Presiding Bishop, Five Dissidents Meet
Episcopal News Service. August 18, 1977 [77275]
GREENWICH, Conn. -- Five priests who have separated from the Episcopal Church because of certain decisions made by the 1976 General Convention met on Aug. 17 with Presiding Bishop John M. Allin to discuss several problems related to that separation.
The five who accepted Bishop Allin's invitation to attend the all-day meeting are: the Rev. John D. Barker of Hollywood, Cal.; the Rev. William T. St. J. Brown of Sun Valley, Cal.; the Rev. George H. Clendenin of Glendale, Cal.; the Rev. Maurice H. Freemyer of Mountain Home, Ark.; and the Rev. James O. Mote of Denver, Col.
Two other priests, the Rev. Robert S. Morse of Oakland, Cal., and the Rev. Clark A. Tea, Jr. of Boulder City, Nev., had also accepted the invitation but were unable to attend.
Bishop Allin told the priests that he had not invited them to Seabury House "to try to sell them on a particular plan or course of action." He said he did not intend to try to talk them out of their decision to separate from the Episcopal Church.
Fr. Mote told the Presiding Bishop that in his opinion, the Episcopal Church is no longer part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church because of General Convention decisions to approve a revised marriage canon, to permit the ordination of women as priests and bishops and to fail to take a hard line against abortion. Fr. Mote invited the Presiding Bishop to join with the five in leaving the Episcopal Church.
Bishop Allin replied that he had no reservations whatsoever about being able to serve as a catholic bishop within the Episcopal Church.
Frs. Barker and Clendenin brought up the lawsuits between their Los Angeles and Glendale congregations and the Diocese of Los Angeles. The Presiding Bishop made no commitment to any specific course of action regarding the lawsuits.
At the close of the meeting, the five priests and Bishop Allin agreed to a statement drafted by Fr. Brown saying that the conversations were an open and cordial exchange of views and expressing the desire that future conversations be held between the Episcopal Church and representatives of "dissident groups either now separated from that body or still within it. "
The five priests thanked Bishop Allin for his invitation and said they found the meeting worthwhile. The Presiding Bishop said that he had been helped by the exchange of views and that, in his opinion, the meeting was well worth the money and the effort needed to arrange it.
Statement drafted by the Rev. William T. St. J. Brown and approved by Presiding Bishop John M. Allin and the undersigned clergy who met on Aug. 17, 1977 at Seabury House.
Aug. 17, 1977 -- The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church today met with priests who had been instrumental in forming the Diocese of the Holy Trinity. The meeting was to consider ways of opening conversations in Christian charity between the two groups.
The all-day meeting at Seabury House in Greenwich, Conn., national conference center of the Episcopal Church, was marked by cordiality and an open exchange of views. There was unanimous agreement to continue conversations between representatives of the Episcopal Church and of dissident groups either now separated from that body or still within it. Both groups agreed that there was a mutual desire to remain within the historic catholic Church and within the Anglican Communion.
The Rev. John D. Barker
The Rev. William T. St. J. Brown
The Rev. George H. Clendenin
The Rev. Maurice H. Freemyer
The Rev. James 0. Mote