CANON David Cannon, newly appointed Priest-in-Charge of Bishop Seabury Episcopal Church in Groton, Connecticut, was denied entry to the church when he arrived to take up the post last week.
The church is one of the so-called Connecticut Six, who unsuccessfully charged the Bishop of Connecticut, the Rt Revd Andrew Smith, with violating the US Episcopal Church’s canons after inhibiting the churches’ six rectors. Most congregation members broke away (News, 20 April 2007) after Bishop Smith supported Gene Robinson’s consecration.
The parish’s former Rector, the Revd David Gauss, resigned from the Episcopal Church in January. He and the vestry joined the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. A diocesan press statement said: “The parish has been a valued member of our diocese for over a century and the departure of parishioners, while regretted, will not end that storied history. Rather, the diocese will work with the congregation of the parish and with Father Cannon to grow that community of faith so that it can continue to serve Christ in Groton and south-eastern Connecticut.”
The online Connecticut newspaper TheDay.com reported that Canon Cannon was not given the keys or granted access to the church’s records: “Cannon, however, said he does not have any hard feelings. He accepted the appointment well aware of the ongoing tug of war between church parishioners and the Episcopal diocese of Connecticut.”
Mr Gauss told the paper that Canon Cannon had no parishioners to minister to, since “100 per cent” had left the Episcopal Church.
The Bishop Suffragan of Connecticut, the Rt Revd James Curry, is quoted as saying that he did not know whether there were parishioners who wished to receive services from an Episcopalian pastor, but that “it has been our experience in other parishes where congregants have left for another church that there are others who would like to remain Episcopal.”
Bishop Smith is on sabbatical.
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