PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C.  Leaders of an Episcopal church are challenging the actions of their bishop, saying he had no reason to take over the church.
According to The Post and Courier, the vestry of All Saints Episcopal Church issued a statement saying they had not left the denomination, so Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina Bishop Edward Salmon had no authority to remove them from office. The vestry includes the priest and lay leaders called wardens.
"By attempting to excommunicate the vestry members and remove the control of All Saints from its appropriate governing body, the bishop and the diocese have exceeded their authority derived from its canons," the vestry said in the statement.
Salmon said he removed the vestry last week because they voted to leave the denomination. He also said he demoted the 1,000-member church to a mission and would appoint a new vestry. (See related story, Defiant church brought under diocesan control.)
Members of the vestry said they merely voted to set up a committee to study what it would take to leave the denomination. They had already told Salmon they couldn't remain part of the denomination much longer.
Both Salmon and the leaders of All Saints have been critical of the denomination's increasingly liberal views on homosexuality, the newspaper reported. Salmon has urged members to remain in the church.
