Episcopals assert their autonomy

From Myrtle Beach (I didn't know an adjective could be plural!)

The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, embroiled in a theological -- and now legal -- battle with Episcopal Church headquarters in New York City, convened its 219th annual convention Friday at St. Paul's Church to vote on a series of resolutions affirming its sovereignty and rebuking the denomination's leader for "ecclesiastical intrusions."
The convention was postponed from its original date of March 4 so the diocese could "adequately consider a response to unprecedented incursion into the affairs of the diocese," according to a pastoral letter by Bishop Mark Lawrence.

A recent exchange of letters between attorneys representing the diocese and the national church has sparked concern among local officials that their protests now are prompting legal action.

Diocese leaders have long argued that The Episcopal Church and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori are concerned more with multiculturalism and political correctness than with the authority of Scripture. The disagreements were heightened when, in 2003, the Diocese of New Hampshire consecrated the church's first openly gay bishop, the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson. Earlier this month, The Episcopal Church gave final approval to the ordination in Los Angeles of its second openly gay bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mary Glasspool.

Conservatives in the church have decried these moves, and some have chosen to forge alliances or formal relationships with alternative governing bodies, such as Anglican churches in Africa or the recently formed Anglican Church in North America.

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http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/03/27/1389940/episcopals-assert-autonomy.html#ixzz0jNyYQpzu