When the Church of Christ the King in Evanston opened in June, its goal was to offer dissenting conservative Episcopalians a place to worship.
But in a testament to the conservative movement rippling across many of the nation’s churches, founders now say more than 45 worshipers from multiple denominations have been sampling Anglican liturgy.
Since then, another breakaway parish, All Souls’ Anglican Fellowship, has opened at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Wheaton, reportedly drawing more than 100 parishioners, largely from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn.
While discussions about ordaining gay clergy, blessing same-sex unions and the authority of Scripture threaten to divide several Christian denominations, the split is most pronounced in the Episcopal Church. Since the church consecrated Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the denomination’s first openly gay bishop, at least 30 breakaway Anglican parishes have emerged from existing congregations.
Now as the movement gains momentum, members say they can see its broader appeal.
“There are some universal truths that need to be revisited that help us share common bonds as Christians,” said Wes Schneider, 51, a former member of the Church of the Holy Comforter, an Episcopal parish in Kenilworth. He now is acting warden at the Evanston parish. “We all have chains of Christian love that bind us.”
On a recent Sunday, about 40 parishioners quietly slid into the pews of Levere Memorial Temple, 1856 Sheridan Rd., where the Church of Christ the King is temporarily located. After readings from both the Old and New Testaments, acting rector Rev. Joseph Murphy delivered a sermon about drawing nearer to God just as Abraham did when he left his family for the Promised Land.
“If we understand the perspective of God, these things are not hard at all,” Murphy said. “The requirement of our faith is that we believe He will reward us when we draw near to Him.”
Queuing up to receive Communion, Schneider’s wife, Jeanie, instructed her rambunctious daughters to calm down and cup their hands. Then the family knelt together at the altar rail.
It was a ritual she had abandoned when she became unhappy at her former parish.
“At some point we didn’t feel comfortable taking Communion from people we felt were apostates,” she said. “Now I’m in total peace. And I’m in peace the rest of the week.”
David Skidmore, a spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, said the formation of the new suburban parishes is unfortunate.
“It’s not what we would like to see,” he said. “It takes away from our unity as a church.”
But parishioners at both new parishes believe preserving theological unity is the No. 1 priority.
At a coffee klatch after the liturgy, Andre Gazal, 36, mingled with other parishioners. Raised Baptist but attracted to the historical worship style of the Episcopal Church, he finds his views are more compatible with conservative Anglican theology. It was his second visit to the Church of Christ the King.
“I’m a pilgrim on the Canterbury trail,” he said. “I’m leaning toward the Anglican direction. At this point in the history of the church, there is a fundamental difference.”
Erik Nelson, a research associate with the Episcopal Action Program for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a conservative watchdog group, said the ecumenical appeal is not surprising.
“An alternative Anglican parish that is actually in alignment with orthodox Christianity might be appealing to those who are tired of theological progressivism that has infected the mainline churches,” he said.
But the schisms within the individual Episcopal parishes are painful for those who leave as well as those left behind.
Dick Jensen, a former parishioner at St. Mark’s now worshiping at All Souls’, said it still is hard for his wife to drive by the parish they attended for more than 30 years without breaking down.
“It’s like a death in the family,” he said.
Jim Fosdick, a former deacon who also left St. Mark’s to minister in another diocese and help the parishioners at All Souls’, felt compelled to write a letter to former fellow parishioners.
“A leave-taking of clergy under the best of circumstances is difficult,” he said. “Under these circumstances it is heartbreaking.”
Rev. Sheila Ferguson, interim rector at St. Mark’s, said the congregation also is heartbroken to a degree.
“There’s a certain amount of sadness and grief in the congregation as well as a desire to move on doing the mission and ministry of Christ,” she said.
Switching parishes on Sunday is not as easy as switching your vote on Election Day, said Jim Stoller, 58, who with his wife, Jocelyn, left St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church on Chicago’s Gold Coast to attend the Church of Christ the King.
“You can cast your vote conservatively and it doesn’t require you to begin making new friends, take the children to a new Sunday school and leave behind what they were accustomed to, what you are accustomed to,” he said.
Richard Shepro, senior warden at St. Chrysostom’s, said he regrets that the parish never had an opportunity to address the Stollers’ concerns.
“In an urban parish you’re used to people having a wide variety of views,” Shepro said. “People come to accept that.”
But members of the new parishes could not accept that. Rev. Murphy said that is not a reason to mourn. It is something to celebrate.
“What may look like the end of something is really not,” Murphy told his congregation after finishing his sermon Sunday. “God is doing a big thing in our day. This is not a time to look back.”
