Pastor Renounces Priesthood in Split With Episcopal Church
The standoff between the Episcopal Church hierarchy and a growing band of dissident traditionalists turned personal recently when a retired Episcopal priest was issued an ultimatum by his bishop: Stop dissident activities or leave the church.
The Rev. Patrick Murphy, ordained 44 years ago, renounced the priesthood this week after refusing his bishop’s orders to “cease and desist” ministering to a small Houston congregation of disaffected former Episcopalians he helped organize.
Murphy said in an interview: “It feels like a burden (is) very much off my shoulders now,” citing his continued strong opposition to church practices such as the ordination of women and homosexuals and use of female imagery in liturgical language.
Murphy’s congregation, St. Peter’s Church, has no official standing in the Episcopal Church and is one of two congregations in the country to have declared allegiance to a renegade “missionary diocese” formed by the Episcopal Synod of America.
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