Massachussets Episcopal Diocese Settles With Break-Away Parish Members

The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has settled a suit that it brought five weeks ago against members of a parish in Attleboro (MA) who broke away and affiliated with the more conservative Anglican Province of Rwanda's Anglican Mission in America. Reports yesterday from the Boston Globe and Episcopal News Service indicate that while neither side would disclose details of the settlement, the break-away members returned some books and "a respectable" fraction of the $180,000 of parish assets they controlled. The break-away group is now worshipping in rented space at Fisher College as All Saints Anglican Church, while the parish members who remain loyal to the more liberal Episcopal Church USA continue to worship as All Saints Episcopal Church. Both sides say the settlement was fair.