Reformed Churchmen

We are Confessional Calvinists and a Prayer Book Church-people. In 2012, we remembered the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; also, we remembered the 450th anniversary of John Jewel's sober, scholarly, and Reformed "An Apology of the Church of England." In 2013, we remembered the publication of the "Heidelberg Catechism" and the influence of Reformed theologians in England, including Heinrich Bullinger's Decades. For 2014: Tyndale's NT translation. For 2015, John Roger, Rowland Taylor and Bishop John Hooper's martyrdom, burned at the stakes. Books of the month. December 2014: Alan Jacob's "Book of Common Prayer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Biography-Religious/dp/0691154813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417814005&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+book+of+common+prayer. January 2015: A.F. Pollard's "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation: 1489-1556" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-English-Reformation-1489-1556/dp/1592448658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420055574&sr=8-1&keywords=A.F.+Pollard+Cranmer. February 2015: Jaspar Ridley's "Thomas Cranmer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-Jasper-Ridley/dp/0198212879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422892154&sr=8-1&keywords=jasper+ridley+cranmer&pebp=1422892151110&peasin=198212879

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Wisconsin Court: Episcopal Diocese Wins Property Dispute Against St. Edmund's

http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/episcopal-diocese-wins-legal-dispute-with-breakaway-church-s63gkne-136006088.html

A Waukesha County judge has ruled in favor of the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee in a dispute over church property taken by an Elm Grove congregation when it broke away over theological differences in 2008.

The decision, by Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis, means members of St. Edmund's Parish who left the Episcopal Church to align with a new, more theologically conservative Anglican province must relinquish all church property and vacate the building at 14625 Watertown Plank Road.

Milwaukee Bishop Steven Miller lauded the decision and said he will begin working with St. Edmund parishioners pushed out by the split in an effort to help rebuild their congregation.

"For three years, the members of St. Edmund's Episcopal Church have been denied the use of their rightful church home," he said. "I am grateful the property will once again be used for its original purpose - the work and witness of the Episcopal Church."

The Rev. Samuel Scheibler, who was installed as rector of St. Edmund's after the split, and the church's attorney did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Marsha Ohlgart, a former church leader named along with other members in the lawsuit, said she no longer attends the church and declined to comment on the decision.

St. Edmund's was the first congregation in Wisconsin to break away from the Episcopal Church over its positions on homosexuality and other theological issues. Since then others have followed suit.

They are among dozens of parishes and four U.S. dioceses - in Fort Worth, Texas; Pittsburgh; San Joaquin, Calif.; and Quincy, Ill. - that have split from the U.S. Episcopal Church in recent years, aligning themselves with more conservative provinces in North America, Africa and Latin America.

The schism followed decades of debate over the liberal direction of the U.S. church, which consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003 and in 2009 voted to allow the ordination of openly gay clergy.

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