By Caryle Murphy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 25, 2001; Page B01

An Episcopal priest yesterday rejected conditions imposed by his bishop for staying at his Prince George's County parish, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown Sunday, when both clerics say they intend to preside at the church's morning worship services.

The bitter dispute between Jane Holmes Dixon, acting bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and the Rev. Samuel L. Edwards, of the 303-year-old Christ Church in Accokeek, goes to the core issue of authority in the mainline church. An increasingly vocal minority objects to the denomination's acceptance of such practices as ordaining women and blessing same-sex marriages.

"This is not a question of theology. It's a question of canon law," Dixon, 64, said yesterday in an interview. "Absolutely, I will be there for the 9 o'clock service. We'll see what happens."

Edwards said he plans to preside as usual. "I'm going on the assumption that we'll have services as normal on Sunday, and I'm planning to officiate," he said in an interview. "We'll just have to roll with the punches."

Edwards, 46, is former head of Forward in Faith, a Texas-based group of Episcopal clergy and laity that supports what it calls "traditionalist" church positions. It opposes abortion, gender-inclusive language for God, and the ordination of women and non-celibate homosexuals.

In his writings, Edwards has called his denomination "the Unchurch" and the Episcopal hierarchy "hell-bound machinery" because of its increasingly liberal teachings. Two months ago, he declared that if his parish of 206 members decides to leave the denomination, "I'll be with them."

The quarrel began in December when the vestry, or governing board, of Christ Church invited Edwards to be its rector. Under church law, Dixon, who was the second woman elevated to bishop in her church, had 30 days to approve his call.

Dixon, whose diocesan office is next to Washington National Cathedral, said she was alerted to Edwards's views by some Christ Church parishioners and set up a meeting with him on Jan. 10, well within the 30-day limit.

Edwards canceled that meeting by e-mail, and the two were not able to reschedule a meeting until Feb. 26, Dixon said. At that encounter, Edwards "could not give me the guarantees I was seeking" about his acceptance of her authority and church laws, particularly ones governing ownership of parish property, Dixon said.

Edwards, who believes the Bible does not allow ordination of women, has said he recognizes Dixon's administrative authority but not her sacramental position as a successor to the apostles.

Over Dixon's objection, Edwards formally began his rectorship on March 25. The clerics' argument fell into a hiatus because priests can lead services without formal approval from a bishop for as long as two months. For Edwards, that period is up today.

On Tuesday, Dixon informed Edwards by hand-delivered letter that she would not consent to his becoming rector, "given the fractured nature of the community." But he could become priest-in-charge of the church for three years -- a position that does not carry the same legal or canonical rights as rector -- provided he agree in writing to several conditions.

They included assurances that he "will actively oppose all attempts to remove Christ Church" from the Episcopal Church; that he will recognize Dixon and her successors "as your bishop"; and that he will "graciously cooperate with and participate in . . . visitations" by her to the church.

If he failed to accept those conditions, Dixon added, he could "no longer officiate at Christ Church beginning on May 26."

Edwards said in an interview that those conditions "were more than I could accept in the form they were given."

"I've never said I'd leave the diocese," Edwards added. As for his future intentions on that issue, he said, "I'm not possessed of a crystal ball."

Dixon, whose stance is supported by the spiritual leader of the country's 2.3 million Episcopalians, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, said her gender "is a red herring" in the dispute. "This is not an issue of gender or women's ordination. . . . This is an issue of schism."

If a priest threatens that his parish might leave the church, she added, "that is schism."

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A85647-2001May27.html