Another American Parish Quits: CEN 10.19.07 p 7 October 17, 2007
Posted by geoconger in Arizona, Church of England Newspaper, Property Litigation.trackback
The unraveling of the American Church continues as parishioners at one of the Diocese of Arizona’s “cardinal parishes” announced on Sept 28 they were quitting the Episcopal Church to come under the Church of Uganda.
Approximately 40 percent of the active congregation of Christ Church of the Ascension in Paradise Valley withdrew from the Episcopal Church last month to come under the authority of Uganda’s missionary bishop in the US, the Rt. Rev. John Guernsey.
One of the largest and most prosperous Episcopal churches in Arizona, it was the church home of American conservative icon, the late Barry Goldwater. The founder of the modern conservative movement who counted Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush among his acolytes, Senator Goldwater donated the land for the church, was a long time parishioner and is interred at the parish.
The rector of Christ Church, the Rev. Ken Semon announced he was leaving the parish, to take a call in the conservative diocese of the Rio Grande. Mr. Semon told the Arizona Republic his decision took place as “the parish was about to split because the bishop was threatening the conservative majority that he would sue us if we aligned with a conservative Anglican group.”
In his final parish newsletter Mr. Semon stated that “with the Anglican realignment taking place, exciting opportunities await [the breakaway group]. The realignment presents an opportunity to continue to experience the fullness of faith which Christ promises.”
He was not going to lead the new group however, as it need a “vigorous young leader, not one who is only a few years away from retirement.”
A spokesman for the new congregation stated they believed the Episcopal Church “no longer universally believes or authoritatively teaches” in the witness of Scripture and in the teachings of the catholic church.
“Our devotion is to God, not a particular institution” Jim Allred said. “When an institution no longer represents our understanding of God’s Word and His Will, we must have the courage and faith to stand by our convictions” and go.
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Conger 
This report is not accurate.
1) About 15% of the parish left, not 40%
2) I never threatened the parish which was already a member of the Network. I did remind them that they could not take the property, which is held in the trust for the Diocese. We had worked out a DEPO agreement which had been in place for a year.
3) The parish is florishing under the leadership of a new conservative but loyal priest, The Rev. Phillip Jackson.
The Rt. Rev. Kirk Stevan Smith
Bishop of Arizona
Bishop,
You’re probably write. 15% of the membership is probably all that left. Probably 40% of ASA left, though. Congratulations on keeping the non-attenders.
Rob
Do the numbers mean anything? On October 5th, Bp. Smith reported that 7.5% of the parish (75 out of 1000) left. Today it is 15%. What will it be tomorrow?
Kirk
The articles says 40% of the ACTIVE congregation left.
Looking at the stats, membership was in the 1000+ range. Attendance was in the 400 range
Click to access ParishRPT_1017200731908PM.pdf
This articles says 150 active members left:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0926phx-episcopal0926.html
David Virtue is reporting 200 showed up for the first service:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6891
“On this first Sunday some 200 attended the service. A VOL reader wrote to say that many who had left Episcopal churches in the Phoenix area and were worshiping in Bible believing churches hoping the Episcopal Church and bishop Smith would repent couldn’t wait for the new Anglican parish doors to open. “They literally came out of the woodwork to join Christ Church’s orthodox members. The empty church building was filled to capacity”.
#2 Rob – good catch on the statistical tricks. The Episcopal Church claims that only a few “congregations” are leaving – but they are counting buildings, not people.
And, yes, Average Sunday Attendance is a much more important measure than “membership.” Church membership numbers reflect all kinds of inactive folks.
Bishop Smith:
You wonder why you and your fellow institutionalists are perceived negatively? When you talk about the new priest being “loyal,” and thus by implication slur the previous rector as “disloyal,” you make plain what is important to you and the diocese. You tell everyone how you truly do view those who are having genuine pangs of conscience, genuine turmoil, and genuine grief about having to leave the church they have held so dear and that has been so part of their life. Even if you disagree with them, you don’t have to dismiss them with the calumny of being disloyal. Some inclusivity that. This is why those of us who remain in the Episcopal Church and once viewed ourselves as moderate also feel like we are being driven out. How can we be associated with an organization that is so downright mean?
I suggest Kirk Smith look at the Sunday attendance at both places. Christ Church the Ascension did not have the total number on Sunday, Oct 15 in three services as Christ Church Anglican did that day in one service. I suggest Kirk Smith look at the financials at the end of the year to see that the majority of the loyal parishioners, parishioners loyal to Jesus the Lord, have left the parish. More will leave when the beloved associate, Chris Schutte leaves in December. I hope when Smith decides he needs to sell the property, he gives Christ Church Anglican right of first refusal.
