Four northeast Ohio parishes that last year declared themselves to be in impaired communion with the Diocese of Ohio and the Episcopal Church voted Sunday to formally disaffiliate with the diocese and national church. All four parishes will affiliate with the Diocese of Bolivia in the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

On Wednesday, the Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Bishop of Ohio, and the rectors of the four parishes—the Rev. Roger Ames, St. Luke’s, Akron; the Rev. Kelly Irish, St. Anne’s in the Fields, Madison; the Rev. Scott Souders, Holy Spirit, Akron; and the Rev. James Tasker, St. Barnabas’, Bay Village—issued a joint statement announcing the votes.

“The bishop and the four parish rectors are committed to negotiating a mutually beneficial resolution and have agreed to continue working together toward that end,” the press release stated. It further noted that the parishes’ “decision results from a theological dispute with the Episcopal Church over divergent understandings of the authority of Scripture and traditional Christian teaching.”

James Niehaus, a Cleveland attorney who represents the four congregations, told the Akron Beacon Journal that the churches and diocese have had “no specific discussions” about property and assets.

The Beacon Journal reported that the four congregations have a combined “active membership” of 1,300. The parishes were part of a group of six congregations that made headlines in March 2004 when they invited bishops from outside the diocese to administer the sacrament of confirmation without the permission of then diocesan Bishop Clark Grew II.

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