Episcopal Schism In Groton Leads To Property Dispute

By ELIZABETH HAMILTON
The Hartford Courant
December 1, 2008

GROTON — - By his own count, the Rev. Ronald Gauss was an Episcopal priest for exactly 35 years, 10 months, 14 days and seven hours.

No more.

After a five-year spiritual and practical journey that has led them further and further away from the Episcopal Church, Gauss and his parish, Bishop Seabury Church, are now fully severed from the denomination they once proudly claimed as their own.Gauss, who was suspended from the priesthood last May, was deposed — which means removed from the priesthood — by Connecticut Episcopal Bishop Andrew Smith on Nov. 20.

Smith said Gauss was suspended because he "abandoned the Episcopal Church" by aligning his church with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), a mission of the conservative Anglican Church of Nigeria.

"Yes, there's sadness. I never figured it would get to this point," Gauss said. "But it's not the same church I was ordained to, either."

Gauss is now fully endowed as a priest with CANA, he said. Up until Nov. 20, he was only licensed by CANA to function as a priest. the rest