Accokeek and Bishop Chane Reach Agreement
Fr. Arpee Named Rector of Christ Church

By Robert Stowe England
August 29, 2002

ACCOKEEK, Maryland -- The vestry of Christ Church, Accokeek and the
recently installed Washington, D.C. Bishop John Chane announced in a
joint press conference that they had reach an agreement to resolve some
of the legal and pastoral issues that placed the parish at odds with
former Acting Bishop Jane Dixon.

In the agreement Bishop Chane accepts the vestry's choice of Fr.
Stephen Arpee as its rector. Fr. Arpee has been the priest-in-charge
since Fr. Edwards was ousted late last year.

The settlement follows nearly three months of negotiations between
Bishop Chane and the Canon of the Ordinary, Paul Cooney, on one side and
the vestry of the parish and its senior leadership, on the other side.

Negotiations for the vestry were led by Senior Warden Barbara Sturman.
The talks were held at lunch time at a local restaurant, Mama Stella's,
and are expected to continue in an effort to resolve other matters in
dispute.

Sturman welcomed Fr. Arpee as rector. "Both Fr. Arpee and his wife Janet
have been working with us for months. They provide stability, sound
Biblical theology, and a hometown down-to-earth family oriented approach
that is very compatible with our parish."

The announcement also closes the chapter of the parish's determined
effort to keep Fr. Sam Edwards as rector against a relentless public
relations and legal campaign waged by former Acting Bishop Jane Dixon.
Her legal expenses could tally up to nearly $1 million, according to
some estimates.

The vestry's call of Fr. Edwards was rejected by former Acting Bishop
Jane Dixon in March 2001, 83 days after he was called -- long past the
30-day review period church canons set for a bishop's review. Fr.
Edwards, noting that the call was perfectly legal, came to the parish in
late March of last year and served as rector until the end of October.

The loss of Fr. Edwards is still troubling to the parish.

"The sad part of this press conference is that Christ Church Accokeek
has to say a final goodbye to a wonderful rector and priest in Fr.
Samuel Edwards," Sturman said.

"Not only do we mourn the loss of him and his family, but we also mourn
for the Episcopal Church to have lost such a great and godly man. Fr.
Edwards is a great scholar, a wonderful teacher of Scripture, and a
devout Christian. His presence, and that of his lovely family, will be
greatly missed. Our love and prayers go with them."

Fr. Edwards left the Episcopal Church in June to join the Anglican
Province of Christ the King, a continuing Anglican body. He has become
rector of a start-up parish, the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, that has
been meeting in various locations in southern Maryland since early July
and hopes to announce a temporary home soon.

Sturman also took the opportunity to thank all those "across the
continent and around the globe" who have supported the parish through
its long struggle against Dixon's rejection of Fr. Edwards, who was
ousted by the U.S. District Court of Maryland southern division by Judge
Peter Messitte. His injunction was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals
in Richmond in May.

Sturman also thank Fr. Charles Nalls, who as a partner in deKieffer &
Horgan, has been legal counsel for the parish. Fr. Nalls was not present
at the conference. "The vestry would especially like to thank Fr.
Charles Nalls for his legal expertise and the monumental efforts he has
made on our behalf. We will be forever indebted to him."

Paul Cooney, Canon to the Ordinary, read a joint statement of Bishop
Chane and the vestry which stated that the parish was also abandoning
its plan to seek a writ of certiorari to have the U.S. Supreme Court
review the appeals court decision.

Sources familiar with the talks say that there are ongoing efforts to
resolve the injunction, which is still in place and puts restrictions on
the vestry and Fr. Edwards. Bishop Chane declined to comment on the
matter in a question period following the prepared statements.

Bishop Chane, in his prepared remarks, expressed hope that this could be
the beginning of re-establishing trust between the diocese and the
parish.

"These actions are taken following the compass points of trust and
mutual respect while at the same time claiming our differences and
realizing that we must continue as rector, vestry, people, and bishop in
an ongoing dialogue to seek that place where we are able to lift up to
the larger church and the Anglican Communion the strength of our mutual
ministry with one another. We believe that the time is now right to
proceed in this direction."

