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Chronology of Communication between Church of the
Messiah and Bishop Buchanan
On
October 1, 2006, the congregation of the Church of the Messiah
voted 171 to 1 to disassociate from the Episcopal Church and
the Diocese of Southern Virginia, and to realign themselves
with the Anglican Communion, through the convocation for Anglicans
in North America (CANA), a missionary diocese of the Church
of Nigeria.
On
October 12, 2006, the Rev. Marty O’Rourke and members
of the church vestry met with Bishop John Buchanan, interim
bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, and members of
the diocesan Standing Committee, to share with them the news
of their vote and explain their reasoning behind the decision
to disassociate.
A
copy of the statement given to Bishop Buchanan and the Standing
Committee is here:
Standing
Committee Letter
At
a meeting with Bishop Buchanan on October 30th,
both the Rev. O’Rourke, and the Rev. George Stockhowe,
Associate Rector of Church of the Messiah, were told by the
bishop that if they did not change their minds about disassociation,
then he would begin the process of inhibiting them.
Bishop Buchanan gave them one week to change their mind.
Two
weeks later in a letter to the Rev. O’Rourke, Bishop
Buchanan announced that he was accepting the “voluntary”
renunciation of the Rev. O’Rourke’s ordained ministry!
The
Rev. O’Rourke never volunteered to renounce his ordination
vows, and has no intention of doing so. Bishop Buchanan has
since announced to the entire Diocese of Southern Virginia,
every bishop in the Episcopal House of Bishops, and even the
Presiding Bishop that the Rev. O’Rourke had “voluntarily”
renounced his ordination vows. This is totally wrong,
and completely false.
Following
is a series of correspondence between the Rev. O’Rourke
and Bishop Buchanan. Copies of this correspondence have
been sent to all parishes in the Diocese of Southern Virginia
to let know that the Rev. O’Rourke has not renounced
his ministry, and that the interim Bishop of Southern Virginia
is being deceitful in his communication about the Rev. O’Rourke.
Cover
Letter of Dec 6th from O’Rourke to Diocese
Letter
of Nov 6th from O’Rourke & Stockhowe
to Buchanan
Letter
of Nov 15th from Buchanan to O’Rourke
Letter
of Nov 28th from O’Rourke to Buchanan
Buchanan Notice of Nov 29th
Letter
of Nov 30th from O’Rourke to Buchanan
Fax
of Dec 1st from Buchanan to O’Rourke
Church
of the Messiah Press Release – December 8, 2006
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