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PROGRESSIVE EPISCOPALIANS OF PITTSBURGH
Contact: Joan R. Gundersen, Vice President Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh Telephone: +1 (412) 799-0440 E-mail: jrgunder@hotmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Episcopal Church Supporters Counter Network Videos
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — January 16, 2006 — Supporters of the Episcopal Church are making available a handout intended to counter the anti–Episcopal-Church rhetoric of videos being distributed on DVD and on the World Wide Web. The videos, premiered at its “Hope and a Future” conference in Pittsburgh in November, are being promoted by the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDAP), The two-page handout, “False Choices and Bad Decisions: Facts behind ‘Choose This Day’,” is the product of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (PEP).
The reputedly independently produced videos, “Choose This Day” and “The Decision,” accuse the Episcopal Church of abandoning Christianity for paganism, and they encourage congregations to leave the church and put themselves under the authority of bishops of other Anglican provinces (churches). A small number of congregations have actually done this, and others, largely at the urging of dissident clergy, are considering such a move.
“The new handout is designed to help faithful Episcopalians in congregations being pressured by the AAC [American Anglican Council] and the Network [NACDAP], who are using the videos to make an emotional and misleading appeal,” explained PEP board member, Lionel Deimel. “The flyer tries to set the record straight, particularly with regard to the nature of traditional Anglicanism, which seems to be misunderstood by these groups.”
A representative example of setting the record straight is this excerpt from “False Choices”:
· The videos claim that the Episcopal Church has been on the road to heresy ever since it refused to try Bishop Pike in 1966.
Fact: The Episcopal Church can hardly be said to have endorsed James Pike’s views. The House of Bishops voted to censure Bishop Pike’s theology as “offensive” and “irresponsible.” Bishop Pike resigned as a bishop and left the Episcopal Church.
Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh is committed to a vision of the Episcopal Church as an open and welcoming body, a view shared by the majority of Episcopalians. As part of its mission, PEP seeks to ensure that people have accurate information as they make important decisions about their faith community. The NACDAP videos, unfortunately, cloud the issues more than they illuminate them. The PEP handout will help to cut through the fog of rhetoric and provide a voice of reason at a crucial time in the life of the Episcopal Church.
The PEP handout can be downloaded from http://progressiveepiscopalians.org/html/falsechoices.pdf.
This press release is available on the Web at http://progressiveepiscopalians.org/html/2006-01-16videos.htm.
Contact: Joan R. Gundersen, Vice President Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh Telephone: +1 (412) 799-0440 E-mail: jrgunder@hotmail.com
On the Web: PEP: http://progressiveepiscopalians.org Via Media USA: http://viamediausa.org Videos: http://anglicandecision.com Videos for sale at: http://www.acn-us.org/archive/2005/12/cds-dvds-ready-to-ship.html
Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh is an organization of clergy and laypeople committed to the unity and diversity of the Episcopal Church, and of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. It is a member of the Via Media USA alliance.
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