Church dissolved over homosexual issue

A congregation that refused to pay its dues in protest of the Episcopal Church of the USA's ordination of a homosexual bishop has been dissolved by its diocese.

Rochester's Episcopal diocese in New York voted Saturday to shut down All Saints Episcopal Church in Irondequoit, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.

The church's property and other assets are to be turned over to the trustees of the diocese.

The church refused to pay $16,000 it owed the diocese after the 2003 ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire – a practicing homosexual – and the denomination's decision to give individual dioceses liberty to bless same-sex unions.

Parishioners gathered in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Rochester to find out the result of the vote.

"Goodbye now and God bless you," said All Saints' leader, the Rev. David Harnish, as he left the room where the vote took place.

Harnish then went to the lobby where a small group from his church had gathered.

"The same bishop who strongly opposes the death penalty has issued an ecclesiastical death sentence," he told the parishioners. "But we are alive and well."

The Rev. Canon Carolyn Lumbard, a spokeswoman for the diocese, told the Rochester paper she had come to know many at All Saints after working with them for four years.

"I know their struggle is their struggle, just like my struggle is my struggle," she said. "I don't understand theirs and they don't understand mine, either."

But she emphasized the congregation still must pay its share of the dues.

Similarly, regardless of what you think about the laws of the U.S., "If you don't pay your taxes, you go to jail," said the Rev. Diana Purcell-Chapman, who says she reluctantly voted in favor of the resolution. "It had to be done."

Rev. Denise Yarbrough of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Penn Yan, N.Y., said, "We didn't kick them out. They chose to go."

Yarbrough, a lesbian, said she and others offered to dialogue with parishioners, but they were refused.

All Saints plans to continue operating and possibly be a home for others in the diocese who disagree with the Episcopal Church of the USA, according to Walck.

"We will be a church and we will be functioning," he said.

---

Related offers:

The Gay Agenda

"The Marketing of Evil" by David Kupelian is available now. Get your copy autographed and personalized (at no extra charge) – only from ShopNetDaily!

If you wish to order by phone, call our toll-free order line at 1-800-4WND-COM (1-800-496-3266).

---

Previous stories:

Rev. Gene Robinson: Jesus 'might be 'gay'