FORT WORTH: Wichita Falls parish affirms Episcopal membership
Episcopal News Service. September 20, 2007 [092007-05]
The vestry of All Saints Episcopal Church, Wichita Falls, in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, voted September 18 to remove itself from the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, of which the diocese is a founding member.
Reportedly, the vote was eight in favor and one against with three abstentions.
The vestry has also passed a resolution saying it does not support the forming of a new Anglican province nor would it support transferring to another existing province of the Anglican Communion. The resolution also said that All Saints does not support seeking the status of an extra-provincial diocese. Finally, it affirmed the place of the Diocese of Fort Worth in the Episcopal Church.
A member of All Saints apparently approached the vestry a few days earlier in response to what she learned during the September 8 visit to the diocese by House of Deputies president Bonnie Anderson, according to an email from George Komechak, president of Fort Worth Via Media.
The Fort Worth group is a member of Via Media USA, an alliance of Episcopal laity and clergy formed in 2004 to offer a counterpoint to efforts to "realign" the Episcopal Church along more conservative lines.
Trinity Episcopal Church had previously passed a similar resolution as had St. Martin-in-the-Fields, also in Fort Worth.