Diocese of Pittsburgh Realigns!

This afternoon the diocese of Pittsburgh voted to realign with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and to depart from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church by a vote of 121 yeas (75.6%) to 33 nays, with 3 abstentions and a couple of spoiled ballots, in the house of clergy and a laity vote of 119 in favor (63.2%), while 69 voted against and 3 abstained. May our prayers be with them as this realignment is carried out on the ground, that it may be done with charity and a spirit of co-operation by those on all sides of the issue and that Christ may be further glorified in the realigned diocese.

The diocese of Pittsburgh (Southern Cone) will hold a special convention to elect a bishop on November 7th. As Bishop Duncan is now a bishop in good standing of the Province of the Southern Cone, it is all but certain (God willing) he will be elected to resume his diocesan responsibilities in the realigned diocese at that time. In the meantime Bishop Duncan has been appointed by Archbishop Venables to serve as the Southern Cone's "commissary" in Pittsburgh until the November 7th special episcopal election, and the Standing Committee of the diocese has invited him to function sacramentally in the diocese until then.