Westlake Parish is First to Seek DEPO in Ohio
03/01/2006

After more than two years of parish-wide discernment, the Church of the Advent in Westlake has become the first congregation in the Diocese of Ohio to receive delegated episcopal pastoral oversight. The vestry, the rector and the Bishop of Ohio have engaged the Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little, II, Bishop of Northern Indiana.

“We want to continue to be a witness to the Episcopal Church,” the rector, the Rev. Joe Maiocco, told The Living Church. At the same time we didn’t want to pretend as though nothing had happened.”

Fr. Maiocco said he and some of the other members at Church of the Advent felt as though the General Convention had departed from apostolic Christianity and were prepared to make a decision about their future in the Episcopal Church soon after the conclusion of the 74th General Convention in August of 2003, but after conversations with leaders in the Anglican Communion Network and the American Anglican Council, the rector and vestry decided to be patient and go through an intentional process of parish-wide discernment. The rest