North Texans Remain Episcopal
NORTHERN DEANERY EPISCOPALIANS
in the
Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
All Saints Episcopal - Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd - St. Stephen's Episcopal
"Recognize the JOY you are seeing here today" ++ Katharine Jefferts Schoi
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Op-Ed letter written by Katie Sherrod
For Wichita Falls Times & Record News
On May 17 the Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick Jr., provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of
Fort Worth, will visit Episcopalians in Wichita Falls, his first visit since the diocese
reorganized after our former bishop and others left the Episcopal Church.
Those who left have since associated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South
America, but continue to use the name "Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth," the diocesan seal,
and claim ownership of Episcopal Church property and other assets.
But one does not get to leave the Episcopal Church and then still claim to be an Episcopalian
with a right to the name and seal of an Episcopal diocese and to the property of the Episcopal
Church any more than employees of, say, this newspaper get to leave the paper but still call
themselves the Wichita Falls Times & Record News with a right to inhabit the paper's
properties and use its funds. The E.W. Scripps Company might well object to that.
Just so does the Episcopal Church object to those who left the Episcopal Church continuing to
use its name and assets.
The canons [laws] of the Episcopal Church, in effect when the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
was created, say all property is held in trust for the national Episcopal Church. Generations
of Episcopalians gave of their time and treasure to create those assets for the Episcopal
Church. The diocese and the national church have filed a lawsuit seeking the return of all
Episcopal Church property and funds. The petition is posted on the diocesan website,
www.episcopaldiocesefortworth.org.
When the former bishop and others chose to leave the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Diocese
of Fort Worth went nowhere. Episcopalians who remained reorganized the diocese. It is not a
new or different diocese. It is the same one that was created out of the western part of the
Episcopal Diocese of Dallas and recognized by General Convention in 1982.
The church's worship has gone forward with little interruption in both the parishes and in
those parishes temporarily displaced from their buildings. Episcopalians can find where to
worship on the diocesan web site.
The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and the Episcopalians it serves are thriving. We hold
those who separated in our prayers as our brothers and sisters in Christ and we hope to see
the day when we are all back together at the same table, a bunch of blessed, happy
Episcopalians.
The pleasure of your company is requested.
The Rt. Rev. Edwin [Ted] Gulick Jr.,
fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth,
Visits
Episcopalians in Wichita Falls
on Sunday, May 17
10:30 AM
Bp. Gulick celebrates the Eucharist and preaches
And baptizes and Confirms at
All Saints/Good Shepherd parishes,
meeting for this special occasion in the historic
log cabin at Lucy Park.
Picnic Lunch follows Services.
DIRECTIONS: Coming from downtown or Freeway, take Business Route 277 (Seymour Highway)
westward past Riverside Cemetery and exit right (north) onto Sunset for about ½ mile. Follow
the signs to the Log Cabin.
5:00 PM
Bp. Gulick celebrates the Eucharist and preaches at St. Stephen's
Episcopal Church, 5023 Lindale [near Rider High School].
The service will be followed by a reception and
potluck supper in the parish hall.
Explore The Episcopal Church
"The Episcopal Church offers a thoughtful approach to religion. It believes faith involves a
measure of reason as well as emotion. Its doctrine is designed to point out, not dictate, the
response to God's continuing revelation. The focus is on God's love and the invitation to
respond in mature freedom, in thanksgiving, and in loving devotion. Basic beliefs are
expressed in the Book of Common Prayer and especially in the
Catechism.
The Episcopal Church teaches that morality is positive, rather than negative. It is rooted in
Jesus' summary of the law: 'to love God with heart, mind and soul and to love one's neighbor
as oneself." The focus of Christian morality is not on laws and restrictions but on free and
mature response to God's love and in responsibility to our neighbors."
These words come from the Web site of St. Luke's on the Lake Church in Austin, Texas, which
has one of the best
Newcomers' pages in the Church. It includes this summary of what
Episcopalians believe.
