Quietly, almost unnoticed, a movement has been organized within the Episcopal Church to create an "umbrella for orthodox individuals, organizations and parishes" unnerved by the perceived liberal shift of General Convention and the national hierarchy.

About 14 months ago, in the Diocese of Eau Claire, Wis., the Rt. Rev. William C. Wantland, Bishop of Eau Claire, filed articles of incorporation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Bishop Wantland, with the Rt. Rev. John Howe, Bishop of Central Florida, and the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of San Joaquin, Calif., were founding directors of the corporation.

Bishop Wantland, in a letter to the clergy of his diocese, wrote, "For over 25 years, the National Church has been amending the canons and Prayer Book to remove every reference to 'The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America,' and to insert, instead, the name 'The Episcopal Church.' As the old name was abandoned, so the old Faith has been abandoned."

Such a corporate structure did not previously exist, Bishop Wantland and others explained. The national church is incorporated as "The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society."

The Rev. Jon Shuler, president of North American Missionary Society (NAMS), headquartered in Pawleys Island, S.C., is the designated spokesperson for PECUSA, Inc. He said that, after the Rt. Rev. Edmond Browning, then Presiding Bishop, learned of the corporation, on Dec. 10, he called Bishop Wantland. He said Bishop Browning "demanded that the corporation be dissolved in 48 hours." If this were not done, Fr. Shuler recalled, "he said the trustees would face a massive lawsuit, a massive publicity barrage, and the ruination of [your] good name."

Bishop Wantland requested a delay, partly on pragmatic grounds that people involved could not be convened so quickly and, in any case, such an entity could not be dissolved in so short a time.

Bishop Wantland and Bishop Schofield, at a "previously scheduled meeting of AAC (American Anglican Council) bishops" in Jacksonville, Fla., "held an emergency meeting of the PECUSA trustees ... privately and apart from the AAC bishops," according to a memo from the Rt. Rev. Stephen Jecko, Bishop of Florida. The trustees declined to dissolve the corporation or to change its name, but did address Bishop Browning's concerns.

"We took out all the language the Presiding Bishop objected to," Bishop Wantland said. The charter, he said, had been based on that of the diocese, and so contained various items not appropriate in the new document.

As amended, article 3 of the articles of incorporation states:

"The purpose of the corporation shall be to engage exclusively in religious, educational and charitable activities. Further, it shall exercise a stewardship in the Gospel to insure that there always remains in the United States a church which 'is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion ... upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer'."

References to "the executive, administrative and financial administration" and to "charge of the Church Pension Fund and the church's program" are absent from the amended articles.

Bishop Browning was informed of the response of the trustees through the executive officer at the Episcopal Church Center, the Rt. Rev. Charlie McNutt.

Fr. Shuler said PECUSA, Inc. is presently incorporated in at least 44 states, with actions pending in others. These actions were "not secret" but not formally announced until everything was done, Bishop Wantland said. Trustees include Bishop Wantland, the Rev. Canon Lawrence Rowe and Eunice Muenzberg of the Diocese of Eau Claire, Bishop Schofield, the Rt. Rev. Alex Dickson, retired Bishop of West Tennessee, Fr. Shuler, the Rev. Chuck Murphy, rector of All Saints' Church, Pawleys Island, the Rev. Larry Hall, rector of St. John's, Houston, and the Rev. John Rodgers, retired dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. The office of the corporation is listed as 145 Marston Ave., Eau Claire.

Upon Bishop Browning's response that the organization would "violat[e] the church's right and need to protect its name from misleading and unfair use" and create confusion within and about the church, and his insistence that the corporation be dissolved, Bishop Howe resigned. "Initially I thought this was a prudent, protective step to take, but now I fear it will be the occasion for a contentious struggle," he wrote.

Bishop Wantland acknowledged the possibility in his letter: "The last thing I want, during the final year of my active episcopate, is constant controversy. Nonetheless, having received literally hundreds of letters and phone calls from people throughout the church in deep pain over the drift of the Episcopal Church further and further away from biblical truth, I have felt compelled to join with others in carving out a place for them to stand together, with some assurance that the church they have known and served will not be taken away from them."

The Rev. Jeffrey Steenson, rector of St. Andrew's Church, Fort Worth, said he first learned of PECUSA, Inc. at a gathering where it was not the prime order of business. "My understanding is it's like the missile in the silo: You hope you never have to use it," he said. If a new province of the Episcopal Church were to occur, he said, this would allow congregations "not to fight for church assets but to continue to do business as the Episcopal Church; not a hostile takeover, but to defend what the congregation already has." Participants were sworn to secrecy.

Fr. Shuler compared the two entities to two parties in Congress, or a "shadow parliament, the loyal opposition. There are two legal entities, in both the Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion," two churches with "conflicted beliefs. There will be confusion for a season - but not for long."