Saturday, November 25, 2006
CHICAGO (AP) -- The Episcopal task force on property disputes related to the church fight over the Bible and sexuality is monitoring dioceses it considers "problems" for the church.
Bishop Stacy Sauls of Lexington, Ky., head of the House of Bishops Task Force on Property Disputes, says his panel is maintaining contact with Episcopalians in those dioceses who wish to "remain loyal to The Episcopal Church."
Among the dioceses are Pittsburgh; Quincy, Ill.; Springfield, Ill.; Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; San Joaquin, Calif.; and Rio Grande, which covers parts of New Mexico and Texas. They have each, to different degrees, distanced themselves from the national denomination.
Since the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, some traditionalist parishes have split from the U.S. denomination. Church leaders are trying to prepare for any legal fights over the properties.
Sauls says that lawyers, including several diocesan chancellors and a judge on the 11th U.S. District Court of Appeals, are helping the bishops prepare.
The task force has developed a "brief bank" of court filings and legal research to help dioceses with litigation and has also identified potential expert witnesses
The panel is also working on a position paper "setting forth possible common grounds which could be sought so that the split in The Episcopal Church which is feared by the task force might be avoided."
Sauls gave the update on the task force's work during a Nov. 15-18 meeting of the Episcopal Executive Council in Chicago.
The Executive Council -- made up of clergy and lay people -- oversees the work of The Episcopal Church between meetings of the denomination's top policymaking body, the Episcopal General Convention, once every three years.
The Executive Council also approved creating a working group to consider forming an "Anglican regional convocation of the Americas" that would include the Anglican Church of Canada, the Anglican Council of Latin America and the Province of the West Indies.
The Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion.