Fools for Christ

News Release -- 17 October 2008

Saint Andrew’s on-the-Mount Episcopal Church
65 Mission Road
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425-6175
(304) 725-3093
http://staotm.blogspot.com
saintandrews@frontiernet.net
News Release

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Kathryn Bailey Conant
E-mail: k8conant@mac.com
Phone: 304-725-2249
Cell: 240-422-0738


For immediate Release

October 12, 2008 -- Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount Episcopal Banner

West Virginia Episcopal Parish Braves Bishop,

Continues to "Go Tell It on the Mountain"

Delegates to Challenge Snubs at Convention Oct. 24

Parish Protests Pariah Status

Mountain Mission, WV -- 17 October 2008

The Parish of Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount Episcopal Church, Mountain Mission, WV, dedicated new banners bearing the Episcopal shield on Sunday morning, October 12,  2008, braving attempts by the Rt. Rev. W. Michie Klusmeyer, VII Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia, to dissolve the parish.

Kathryn Bailey Conant, lay delegate, and Preston Roush, alternate delegate, will arrive at the 131st Annual Convention of the Diocese of West Virginia at Lakeview Golf Resort and Spa on Cheat Lake near Morgantown, WV, on Friday morning, October 24, 2008 to claim their seats according to the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of West Virginia.  The convention will continue through Sunday, October 26, 2008.

Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount sent in the required certification of its lay delegate and alternate delegate in July 2008 and registration forms for Conant and Roush in early September.  The diocese is holding the check and has sent no acknowledgement of the registrations, normally sent to all clergy and lay delegates, alternates, and guests.

Kathryn Bailey Conant has two resolutions before the Annual Convention:

(Resolution 4) Continued recognition of the Parish of Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount, Mountain Mission

(Resolution 5) Concerning: Cession of Territory to the Diocese of Virginia

[the area of West Virginia east of the Shenandoah River]

The hearings on the resolutions will take place at 8:30 pm on Friday, October 24, with voting scheduled for Saturday, October 25.

People of  the parish have mailed a letter to all convention delegates, all supporting Resolution 4 and most supporting Resolution 5.

Going Forward Within the Episcopal Church to "Go Tell it on the Mountain"

Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount Episcopal Parish has neither asked to leave the Episcopal Church nor close and continues holding Sunday services and serving the community daily through the Mountain Community Center.

Mountain Mission is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, West Virginia, on the Blue Ridge just east of the Shenandoah River.  The church of Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount was built in 1889 and is on 20 acres of land, including a cemetery, rectory, and stone parish hall (Saint Andrew's Mountain Community Center) which was dedicated on October 1, 1904, by Bishop W. L. Gravatt.  Recognized as an Episcopal parish since 1989, Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount has for more than a century been a focal point for community activities for Mountain Mission and neighboring areas such as Mannings and Shannondale.

Parish made pariah

On March 3, 2008, the Rt. Rev. W. Michie Klusmeyer, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia, based 300 miles away in Charleston, WV, curtly announced at a meeting of the Nelson Cluster of Episcopal Churches that he was "closing" Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount as of July 1, 2008.

The Nelson Cluster dissolved on July 1, 2008.  It comprised over the years seven congregations in Jefferson County:  the parish of Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount, Mountain Mission; and the missions of Saint Philip's, Charles Town; Grace, Middleway; Church of the Holy Spirit, Summit Point; Saint John's, Rippon; Saint Bartholomew's, Leetown; and Saint John's, Harpers Ferry.  

The people of Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount and over 100 friends and neighbors asked the bishop to reconsider his decision.  A second service at 7 pm Sundays began in April, attendance at worship  increased greatly, and the parish received pledges of contributions through the end of 2008 and is fiscally solvent.  The bishop told the senior warden, "You're too late", and wrote to the parish that he was "unwilling to reconsider" his decision "to close St. Andrew's effective July 1, 2008" and stated that  his financial officer and attorneys would "be working to transfer the title of the property back to the Trustees of the Diocese, as well as arranging for other legal necessities."

Since July 1, 2008, Bishop Klusmeyer and his staff returned monthly contributions from the parish, removed Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount from its list of churches, claimed to insure the property as diocesan property, persuaded local supply clergy to decline to celebrate Holy Eucharist at Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount, and refused to discuss reasons for these actions, which were taken contrary to the Constitution and Canons of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church and the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia. 

Dedication of Banners 12 October 2008

On Sunday, 12 October 2008, we of Saint Andrew's-on-the-Mount dedicated our two new 4'x4' banners along Mission Road.

Our current vestry members are:

Preston Roush

Kate Conant

Cora Jane Roush

Willis Nowell, Jr