From North Carolina. Apparently the "new province" is a non-event there.
The sky is not falling on the Episcopal Church.
The church gained national attention this month when a breakaway group formed a North American province to rival U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans. Despite the split, local Episcopalian pastors are not worried it will have an adverse affect on their congregations.
Less than 5 percent of the Episcopal Church made the split and formed the new Anglican Church in North America, said the Rev. Bill Smyth, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Tarboro. None of the six Episcopalian churches in the Twin Counties were among the dissenters.
“Other than reading about it in the newspaper, I have had very few conversations initiated by parishioners on this subject. ... The Episcopal Church is going right on, and I have to say that I do not think this particular movement, like other dissenting movements in the history of the Episcopal Church, is really going to go anywhere,” said Smyth, who is also the vicar of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Tarboro.
The Rev. George Greer, rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Rocky Mount, has seen almost no impact on his congregation.
“Like a lot of people, as far as their church is concerned, it is their church. You don’t necessarily think about your national body. I doubt when the Southern Baptist Church went ultraconservative that every Baptist felt as though they were affiliated with everything the national branch was saying,” Greer said.
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/features/staying-out-of-fight-308191.html
No comments:
Post a Comment