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Griswold claims to be more sorrowful than angry. "Statistically this is a tiny piece of the church," he says, "but one is always saddened when one part of the Body of Christ says to the other, 'I have no need of you.'" To the rebels' claim that they are not schismatics but the true American representatives of global Anglican sentiment, he replies dryly, "When you have a group that breaks away...you have what is known as schism." He points out that church rules against bishops' poaching on one another's territories date back to the early councils of Christianity. As an interview ends, he remarks, "I'm off to ordain a proper bishop in Tennessee."
It is unclear how much more than that he, or even Carey, can do. Unlike the Pope in Roman Catholicism, the Archbishop of Canterbury is essentially a first among equals whose best hope may be to persuade local prelates to censure the expansionist archbishops in their regions. Will their mission flourish in the U.S. in the meantime? Murphy, who combined high church rite, charismatic fervor and evangelical conservatism to octuple the attendance at his once sleepy church on Pawleys Island, S.C., looks forward to a day "when growth like we've experienced is duplicated around the country." Some are skeptical. Noting that two of the new group's priests are women but that many others in the breakaway faction are opposed to female priests, Episcopal spokeswoman Nunley says, "Secessionism is in their DNA. I'd be surprised if it didn't express itself sooner rather than later."
--With Reporting by Rita Healy/Denver