No one in the Episcopal Church hierarchy knows what will happen at Christ Church in Accokeek, Md., once push really comes to shove. <\/p>\n\n
But everyone knows the bitter battle for control of the 303-year-old Colonial parish is a big story, perhaps even a pivotal one in the global Anglican wars over sex, salvation and the Bible. But it\u2019s getting hard to pin down the precise details. <\/p>\n\n
What happened last week when parish leaders denied Washington, D.C., Bishop Jane Holmes Dixon access to their altar? How many parishioners worshipped inside? How many joined Dixon for her quick Mass on a nearby basketball court and how many of those were imported activists? Who heckled whom? How many bishops joined in this liturgical circus? And what in the world really happened when a parish officer collided with the bishop\u2019s husband? <\/p>\n\n
The firebrand cyber-scribe David Virtue reported that, during chaos caused by a heckler, \u201cjunior warden Frank MacDonough stepped forward to take control of the situation. Immediately Dixon\u2019s husband David M. Dixon stepped forward and placed both his hands on the shoulders of the warden pushing him back. A verbal exchange ensued.\u201d MacDonough finally exclaimed, \u201cYou don\u2019t put your hands on me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Virtue added: \u201cI have been informed that there is every likelihood that charges will be pressed against both Dixons. The complaint against Jane Dixon is for trespassing and against David Dixon for assault.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
That would certainly be news. However, an Episcopal News Service (www.dfms.org\/ens<\/a>) story about Accokeek didn\u2019t mention the shove in question and neither did the next day\u2019s Washington Post report. <\/p>\n\n Everyone has a story to tell. But, these days, the stories that are shaping life in the Episcopal Church and other religious bodies are often laced with conflicting plots and details. <\/p>\n\n The web is like that. Thus, some consider it a font of venom and warped information. Others believe it\u2019s opening doors that must be opened. After all, as St. Luke warned religious leaders: \u201cWhatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.\u201d A modern paraphrase might be: \u201cDon\u2019t say things that you wouldn\u2019t want to see on the Internet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n \u201cThe big boys,\u201d said Virtue, \u201chave always assumed that they get to control all of the juicy information in the church. Well, they can\u2019t do that anymore and they\u2019re freaking out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n The Accokeek battle is the kind of story that has sent rising numbers of Anglican readers \u2014 around the world \u2014 to the \u201cVirtuosity\u201d (www.orthodoxanglican.org\/virtuosity<\/a>) site for online reports. Virtue\u2019s critics have a name for this \u2014 propaganda. <\/p>\n\n \u201cA lot of journalism in the Episcopal Church today \u2026 is nothing short of muckraking. It\u2019s descended to that level,\u201d said Bishop Steven Charleston of Episcopal Divinity School in Massachusetts, speaking to the national Episcopal Communicators. \u201cThere\u2019s so much glop that goes on to email systems and into print that is considered to be news \u2014 it\u2019s just shameful.\u201d <\/p>\n\n Virtue and other web conservatives are not alone. The church\u2019s left wing has long looked for news and commentary in the sprawling site created at Rutgers University by Louie Crew (www.andromeda.rutgers.edu\/~lcrew<\/a>), founder of Integrity for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Episcopalians. He now sits on the national church\u2019s executive council. Other readers turn to AnglicansOnline.org<\/a> and a host of establishment sites. <\/p>\n\n The bookish leader of the Episcopalians keeps trying to tame the Internet tornado. <\/p>\n\n Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold wants journalists who cover his church to \u201ctake the high road\u201d and focus on \u201cthe work of reconciliation\u201d while weaving together the \u201cdivergent dimensions of truth that exist among us.\u201d Sadly, he told a forum at the Episcopal Media Center, there is a lot of \u201cdubious communication that is making its way round the church, serving highly partisan ends and serving \u2026 causes of division and conflict, characterized by untruths and misrepresentations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n These are the kinds of Zen-like quotations that make Virtue cackle with glee and rush to his computer. <\/p>\n\n \u201cLet me unspin all of that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe World Wide Web is driving these guys nuts, so they want to nail my hide to the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No one in the Episcopal Church hierarchy knows what will happen at Christ Church in Accokeek, Md., once push really comes to shove. But everyone knows the bitter battle for control of the 303-year-old Colonial parish is a big story, perhaps even a pivotal one in the global Anglican wars over sex, salvation and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n