Episcopal unity dealt big blow

FAIRFAX, Va. – Two of the most prominent and largest Episcopal parishes in Virginia voted overwhelmingly Sunday to leave the Episcopal Church and join fellow Anglican conservatives forming a rival denomination in the United States.

Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church in Falls Church plan to place themselves under the leadership of Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, who has called the growing acceptance of gay relationships a “satanic attack” on the Episcopal Church.

Truro rector Martyn Minns was consecrated a bishop by the Church of Nigeria earlier this year to lead Akinola’s Convocation of Anglicans in North America.

“This has been our spiritual home, so separating is very hard,” Minns said at a news conference announcing the parishes’ decision. “There’s also the promise of a new day. A burden is being lifted. There are new possibilities breaking through.”

Virginia Bishop Peter Lee, a centrist, had won praise even from his critics for his extensive outreach to all sides in the conflict. He said Sunday that the votes “had compromised these discussions and have created Nigerian congregations occupying Episcopal churches.”

Four other small Virginia parishes also have left, six more voted to break away Sunday and three more will decide soon whether to follow suit, according to parish leaders.

But none is as eminent as Truro and Falls Church. The parishes together claim more than 4,000 members, with roots they trace back to Colonial times.

A lengthy and expensive legal fight could erupt over the Truro and Falls Church properties, worth millions of dollars.

“We fully intend to assert the church’s canonical and legal rights over these properties,” Lee said in a news release, calling it a “sad day for the church.”

Losing all the conservative churches could cost the Virginia diocese around 10 percent of its 90,000 members.

The Episcopal Church, the U.S. wing of the global Anglican Communion, has been under pressure from traditionalists at home and abroad since the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Under Anglican tradition, Akinola’s move into Episcopal territory amounts to an invasion because archbishops agree not to start churches outside the borders of their own region.

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will consult with her advisers on how the denomination should respond, said Bob Williams, the national Episcopal spokesman.