Anglicana

news summary: Friday, Aug. 12, 2005

The big Anglican story today is a provisional ruling in the property dispute between the Diocese of Los Angeles and St. James' church in Newport Beach, California, where American Anglican Council president David Anderson was formerly rector and which broke away from the Epsicopal Church and was claimed by the Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi as a congregation of the (Anglican) Church of Uganda. Orange County Judge David Valesquez is expected to issue a final ruling on Monday regarding whether St. James' property is owned by the congregation or the diocese, but his tentative ruling issued today suggests that he is likely to rule on Monday in favor of the congregation. The tentative ruling is non-binding and could differ from the final ruling, but it does indicate the direction of the judge's thinking at present. Leads and links to articles from news coverage on this and other items (a good article on the controversy at St. John's in Connecticut and an Evangelical Times story on the founding of a new theological college by Holy Trinity Brompton, home of the Alpha program) can be found below.

when and why that Michigan priest left the Episcopal Church

This article from the Flint Journal in Michigan asserts that the Rev. Eugene Geromel was deposed by +Edwin Leidel of the Diocese of Eastern Michigan because of his opposition to inclusion of gay people, and particularly the 2003 General Convention's consent to the election of +Gene Robinson. Not so -- Geromel left the Episcopal Church long before 2003, and the primary reason was his opposition to women's ordination, as these sites attest:

• http://www.anglican.tk/pblam/pblam300.htm (from 1999)
• http://www.anglican.tk/pblam/pblam179.htm (written by Geromel himself; also from 1999)
• http://www.episcopalian.org/cclec/paper-promise.htm (a pledge issued by the First Promise organization against women's ordination and signed by Geromel)

Here's the lead of the Flint Journal article:

Bishop removes Episcopal priest
SAGINAW COUNTY
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION

Friday, August 05, 2005
By George Jaksa
[email protected] • 810.766.6332

SAGINAW - The Rev. Eugene Geromel, vicar of St. Bartholomew's Church in Clayton Township for the past 21 years, officially was ousted from the Episcopal Church by his bishop Thursday.
In a brief appearance before Bishop Edwin Leidel on Thursday at the Diocese of Eastern Michigan headquarters, Geromel, 57, lost his ability to act as a priest largely because of his opposition to the church's acceptance of homosexuals.

... and again, here's a link to the whole article from the Flint Journal.

And here's coverage from Thinking Anglicans on the same subject.