Anti-gay Diocese Secedes from Episcopal Church

The Dallas Morning News reports that this morning, the Diocese of Fort Worth voted to sever its links with The Episcopal Church, becoming the fourth diocese in the United States to do so:

Clergy and lay delegates, by about an 80 percent margin, voted Saturday morning to withdraw from the Episcopal Church at the diocese's annual convention, held in a packed school gym in Bedford.

They later voted to align with a conservative, Argentina-based province of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Bishop Iker has said that five to six of the diocese’s 55 churches, and perhaps 4,000 of its 19,000 congregants, will remain with the Episcopal Church.

The homophobic bishop, Jack Leo Iker, has pushed for such a split for several years now. In a pastoral letter on the diocesan website, the bishop lists "10 Reasons Why Now Is the Time to Realign." Number two on the list? You guessed it, folks: TEH EVIL GAYZ.

More than 20 of the Provinces of the [Anglican] Communion have declared themselves to be in a state of broken or impaired communion with TEC because of the ordination of a homosexual bishop living in a sexual relationship with another man and the blessings of same-sex unions in many places throughout this church. We need to dissociate ourselves from the bishops and dioceses that are violating the teaching of Scripture by doing these things.

Today's vote brought this response from the head of the national church:

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said after the vote that the church "grieves the departures of a number of persons from the Diocese of Fort Worth. We remind those former Episcopalians that the door is open if they wish to return.

"We will work with Episcopalians in the Diocese of Fort Worth to elect new leadership and continue the work of the gospel in that part of Texas. The gospel work to which Jesus calls us demands the best efforts of faithful people from many theological and social perspectives, and The Episcopal Church will continue to welcome that diversity."

As an Episcopalian-on-hold, it grieves me too because my local parish church is part of the Diocese of Fort Worth. For several years now, I've not felt able to attend church or partake of Holy Communion, which used to be highly important to me; but I don't intend to support a homophobic organization, and at any rate in this small town I can't be out at work or at church, so why should I keep attending, having to lie and pretend all the time? I'm too old to keep playing that stupid game.

The association of LGBT Episcopalians, Integrity, has a chapter in Fort Worth and another in Dallas, but I'm too far away to benefit from their company.

But that's okay; God knows where I live. And we talk all the time. It's cool.