Plot to Make Accokeek Another Brockton, Mass. by Robert Stowe England

[David Virtue]

Plot to Make Accokeek Another Brockton

By Robert Stowe England

ACCOKEEK, Maryland -- The Diocese of Washington has a complicated plot
to eventually drive the current vestry and most of the congregation out
of its parish and to replace it with a vestry and congregation that is
willing to go along with the diocese's revisionist agenda, according to
a member of the group in the parish that supports Acting Bishop Dixon.

"We want to make this another Brockton," the sources says.

The whole idea is to duplicate in Accokeek what the Diocese of
Massachusetts did to St. Paul's in Brockton, Mass, according to member
of the group that dubbed itself "Christ Church in Exile" when it was
meeting in a communithy center over the summer and early fall.

St. Paul's left the Diocese of Massachusetts in 1996, and the diocese
sued to gain control of the propery and won a court decision from a
friendly judge that forced the vestry to hand over the keys to parish.

St. Paul's has been worshipping at a Seventh Day Adventist church near
to its own curch since their ouster and has continued to pursue a legal
remedy to regain their property.

The pro-Dixon source would not reveal the details of the plan that has
been discussed with many of the 40 or so members who remain loyal to
the bishop, including former members of Christ Church Accokeek, as well
as members of St. John's Pomonkey, a mission parish under the oversight
of Christ Church Accokeek. "We want to oust the vestry and install one
that will go along with what the diocese wants," the source says.

Evidence of a plot emerged November 4, when reporters claimed they had
been told by Carter Echols that the diocese was claiming that 86 people
had signed a petition to seek the ouster of the vestry. In addition,
there were 40 pledge cards dropped into offering plates that Sunday
that were prepared by the Diocese of Washington, according to a source
with the pro-Dixon group.

There were over 130 attending a special 10 a.m. service on November 4,
including 25 to 30 people that no one at the parish had ever seen at
Christ Church. Another 25 included people who had not been to the
parish in many years.

If the diocese were to follow the steps of the Diocese of Massachusetts
in Brockton, which has reportedly cost the Diocese of Massachusetts
millions in legal fees, the parish would first have to leave the
Episcopal Church, which it has not done and has indicated no intention
of doing.

END