By AILEEN M. STRENG
astreng@potomacnews.com
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The Rev. John Guernsey, rector of All Saints' Church in Dale City, will not leave his 850-member congregation when he assumes his new position as a bishop for the Anglican Church of Uganda this fall.
"I'm still serving here and still have the responsibility to care for this congregation," said Guernsey, 54, who has led the church since 1981. "My heart is here. It's my primary calling."
The consecration, which was announced last month, is set for Sept. 2 in Mbarara, Uganda.
As bishop, Guernsey will oversee 26 churches and 70 clergy in the United States. The churches are located throughout the country: New York, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, Montana and California.
There are four in Virginia: Eternity Anglican Church in Richmond; South Riding Church and Church of the Holy Spirit, both in eastern Loudoun County; as well as Christ Our Lord Church in Lake Ridge. All Saints' started the Christ Our Lord Church.
"It's a bit overwhelming right now," said Guernsey.
Part of Guernsey's responsibilities as bishop will be to visit and minister to the congregations that have joined the Ugandan church.
"While they have been blessed with their relationship with a bishop in Uganda, there have been some real challenges with having a bishop 6,000 miles away," Guernsey said. "They seem to be very eager to have someone closer at hand to support them, to come for services like confirmations and ordinations."
All Saints', which was established as an Episcopal Church in 1980, is one of many which, in recent years, decided to split from the American Episcopal Church.
There are 70 million Anglicans worldwide organized in 38 branches, including the American Episcopal Church. The Anglican Church of Uganda and the Church of England are others.
"The Episcopal Church has been on a trajectory away from Biblical authority and the theological and historic teachings of the church for a number of years and a number of individuals and congregations have separated from the Episcopal Church," Guernsey said.
The separation movement gained momentum in 2003 with the consecration of the openly homosexual New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson.
"Those actions precipitated an unprecedented crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion," Guernsey said.
As a result, the Archbishop of Canterbury called the first emergency meeting of primates, the bishops and archbishops who oversee the 38 branches of worldwide Anglican Communion, Guernsey said.
"It's not a matter of simply a few alienated Episcopalians not going along with the latest thing. Rather, it was an action which had been advised against by all the authorities within the Anglican Communion," Guernsey said.
This included all four authorities, or Instruments of Unity, for the global Anglican Church. Church leaders warned that consecrating Robinson would "tear the fabric of the Anglican Communion at its deepest level," Guernsey said.
"The Episcopal Church defiantly said, 'We are going to do it anyway,' " Guernsey said.
"It was tremendously painful to people here and to people around the world and indeed, it has caused this grievous rift in the church. The Episcopal Church has continued on its path of defiance and the rift has only grown," Guernsey said.
"[At All Saints',] the congregation has been very clear about standing for Biblical authority and historic teaching," he said. "As we saw that the Episcopal Church was determined to continue along another path, we tried in every way to take our stand humbly and amicably with the Bishop of Virginia in prayerful conversation and negotiations."
After 15 months of talks, All Saints' separated from the American Episcopal Church in December.
"We were able to come to an amicable separation and we are very thankful that we were able to do that," Guernsey said.
Unlike other Episcopal churches in the region that are separating and are now embroiled in legal battles over the ownership of church property, All Saints' was able to negotiate an agreement.
Under the agreement, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia retains ownership of All Saints' church property on Saratoga Lane. All Saints' retains ownership of 27 acres along Gideon Drive in Dale City, where it plans to build a new church.
All Saints' will rent the church property on Saratoga Lane for a dollar a year for the next five years while it builds its new church.
"It really was a win-win agreement and we are very thankful for the way it all was handled," he said.
When deciding to separate, aligning itself with the Anglican Church of Uganda appeared to be a natural fit, Guernsey said. Other regional churches have chosen other African Anglican churches to join.
"We have had a longstanding relationship and partnership with the Church of Uganda," he said.
Guernsey first visited Uganda in 1989 and has visited four times since, ministering and teaching. So have other members of All Saints'. Visits also have been made to All Saints' by members of the Uganda Anglican Church for the same purpose.
Guernsey has been involved in the national Anglican Communion Network, the umbrella organization of about 900 congregations, clergy and laypeople wanting to remain faithful to the Anglican teachings including those who increasing have decided to separate from the Episcopal Church.
"Because of my role in that, I've had some responsibility in looking after some other churches. And, because of my relationship with the Church of Uganda, I guess it was their judgment in selecting someone to take this responsibility [of bishop] that led to putting that responsibility on me," Guernsey said.
With the settlement reached over the church property, All Saints' can now proceed with its new building project. The property has been rezoned and the new structure designed. Raising money to build the church is now underway.
"I felt for many, many years that God wants me here. He has given us a wonderful and huge mission to build a new church to more effectively serve this community and I'm very excited to be a part of that," Guernsey said. "I have every reason to believe that we will be on the land well in advance of five years."
All Saints' current church building is 12,000-square feet and the sanctuary seats 350. The design for the new 60,000-square foot building will include a sanctuary that will seat 800.
Additionally, it will include space for adult education, a prayer and healing center, fellowship, children and youth centers, music and a daytime drop-in center for the homeless. Future plans call for a free medical clinic for the poor.
"We're moving forward. We view this as a positive time and opportunity to serve with the Church of Uganda," Guernsey said. "This is all about doing the mission work of the church, to do what we are called to do."
Guernsey said the news of his selection as a bishop has been well received at All Saints'.
"People here have been supportive. The lay leaders, the Vestry, have been very prayerful and very clear that they believe that this is something that God is calling me to do, and that this is something that this church is being called to be a part of," Guernsey said.
"In a sense, this congregation is joining in on sending me out to do this work and will be directly involved in many ways," he said. "When I travel, I hope others will be coming along and we will serve the churches together.
"It certainly is a challenge to do all of this but I know God is calling me to do the mission as a bishop in a way that doesn't undermine what I am also called to do here at All Saints'," Guernsey said. "The leadership here in the congregation is committed to finding ways to do this together so that the ministry thrives here even as I support the churches around the country."
Guernsey and his wife, Meg, have two sons, Nathaniel, 25 and Michael, 22.
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