c. 2008 Religion News Service

Pittsburgh diocese votes to leave Episcopal Church

(RNS) The Diocese of Pittsburgh voted Saturday (Oct. 4) to split from the Episcopal Church, becoming the second diocese to leave the national church over differences on homosexuality and the Bible.

A wide majority of clergy and lay people _ 240 voted for succession, 102 against _ favored aligning the diocese with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

“We deeply value our shared heritage and years of friendship with those still within that denomination,” said the Rev. Peter Frank, a spokesman for the diocese. “But this diocese could not in good conscience continue down the road away from mainstream Christianity.”

Last December, the Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, Calif., became the first diocese to secede and join the more conservative Southern Cone. Two more dioceses _ Quincy, Ill., and Fort Worth, Texas _ are scheduled to hold similar secession votes next month.

Conservatives form a majority in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, but a minority in its U.S. branch, the Episcopal Church, which has 2.2 million members and 110 dioceses.

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said there is room in the church for dissent, and schism has “frequently been seen as a more egregious error than charges of heresy.”

“I believe that the vast majority of Episcopalians and Anglicans will be intensely grieved by the actions of individuals who thought it necessary to remove them(selves) from the Episcopal Church,” Jefferts Schori said.

Conservatives have long lamented what they see as the denomination’s drift away from traditional Christianity, especially on matters of sexuality and biblical interpretation. Episcopal leaders say those charges are overblown.

At least 17 of the 74 congregations in the Pittsburgh diocese want to remain part of the Episcopal Church, according to the denomination.

Jefferts Schori said the national church will help to rebuild the diocese in Pittsburgh, as it has in San Joaquin. A lengthy battle over church property and assets is expected.

Next month, Pittsburgh conservatives are expected to return Bishop Robert Duncan to office. He was defrocked by the Episcopal Church last month for advocating secession.

_ Daniel Burke

Atheists file suit over National Day of Prayer

WASHINGTON (RNS) A Wisconsin-based group of atheists and agnostics has filed suit against President Bush over the federal law designating a National Day of Prayer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which urges a strict separation of church and state, also names White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, and National Day of Prayer Task Force Chairwoman Shirley Dobson in the lawsuit filed Friday (Oct. 3).

“The point is to stop the National Day of Prayer,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the foundation, in an interview Monday.

The law, created in 1952 by Congress and signed by President Harry Truman, establishes an annual prayer day. In 1988, President Reagan amended the law, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of May.

“Designations of an official Day of Prayer by presidential and gubernatorial proclamations … create a hostile environment for nonbelievers,” the complaint says.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation maintains the law violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against an official establishment of religion.

“We hope to buttress the wall of separation of church and state,” Gaylor said.

Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit by the same group that criticized Bush’s faith-based initiative.

The recent suit charges that the National Day of Prayer Task Force has ties to James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, a nonprofit evangelical organization. Shirley Dobson is James Dobson’s wife. The task force also rents office space in the Focus on the Family headquarters.

“Presidents throughout our history have called for a national day of prayer,” said the task force’s vice chairman, Brian Toon. “This is an act of Congress.”

“They can sue if they want to, but they’re going to go against some pretty heavy people in our nation,” Toon said.

The foundation, which is based in Madison, Wis., is also suing Doyle as one of 50 governors to issue a proclamation for the prayer day. The White House had no immediate comment.

_ Brittney Bain

Parents plead not guilty in faith-healing death

OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) The parents of an Oregon City boy who died during attempts to heal him with prayer pleaded not guilty Friday (Oct. 3) to criminally negligent homicide.

Jeffrey Dean Beagley, 50, and Marci Rae Beagley, 46, quietly entered their pleas in Clackamas County Circuit Court. They made no statements and were released on bond.

A grand jury indictment accused them of “failing to provide adequate medical care to a child, in violation of the duty of a parent.”

Several of the Beagleys’ relatives attended the arraignment, including their daughter, Raylene Worthington, and her husband, Carl, whose 15-month-old daughter died under similar circumstances in March. The Worthingtons are awaiting trial on charges of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment.

Family members declined comment as did Wayne Mackeson, who represents Jeffrey Beagley. Marci Beagley appeared without an attorney.

The Beagleys belong to the Followers of Christ Church in Oregon City, a nondenominational congregation that favors spiritual healing and prayer over medical treatment.

The Beagleys’ 16-year-old son, Neil, died in June from complications of a urinary-tract blockage. An autopsy found that the boy became unable to urinate. His kidneys stopped extracting urea from his bloodstream and triggered heart failure.

The autopsy also showed that he had suffered repeated episodes of blockage and pain with no apparent medical intervention. A simple procedure such as catheterization _ inserting a tube into his bladder _ could have saved his life, according to a deputy state medical examiner.

At the time of Neil Beagley’s death, the boy was surrounded by dozens of church and family members who were praying for his recovery. Some of those present told police that the teenager chose faith healing over medical care.

If convicted, the Beagleys face a maximum of 10 years in prison. State sentencing guidelines, however, are likely to result in a sentence of 18 months or less in prison or probation.

_ Steve Mayes

Quote of the Day: The Rev. Christian Mondo

(RNS) “May they hang 10 on thy oceanic beauty and, if it be in accordance with thy gnarly divine plan, may they not wipe out.”

_ The Rev. Christian Mondo, in a prayer at the Blessing of the Waves for surfers in Huntington Beach, Calif. He was reading from a tongue-in-cheek poem by the Los Angeles Times’ Dana Parsons, and was quoted by the Associated Press.

KRE/PH END RNS