To say he did not threaten is to play word games. Every one in the parish received the three letters he sent to the entire parish.
Thanks Ken for the clarification. Your work there was valiant. Blessings in the future.
Way to go Ken!!
Its also interesting to see Bishop Smith’s idea of DEPO – it explains why that will never fly, and why everyone is bailing out:
http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/article/6207/
“There is a significant debt and Smith promised the liberal minority that he had a rich friend in California who would help them cover the debt. He led a “bible study” at a liberal parishioner’s home to help people see that there were many contradictions in scripture and that one could not take scripture too seriously.
He has worked with a small group of dissidents to undermine the orthodox ministry and teaching of this excellent parish. It has not been a pleasant experience.”
flour·ish
–verb (used without object) 1. to be in a vigorous state; thrive: a period in which art flourished.
2. to be in its or in one’s prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.
3. to be successful; prosper.
4. to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant
For one fleeting moment I thought that Bishop Smith had intended to use the word flourish in his description of the present state of Christ Church of the Ascension. Then I realized that he wrote -florish- an entirely different word. I was relieved to learn that he wasn’t painting an inaccurate picture of the current state of affairs!!
Ok, its becoming clear reading some other things written by Bishop Smith that what he writes has no basis in fact.
See this for instance:
http://arizonabishop.blogspot.com/
“Back at Christ Church of the Ascension, parish life continues. I have appointed the Rev. Philip Jackson, formerly leader of one of the largest and fasted growing parishes in Detroit, as Priest in Charge Under Special Circumstances”
Then you look at the chart for Christ Church Detroit, and attendance is flat at 170-180 per week:
Click to access ParishRPT_1017200782345PM.pdf
Reading the demographics of the Parish Questionaire we see 52% of the respondents are over 60 years old:
Click to access chroniclesaug07.pdf
“Of the 122 people who filled out the demographic section of the questionnaire, 76 were female, 44
were male and two gave no gender. From an age perspective, the following distribution was discovered:
3 less than 20, 2 between 20 and 30, 4 between 30 and 40, 15 between 40 and 50, 27 between
50 and 60, 23 between 60 and 70, 26 between 70 and 80, 14 between 80 and 90 and 1 person 90 and
older.”
So if that qualifies as “one of the largest and fastest growing parishes in Detroit”… well… I don’t really know what else to say….
Va Anglican – See posting no. 10 for an example of language coming from your side – “he helps people to not take Scripture too seriously and works to undermine a good orthodox parish” (not verbatim).
As a fairly recent priest to the Diocese of Michigan, I cannot attest to whether or not Christ Church Detroit is a fast growing church (there are few churches in urban Detroit that are financially viable, let alone growing. But I do know that the Rev. Phillip Jackson (as well as his associate there, the Rev. Geoffrey Piper) are orthodox ministers; in fact, Fr. Jackson has endured a fair amount of scorn in this diocese on account of his public statements against authorizing and celebratingg same-sex blessings. There are few orthodox Episcopal parishes in this area–St. John, Detroit; St. Andrew’s, Novi; Advent, West Bloomfield; Resurrection, Clarkston; and Christ Church, Detroit. The departure of the Rev. Jackson is a loss to the orthodox Anglican presence and mission in this region, and will likely lead to another parish becoming subjected coercively to a progressive cleric.
Ah, Bishop Nero, fiddle away!
Here’s the rest of the story about Christ Church of the Ascension in Arizona:
There was never any doubt that the votes were there to leave TEC and stay at the property; the noses were counted. In many ways this would have been the easy decision. However, the biblically orthodox majority are leaving the property with out a fight largely because they ARE biblically orthodox. They take ALL of the Bible seriously, even the parts that require personal sacrifice, like I Cor 6:1-7:
“If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?…I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?…The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?”
The orthodox majority at CCA chose to be sacrificially obedient and leave the property once the Bishop made it clear that a lawsuit was the only other alternative. This in spite of the fact that the Diocese of Arizona had never contributed one penny… not one penny… to the land, buildings or operation of the parish. (No, Bishop, reducing your annual “take” is not the same as giving!) The orthodox listened to Paul; it was better to be wronged and cheated than to have the name of Jesus defamed before the world.
Thanks be to God that He has already tremendously blessed those who chose to leave their “stuff” behind and follow Him into the wilderness. What freedom, what joy.