Anglican Church Finds “No Room at the Inn” in Baltimore

Church of the Resurrection, an Anglican start-up church in Baltimore, Md., has found that there may be “no room at the inn” for them this Christmas season. In November, the congregation entered a “gentleman’s agreement” with Brown Memorial Woodbrook Presbyterian Church to rent worship space for a two-month “trial period” beginning on Christmas Eve. On December 22, the Rev. Eliot Winks, rector of Resurrection, and Patrick Cunningham, a lay leader in the church, were informed that the congregation could only use the facility for three weeks. In addition, they learned that bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland had pressured their Presbyterian counterpart, Executive Presbyter the Rev. Peter Nord, to deny use of the church. Nord instructed the Brown leadership to cancel the agreement.

Church of the Resurrection leaders informed their members of the decision in a December 26 newsletter, which detailed the chain of events: “In further conversation, it was revealed that all of this runaround resulted from a conversation or conversations between their Executive Presbyter Peter Nord and the Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, John Rabb. We firmly believe that Brown Memorial Woodbrook acted in good faith and are saddened that they were pushed into this untenable position. We thank them for doing their best to take us in.”

Organized last spring, Church of the Resurrection is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Rt. Rev. Frank Lyons, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Bolivia, ordained Fr. Winks on behalf of the Bishop of Chile at a service in Pittsburgh, Pa., November 12, 2005. Fr. Winks is a priest in good standing in that Anglican diocese.

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