John Yates, Rector of The Falls Church, writes on Bishop Lee's Inhibiting 21 Virginia Priests

BB NOTE: This letter was received via e-mail. More on the way. Watch this space.

Dear Friends:

Again this week there have been developments which the media has reported concerning our church and our clergy, and I'd like you to hear about this from me - just briefly.

Bishop Peter Lee of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has "inhibited" the clergy of the Falls Church and the other parishes that voted to disaffiliate from The Episcopal Church--even including at least one priest who disagreed with the vote to disaffiliate and desired to remain under Bishop Lee's authority. The action is described here.

In The Episcopal Church, "inhibition" is the act whereby a Bishop commands a priest not to perform priestly duties under that church's authority. It is expected to be followed by "deposing" the priest 6 months later (maybe something like a Roman Catholic "defrocking"). This act of inhibition in itself is not likely to change much at any of our churches. Many of us will be preaching this Sunday. However, it is a painful thing for these priests who have previously devoted themselves to renewal and reform in The Episcopal Church, and now are formally censured by it. Most of them had hoped instead that Bishop Lee would "transfer" them to the jurisdiction of Bishop Martyn Minns in the "Convocation of Anglicans in North America" (CANA), under the Anglican Church of Nigeria. That is what Bishop Lee would have done if this were a friendly situation, but he considers them disloyal and considers CANA to be improper and invalid.

Bishop Lee has previously declared our churches "abandoned" and refuses to recognize the Vestries (lay councils) of these congregations any more. We expect that very soon--perhaps as early as next week--he will purport to appoint "vestry committees" in their place, in an attempt to create doubt about who the Vestry of the church really is.

I still do not expect that Bishop Lee will make any attempt to forcibly take possession of our property (the deeds to which are held by trustees for the congregation, not the Diocese), but we are prepared to respond to any such attempt.

You may know that I have spent some time meeting with some of our members who have found our decision to leave The Episcopal Church difficult. We have shared our hearts together and prayed, and are seeking God's help to walk through this time together, understanding one another and honoring one another. I have stressed that we want no one to leave and that Episcopalians who want to continue here in TFC are fully welcome and may be fully involved as always. We had planned to designate the 8:00 a.m. service in the Historic Church as one that would be presided over by an Episcopal priest on our staff, but as I was preparing to announce that, we received word of the "inhibitions" discussed above, making this pastoral response impossible. Some of these folks have organized a vestry and want to continue as TFC Episcopal, and still part of the Diocese of Virginia. It is awkward for us, but we continue in discussion about this together with them. We care deeply about them, and I believe they do for us as well. The media sometimes exaggerate and present things out of proportion, painting pictures that are not accurate. Let's try to believe the best of everyone in these matters.

Please keep The Falls Church and its leadership in your prayers.

In the family,

John Yates