St. John’s severs ties with national Episcopalians
Church cites differences over sexuality, moral issues
Wednesday, Dec 27, 2006
By DAN JOHNSON ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

After considerable soul-searching, St. John’s Episcopal Church of Petaluma voted on Dec. 17 to sever its 150-year relationship with The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Northern California due to theological differences over sexuality and other moral issues.

After V. Gene Robinson, a divorced man who began living in an openly gay relationship, was elected the TEC’s bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, the ongoing morality debate between conservative and progressive members heated up in Episcopal churches throughout the country.

“That incident was the initial catalyst that led the Anglican Church into a divisive mode, but it’s only one example of the moral and ethical differences between orthodox members, who have a more historic and conservative view of the Bible, and progressive members, whom orthodox members call ‘revisionists’ because they feel they look at historical document from a new light and an ‘anything goes’ perspective,” said the Rev. Dr. Lu T. Nguyen, the canon lawyer for St. John’s. the rest