Leaders of Chicago's Episcopal diocese agreed over the weekend to reunite with a much smaller western Illinois counterpart, a move that church officials hope will provide stability in a denomination tested by years of schism and doctrinal disputes.
Local Episcopal leaders expect the alignment of the Diocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Quincy to be complete by autumn. Bishops and standing committees from a majority of the more than 100 dioceses across the world must sign off before the move becomes official, but church officials don't expect that to be a barrier.
Chicago Bishop Jeffrey Lee said Sunday that the reunification will enhance the large Chicago diocese and provide a more stable spiritual home to the 730 active members of the Quincy diocese's nine parishes.
"Their commitment in that diocese — against many, many odds — to be in our church will be a great, great gift" to the reunified diocese, Lee said in front of a packed sanctuary at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in northwest suburban Park Ridge.
Church leaders are branding the merger as a reunification, a nod to the fact that Quincy was part of a statewide diocese prior to 1877, when Illinois' Episcopalians split into three dioceses.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/religion/ct-met-chicago-quincy-episcopal-reunion-20130610,0,3749358.story
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