Virginia Remnant Vows to Stay Faithful

From England, the Church Times has published an article, "Virginia remnant vows to stay faithful to ECUSA." It begins:

Thirty members of one of the Virginia congregations that voted to secede from the Episcopal Church in the United States to join the Church of Nigeria have declared their opposition to the majority decision. They have pledged to continue as the Episcopalian presence in their community.

The organising group from St Stephen’s, Heathville, describes itself as “a large, viable remnant”. The Episcopal News Service quotes one of the group, Dawn Mahaffey, as saying: “We are prepared to continue to operate St Stephen’s as an Episcopal church, and I think we have people who will agree to accept leadership positions and to carry on the work.”

Another member, Sandra Kirkpatrick, spoke of a meeting a week before the vote was taken on 17 December. “Two of the speakers who wished to secede from the Episcopal Church [ECUSA] told those of us sitting in the congregation that if we voted ‘no’, we were imperilling our immortal souls. That was hard to hear.

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