GC ’06 Fallout: Christ Church Plano will “disassociate” from the Episcopal Church.

Over the weekend, Rector David+ Roseberry announced that Christ Church Plano intends to “disassociate” from the Episcopal Church “as soon as possible.” The statement may be found here and here.

Christ Church is one of the largest Episcopal congregations in the nation. And it is personally significant to me as it’s where my eyes were opened to the excellence of Anglican worship.

The timing of this decision is interesting. It is not surprising that they would leave TEC at some point. But why not wait to see what comes out in the very near future first?

But David+ Roseberry is a team player very much in touch with and an influence on the direction of orthodox Anglicans. And his move is apparently not at all in conflict with the Bishop of Dallas. As the statement reads:

We are thankful for the shepherd role of the Right Rev. James Stanton and his standing in the Anglican Communion, and we regard him as our apostolic leader. . . . You should know that our bishop is aware of our decision and is very supportive.

That begs the question of what Bishop Stanton’s plans are. Dallas is a conservative diocese with a number of parishes that would gladly follow him out of TEC should he so lead.

And the statement confidently asserts that Christ Church “will always be within the great historic family of the Anglican Communion.” Again, Roseberry+ probably has a good idea what Anglican realignment may look like. I don’t think that confident statement is bluster.

So I take this as one more indicator that something big is about to happen. Heck, it’s happening already.