Episcopal liberals prepare for split
By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
October 24, 2005

A liberal Episcopal group is crafting a strategy to disenfranchise about 16 conservative bishops if the denomination's pivotal General Convention next year in Columbus, Ohio, results in a church split.

Informally named the "Day After" for the aftermath of the June 13-21 event, the strategy outlines a way to file canonical charges against conservative bishops, unseat them from their dioceses, have interim bishops waiting to replace them and draft lawsuits ready to file before secular courts for possession of diocesan property.

The strategy was revealed in a leaked copy of minutes drafted at a Sept. 29 meeting in Dallas of a 10-member steering committee for Via Media, a network of 13 liberal independent Episcopal groups.

"It was a worst-case scenario -- what people in various dioceses would need to do if their bishop and much of their diocesan leadership decided to walk away from the Episcopal Church," said Joan Gundersen, the steering committee member who drafted the minutes.
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