Episcopal bishop seeks new direction
Wants Springfield diocese overseen from outside U.S.
By CHRIS WETTERICHSTAFF WRITER
Published Friday, July 14, 2006

What he calls the Episcopal Church's "decline," based in part on its acceptance of homosexuality, is the reason the bishop of the Springfield diocese is pushing for permission from the Anglican faith's world leader to be overseen by someone outside the United States.

Bishop Peter Beckwith is one of more than a dozen nationwide to look into that possibility after the election in June of Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of Las Vegas as the head of the Episcopal Church.
Beckwith made the request June 30 after getting unanimous approval from the diocese's standing committee, its governing body.

"What we're doing is distancing ourselves spiritually from the direction of the Episcopal Church in general and the national office specifically," he said Thursday.

He and his allies have been asked to determine whether they would all report to the same province or to different provinces, Beckwith said, but he would like to report to the head of the Church of England himself, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. the rest