Episcopal conservatives set alliance

PITTSBURGH - A leading Episcopal conservative announced plans for a partnership yesterday that aims to create an alternative to the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church.

Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, whose diocese is considering breaking away from the national denomination, said the group will be called the Common Cause Partnership.

The founders are a mix of groups with varying ties to the Episcopal Church and the world Anglican Communion. Among the members will be Episcopal dioceses and parishes that have broken away or plan to split from the national church, congregations that have never been part of the Episcopal Church and fellowships that are considered schismatic by the Anglican Communion.

Duncan said that forming a separate North American church structure for conservatives is "necessary because of the drift of the church in the West."

"We're in a time of reformation," Duncan said.

The partnership will include the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a network of Episcopal parishes that have split from the U.S. denomination and have aligned with Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, an outspoken critic of Episcopal acceptance of gay relationships.

According to the Episcopal Church, about 66 of its more than 7,000 parishes have either left or voted to leave the national church, or have lost a significant number of members and clergy. *