State Is Front Line In Episcopalian War

The Christmastime decision by eight Virginia congregations to bolt the Episcopal Church in favor of Anglican partners in Africa echoed loudly in the church's oldest diocese - the one in Connecticut that is shuddering from its own active revolt.

"We are living in a time of great chaos. Would we consider breaking out [like the Virginia churches]? Yes," said the Rev. Christopher Leighton, rector at St. Paul's Church in Darien, a leader of the rebel band known as the Connecticut Six.

"As people, we hate chaos. But God loves chaos. God creates out of chaos," he said.

Chaos is a good description of the turmoil in a church once called "the Republican Party at prayer" and still identified with the nation's power elite. Read more