Bishop Chane asked for "prayers for all those persons at Christ Church,
in the Diocese of Washington and in the larger Anglican Communion who
now seek a new opportunity to heal and grow together in Christ's love
and forgiveness. The time of fractured relationships must end if we are
to do Christ's work in a hungry and broken world."

Sturman, who said she had mixed emotions about the day, made it clear
that the agreement did not settle all differences between the
traditional parish and the liberal bishop. "We have reached a point
where we, both the Diocese of Washington, and Christ Church, Accokeek,
can currently exist together, while at the same time acknowledging some
serious theological differences."

Bishop Chane expects to make an episcopal visitation to the parish in
late September and Sturman said the parish would welcome him.

Sturman thanked Chane for "his willingness to take time to try to
understand Christ Church Accokeek and the people's lives that have been
ripped apart by the ordeal of the past year."

The divisions created in the parish still remain. Dixon had supported a
dissident group that met separately at a community building for five
months. Only about 7 or 8 of the 40 to 50 people who attended those
services have been coming to Christ Church since Fr. Arpee became
priest-in-charge, according to vestry member Wes Courtney.

"Now we can begin to move forward with love and trust," Sturman said.
"Hopefully, many relationships will be restored as together we learn
anew the meaning of Jesus' forgiveness."

Chane, in a comment at the end of the press conference, said, "I can't tell
you how much respect I have for the leadership of this congregation"
and the way they handled the negotiations with him and Cooney. The
bishop said the parish leaders were "always courteous, always
forthright" and "were really kind to us when feelings were really raw."

Fr. Arpee described himself as the "accidental rector," surprised to
assume the new responsibility after "both me and my wife thought we had
retired." He said he hopes that this would become a period of stability
for the parish. "It is a great privilege to be here for awhile," he
said. He acknowledge that a difficult future may lie ahead and that
"only God knows" if it "will take a lot for the church to move one" or
whether the church will have smooth sailing.

Bishop Chane, in response to a question from the author, stated that he
would in the future accept the call of a Forward in Faith rector by a
parish in the diocese -- including Christ Church, Accokeek. Fr. Edwards
was head of Forward in Faith in Ft. Worth before coming to Accokeek last
year.

"A congregation, including this one, has the right to call a person it
thinks best fits its ministry," he said.

Members of the parish present at the press conference expressed sorrow
at the loss of Fr. Edwards. "It gets me in tears," said Wes Courtney.
"We all know what Fr. Edwards and his family have gone through is
horrible."

One parishioner, Hank Xander, said the parish's long struggle might help
other parishes that have the same problem. While no one was willing to call
the new agreement a victory, it was seen as a positive step forward. It
revealed just how bad the Episcopal Church has become, Xander said.

Parish members were unsure how Bishop Chane would handle the situation
if the Episcopal Church approves same-sex blessings next year. While the
parish has taken steps to give the vestry power to affiliate with other
bishops, including those not in the Episcopal Church, the vestry was not
ready to leave the Episcopal Church, one of its members stated.

Fr. Charles Nalls, who spent probably hundreds of hours on behalf of the
parish as their attorney and who was ordained a priest in the Anglican
Province of Christ the King during this struggle, suggested that the
settlement represents "a return to the status quo ante before the call of Fr. 
Edwards to the parish."

This settlement appears to render Dixon's battle against Fr. Edwards to
have accomplished very little. "Nothing was accomplished other than
spending a million dollars of the diocese's money," Fr. Nalls said.

Dixon could not really take much comfort in the fact that Fr. Edwards
left the Episcopal Church, since he is still resident in the area within the
boundaries of the diocese and is still functioning as an Anglican priest. 
"People in the fight for the faith once delivered know where they can go
now and find a godly priest. Her desire to drive Sam Edwards away has 
not been realized,"  Fr. Nalls said.

END