Robbo:

Seriously, what is the claim against the vestry? My question is completely self-serving; I'm wondering if there is anything to which I should pay attention as I become a slightly rambuncitous parish council member.

As for your family, understandable and not surprising. One thought: think of baby-naming as a possible framework for familial communication. The policy that my wife and I adopted was one of silence until birth. Simply put, most well-intentioned folks can't help but comment upon the suitability of a particular name before the blessed arrival of said child. And of course, we weren't looking for anyone's approval. But that same helpful person -- if first presented with a little newborn and then informed of the same name -- will coo in happy agreement.

Fait accompli, baby. Something to consider. Think Rubicon, not Tiber. Alea jacta est your way across when you're darn well ready.

Ooooh, well, there's a long legal answer having to do with the ECUSA's canonical laws, local parish governance by clergy and vestry and the issue of trusteeship of the local church property.

The real reason for naming all those individuals in the suits and trying to tag them for personal liability, IMHO, has more to do with making an example for anybody else who might be contemplating leaving Our Big Happy Family and taking the alter rails with them.

I'm still steaming over the direct threat made by the Diocese to the rest of us (including self) when this business broke last December. Naked bullying is what it amounts to.

I'd probably present it to your family more as a Ronald Reagan/Zell Miller Democrats type scenario -- "I didn't leave the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Church left me." I think, in your situation, that's correct, too -- the faith of your youth was not the faith of Spong and Schori; the Episcopal ship is leaving port, the question is, how far does it go before you have to jump overboard?

Here are your options, as I see them.

1. Stay with TEC, and prepare for the doctrinal/liturgical outrages to come. I actually think this would be more difficult than leaving, which is not to say that it is necessarily the correct course -- sometimes the harder course is the wrong one.
2. The Nigerians.
3. The Continuing Anglican Movement.
4. Rome/Anglican Use, Pastoral Provision (if there is a church near you).
5. Rome, Here Comes Everybody edition.
6. The more conservative Lutherans (they have a left-right-center split of their own going on as I understand it).
7. The Orthodox Church.

The question I then ask is, given how close all of these things are to one another sacramentally and doctrinally, do you think in 20 years, given the threat Christianity faces, both internal and external, they will keep apart from one another? I read today that the Russian Church is talking with Rome, as is the Greek Church, as are the Lutherans, as are the Anglicans. I think if you jump to any other of these ships from TEC, you may well end up, down the road, being buried from a church that is in communion with Rome.

My question is, are you a Protestant? I mean, is independence from Rome and Sola Scriptura that important to you? Is it central to your faith, and if so, why? If you're a Protestant, than the Nigerians/CAM or Lutherans are your answer for the time bring. If you are not, necessarily, centrally, at heart a Protestant, then the Orthodox Church/Rome are probably your better bet.

Also, is the liturgy central to your decision? I'd hate to see you come across the Tiber only to have regrets over the real or perceived banality of the liturgy -- when you could end up in Nigeria/CAM and end up in communion down the road.

So if I were you, I'd ask yourself two questions --

1. Am I a Protestant, and if so, why?
2. How much do I love my current liturgy?

I'll tell you in my case, I do not love the modern Catholic liturgy. But to me, that is something I'm willing to treat with occasional does of the Tridentine rite, because fundamentally, I am a Catholic, and am willing to tolerate the banality of modern liturgy because of the other benefits, the primary one of which, as I see it, is this -- if Bishop Spong were a Catholic, he'd be excommunicated. The Catholic church tries to do many things, but reconciling diametrically opposed views for sake of peace in the house is not one of them. Some folks do not believe in authority and magisterium. Some of us find it necessary.

Which brings us ot your first question -- are you a Protestant, and if so, why?

You've pretty much got it covered. (BTW, Mom and I are not disputing whether to jump the ECUSA ship, but rather where to land.)

My current leaning is still to try and stick with the Anglican movement (not Nigeria - I really have no interest in going that way). To that end, I've thought more than once of a local Anglican Catholic Church of which several people here have said very encouraging things. I suppose I'm also hemming and hawing until I get some sense of what the Communion will do once the ECUSA is chucked out or stripped of varsity status or whatever it is that's going to happen this coming year (and what my own parish will do in response).

My main hesitancy about going rump Anglican is the fear that whatever is left will continue to splinter even more, thereby necessitating the process of starting yet again. (The ECUSA is hoping for this, btw, so that disgruntled conservatives will have no choice but to come crawling back to it. FWIW, I believe this to be a false hope.)

In the meantime, yes, those questions about Rome are the ones I'm starting to sort out. Which is why I'm particularly interested in authors like Cardinal Newman who came out of the same background as me. The importance of the liturgy to me is beyond a doubt. Whether I could accept surrendering independence to Rome is a question to which I don't have an answer yet because I've never had to ask it before.

Robbo, being a believing Catholic -one that actually chose to go to Rome rather than being a poor slob who was born under its rule- is often perceived worse than being a child molester..

Particularly the higher the checkbook or the higher amount in the old family trustfund.

That said, being a Catholic -one who chose the Church of one's own free will is a delight, a comfort, and, more importantly, a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Keep studying and really ponder the idea of whether you are a Protestant. That should decide all of your future movements.

By the way, that test is wierd. I came up as the same Father as you eventhough I checked the box "hit the guy with an mallet and question his masculinity" Somehow I suspect the lawyer in you would never do that.

And for this idea:

"so that disgruntled conservatives will have no choice but to come crawling back to it"

There are quite a few parishoners, priests and even a Bishop or two who thought that about us...

Oddly, Robbo, from my point of view, I would have said Nigeria was the most likely bet for you. The positives, to me, are the lowest chance of future fracture (outside of Rome or Athens), plus the retention of the liturgy you love. To me, the Nigerians seem to be the best life raft out of TEC. There's a good argument to be made there ecclesiastically, liturgically, and doctrinally.

What's the downside -- other than you might join a parish that then gets sued out of existence by TEC? They'll undoubtedly open new parishes.

By the way, keep in mind that I am making the case for the Nigerians (or for anyone except Rome) arguendo, and ultimately think you'll cross the Tiber, though the exact bridge and day are by no means clear). I believe in the old scholastic approach of removing all possbile objection first, as it worked well for Aquinas :-).