Episcopal parish seeking new leadership
Springfield bishop's oversight contested
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 11, 2006

Unable to reach an accord with their conservative bishop, a progressive parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield asked for temporary alternative pastoral leadership this week.

If the request is granted, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Edwardsville would become the second progressive parish in the U.S. to take advantage of an option originally designed to allow conservative congregations to seek alternatives to liberal leadership.

Episcopal bishops fashioned the plan in March 2004 to quell tensions that threatened to divide the American church. Of the 7,600 Episcopal parishes in the U.S., 22 are overseen by bishops in other dioceses, said national church spokesman Bob Williams.

St. Andrew's rector, Rev. Virginia Bennett, the first and only female parish priest to serve in the southern Illinois diocese, said the request seemed like the only option left for her parish to function. After Bennett asked to bring a lesbian into the church, Springfield Bishop Peter Beckwith refused to confirm any newcomers at St. Andrew's, she said. the rest