Chancellor: Episcopal Church Will Prevail in Communion and Courts
11/07/2006

Although The Episcopal Church currently finds itself in uncharted territory both legally over ownership of diocesan property and with respect to its standing within the Anglican Communion, the Presiding Bishop’s chancellor, David Booth Beers, does not anticipate that the Archbishop of Canterbury will make any formal change in the church’s membership status in the Communion nor does he expect any dioceses affiliated with the Anglican Communion Network to attempt to leave.

To his consternation, Mr. Beers feels a badly behaved and vocal minority has left some Episcopalians with the mistaken idea that their church is under siege. He made an exception to his long-standing policy against being quoted by journalists in order to lead a public workshop titled “Legal Issues Confronting Parishes and Dioceses” at an event sponsored by the organization Episcopal Majority. The Nov. 3-4 gathering was held at St. Columba's, Washington, D.C. and attracted about 200 attendees.

“You hear a lot about our being swamped by litigation,” Mr. Beers said. “It has been [former Presiding] Bishop [Frank] Griswold’s belief that this is not an epidemic. We’ll have some troubles. I think he’s been proven right.” the rest