Her views on the relationship between science and faith has also raised eyebrows with her saying that creationism is not a tenable position that any right minded person could possibly hold onto without violating evolutionist icon Charles Darwin.

"The bigger picture behind evolution I find a wonderful coherence in what the bible talks about creation and the Big Bang. There is a poetic sense in Genesis, a poetic sense of scientific understanding of creation," she said.

It was a day of mixed emotions and personal reflection. There was gladness that a decision had been made and finality had been reached. There was sadness too, that four hundred years of history had ended, with many families tracing their lineage and genealogy through numerous generations of Episcopal Church membership. The graveyards are full of illustrious Episcopalians, military, ecclesiastical and political, figures remembered and revered.

For the nine years that he was Frank Tracy Griswold's chancellor, Beers was restrained, staying in the shadows, refusing to return phone calls, maintaining a low profile, largely because Griswold kept a muzzle on his legal pit bull. He was there, but he was not there.

With the ascendancy of Mrs. Schori to lead the church, Beers has taken on a more public role, leaping almost breathlessly into the fray over property ownership; in turn advising, bullying, coercing and threatening.

The priests who received letters of deposition and were told they had abandoned the communion, an ecclesiastical measure which strips someone of clergy status by nullifying his or her ordination. The six are: the Rev. Alex Farmer, the Rev. James McCaslin, the Rev. James Needham, the Rev. Samuel Pascoe, the Rev. Dr. Robert Sanders, and the Rev. David Sandifer.