Anne's congregations move on


From San Diego-

The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego is reviving St. Anne's congregation in Oceanside after winning a court fight last year to reclaim the West Street church from a breakaway congregation.
"We don't have a presence there (in Oceanside) and we would like to restore that presence," said Father Steve Wendfeldt, the priest in charge of the revived congregation.

The diocese resumed Oceanside services Sunday in a temporary location in the chapel of All Saint's Cemetery, 200 Peyri Drive, said Hannah Miller, the diocese's communications director.
About a dozen people attended the 10 a.m. services, Wendfeldt said. It was the first meeting for the group in the more than three years since the former St. Anne's congregation separated from the diocese.

St. Anne's broke from the national Episcopal Church USA in 2006 as part of a theological dispute within the denomination over what the Bible means, who Jesus Christ is and whether the Bible and other doctrine should be re-evaluated and changed because of today's culture.
Dozens of congregations severed ties with the denomination because of the rift.

Although the revived Oceanside congregation is small, "it's a good place to start," Wendfeldt said. "It just takes time to develop a new congregation; that's essentially what we're doing."
Wendfeldt figures that more people will be drawn to the congregation once it moves back into the church building, which diocese officials hope will happen next month.

"It makes it a whole lot easier to a place as a base where I can have office hours and a wonderful worship area," Wendfeldt said.

More here-

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside/article_412847e9-5ac1-585a-ad62-c3d947efba6e.html

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