Dean of VTS thinks the denomination's future is bright

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Despite a sharp drop in national membership and much-publicized controversies, the dean of the Episcopal Church's Virginia Theological Seminary thinks the denomination's future is bright.

"It's a good, healthy robust church," said the Very. Rev. Ian S. Markham, dean and president of the 193-year-old seminary in Alexandria, Va. "I think the future of the (American) Episcopal Church is the future of Anglicanism," the communion of churches with historical connections to the Church of England. the rest

In the past three decades, the American Episcopal church has seen its baptized membership shrink from 3.6 million baptized members to slightly more than 2 million members. The church has been riven by controversies over the ordination of women and gays as priests and bishops. many members, and some whole parishes, have left the denomination.

Markham thinks the withdrawal of "the conservative provinces" has left the remaining church stronger, with its factions more willing to work together.