"Episcopalians believe in One God,
o the Father who creates us and things,
o the Son who redeems us from sin and death
o the Holy Spirit who renews us as the Children of God
Episcopalians believe the Holy Scriptures to be the Word of God and to contain all things
necessary for salvation. We believe God inspired human authors and continues to speak to us
through the Bible.
Episcopalians affirm that salvation is the end of our separation from God and the beginning of
a new relationship with God and one another. The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds are basic
statements of our beliefs in God."
The Episcopal Church has more than 2.4 million members in 7,679 congregations in 110
dioceses
situated in 16 countries. It is a member of the world-wide
Anglican Communion, with 77 million
members in 166 countries.
To learn more about the Church, visit its
Web site,
especially its newspaper
and Visitors' Center;
watch a film
about several Episcopalians in the Diocese of Washington or read the
brochures
produced by the Diocese of Texas, especially the one on the
"three-legged stool"
of Scripture, Tradition and Reason.
Editor's Note: At the beginning of Lent a group from All Saints/Good Shepherd started Wednesday
night book study using Diane Butler Bass' book, CHRISTIANITY FOR THE REST OF US. Therein we
studiously examined her chapter on Hospitality, seeking ways to invite others to join us in
Episcopal worship. We recognized it essential that we first acquaint or re-acquaint ourselves
more thoroughly on our faith.
A communications initiative to tell the Episcopal Church's story was launched on Ash Wednesday
in which a dozen Episcopalians are featured in a new interactive feature called "I Am
Epi-scopalian."
The so-called "microsite" contains short videos of people "sharing their deep, personal
connections to the big, wide, vibrant church that we are," said Anne Rudig, who joined the
Episcopal Church Center in New York as communications director on January 5.
Not only will the videos illustrate the diversity of Episcopalians -- "all ages, all walks of
life, all ethnicities," said Rudig -- but the site also will let users upload their own videos.
One "microsite" features Bishop Stacy Sauls of the Diocese of Lexington who says," The two
things that drew me to the Episcopal Church are the sense of mystery in worship and the freedom
to think for one. Likewise, the Rev. Peter Sabine describes the Episcopal Church as a
"thinking church. Jesus died not to take away your brain but to take away your sins."
Take a look at the new feature:
www.episcopalchurch.org
KEEP UP WITH FAST-CHANGING ACTIVITIES OF THE DIOCESE:
Reorganized Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
http://www.episcopaldiocesefortworth.org/
KEEP UP WITH THE WIDER WORLD
LEARN WHAT OTHER EPISCOPALIANS ARE
DOING…SAYING…READING
Fort Worth Via Media
http://www.fwviamedia.org/
Desert's Child (Katie Sherrod)
http://wildernessgarden.blogspot.com/
The Episcopal Church (TEC)
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/
The Living Church
http://www.livingchurch.org/
Diocese of Washington, DC
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/
epiScope
episcopalchurch.typepad.com/episcope/
The Episcopal Church Welcomes You. . . TO STAY
The NTRE "primer" or brochure is available for circulation. Ann Coleman worked with Fr. Bruce
Coggin and Katie Sherrod of Fort Worth Via Media to develop the tri-fold brochure which
answers questions people in North Texas are asking about the current status of the Episcopal
Church. Please contact J.D. Todd (ansonjones@sw.rr.com)
for copies of The Episcopal Church Welcomes You…TO STAY
NTRE ESSAYS YOU ARE INVITED TO READ
The Last Word on Last Weekend
By J D Todd, Sub-Dean, Northern Deanery
This will open another window, and is in Microsoft Word format
A Day to Remember - February 7, 2009
By Millie Gore Lancaster
This will open another window, and is in Microsoft Word format
'RECOGNIZE THE JOY YOU'RE FINDING HERE TODAY'
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church
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Bishop's Pastoral Letter
The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr, D.D.
Bishop of Kentucky, Provisional Bishop, Diocese of Fort Worth
This will open another window, and is in Microsoft Word format
A STATEMENT OF BELIEF - Diocese of Texas, Houston/Austin
THE PRIMATE BLESSED A VEGETABLE GARDEN IN DALLAS
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