New York parish quits Episcopal Church: CEN 10.09.08

The largest parish of the Diocese of Western New York has quit the Episcopal Church for the Province of the Southern Cone. Meeting at the diocesan offices in Buffalo on Oct 7, the Rev Arthur W Ward, Jr, rector of the 1,100-member St Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Tonawanda, informed the Rt Rev Michael Garrison that the parish clergy and congregation would vacate the parish properties by early December and form a new congregation affiliated with an overseas province of the Anglican Communion. The defection of St Bartholomew’s represents a significant loss, as it provides approximately ten per cent of the diocese’s communicants and was asked to provide eight per cent of its income. “People may come and go, but St Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Tonawanda will continue,” Bishop Garrison said after the meeting. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.