{"id":1067,"date":"2008-11-17T17:02:23","date_gmt":"2008-11-17T17:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/2008\/11\/fort-worth-is-fourth-diocese-t.php"},"modified":"2008-11-17T17:02:23","modified_gmt":"2008-11-17T17:02:23","slug":"fort-worth-is-fourth-diocese-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2008\/11\/fort-worth-is-fourth-diocese-t","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth is Fourth Diocese to Leave Episcopal Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

(RNS) The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, became the fourth to secede from the Episcopal Church Saturday (Nov. 15), when delegates voted to align with a more conservative branch of the Anglican Communion.
\nNearly 80 percent of clergy and lay delegates from the North Texas diocese voted to join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, which is based in Argentina. Since last December, the dioceses of San Joaquin, Calif., Pittsburgh, and Quincy, Ill., have also left the Episcopal Church to join the Southern Cone.
\nThe Episcopal Church, which has about 2 million members, is the U.S.
\nbranch of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
\n“This diocese stands for orthodox Christianity,” said Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker on Saturday, “and we are increasingly at odds with the revisionist practices and teachings of the official leadership of the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church we once knew no longer exists.”
\nFort Worth and Quincy are the only two of the Episcopal Church’s 110 dioceses that do not allow women to be ordained. Fort Worth also disagreed with the national church on the blessing of same-sex unions, and the 2003 consecration of an openly gay man as bishop of New Hampshire.
\nEpiscopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a statement that her church “grieves the departure of a number of persons from the Diocese of Fort Worth” and that the “door is open” should they want to return.
\nShe also said that the national church will work with local loyalists to rebuild the diocese.
\n“The gospel work to which Jesus calls us demands the best efforts of faithful people from many theological and social perspectives,” Jefferts Schori said, “and the Episcopal Church will continue to welcome that diversity.”
\nFive of the Fort Worth diocese’s 56 congregations and an estimated 4,000 of its 19,000 members will remain with the church, according to Iker and other officials. A legal battle over ownership of church property is expected.
\nBy Daniel Burke
\nCopyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(RNS) The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, became the fourth to secede from the Episcopal Church Saturday (Nov. 15), when delegates voted to align with a more conservative branch of the Anglican Communion. 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