Unhappy with the actions of the Episcopal Church at General Convention in 2003 and 2006, their congregations' leadership decided to reconsider their membership in the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia.

Parishioners noticed a shift in the climate of their congregations: Episcopal flags were removed, or rectors focused their preaching primarily on "the issues." They entered into "40 Days of Discernment" -- in hindsight, with a sense of naiveté, said some participants. And they all entered into a journey categorized by confusion, frustration and, for some, hopelessness.

"It's like the stages of grief," said Suzanne Fichter, parishioner of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Herndon. "Denial, anger, acceptance."

In the Diocese of Virginia, the majority of 15 congregations would vote to quit the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia. In several places loyal members of the Episcopal Church remained. In four of them -- St. Stephen's, Heathsville; St. Margaret's, Woodbridge; The Falls Church, Falls Church; and Church of the Epiphany, Herndon -- those loyalists reorganized. They called congregational meetings and elected new vestries and new delegates to diocesan council. They have returned to weekly Episcopal worship, albeit in exile from their church properties, and returned to mission and ministry in their communities.

At the weekend's retreat, members of the four continuing Episcopal congregations gathered for sharing, fellowship and to further their sense of hope for the future.

"I watched as you spun out a future that's so bright it will glow," keynote speaker the Rev. Howard Anderson, president and warden of the Cathedral College of Washington National Cathedral, said of their stories in his sermon at an evening healing service in the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration.

Their Stories
For St. Stephen's Episcopal, Heathsville, their church's reconstitution started with an alternate coffee hour at a local tire and auto shop.

"We were shocked at how many people showed up," said vestry member Dawn Mahaffey, who stood in the church and addressed the congregation after the December 17 vote to leave the diocese, telling them, "If there's anybody who would like to remain Episcopalian, come see me."

Starting with a core of about 30 people, St. Stephen's has grown to a congregation of 61 who worship temporarily at the United Methodist Church in Heathsville.

In the fall of 2006, the concerns of parishioners at St. Margaret's, Woodbridge were not completely focused on thoughts of leaving the Episcopal Church. Their thoughts and prayers were with their interim rector who was involved in an automobile accident while on a church mission trip, and with their search for a permanent rector.

After passing through the "40 Days of Discernment" in just 20, said senior warden Alton Tucker, "I was tired." But exhaustion and frustration aside, 55 people gathered in January to discuss reconstituting the church, and 75 members continue to worship temporarily at the former Christ Our Lord church building in Woodbridge.

The membership of Christ our Lord, a parochial mission of All Saints', Dale City, voted to quit the Episcopal Church but in addition to leaving the church also left their property to the diocese.

For The Falls Church senior warden Bill Fetsch, The Falls Church was a very loving place when he and his wife were raising their family as members of the parish in the 1980s. But he started noticing changes in his church in 2005, culminating in the creation of the "40 Days of Discernment" program and the December 17 vote to leave the Episcopal Church.

Like St. Margaret's, The Falls Church started meeting in January to discuss reconstituting, first at the Fetsch household and then at the Falls Church Presbyterian Church, where they were "welcomed with open arms," said parishioner Debby Miller. Today, The Falls Church Episcopal continues to worship temporarily in the Presbyterian loft space, and hopes to secure a priest-in-charge by January 2008.

For Epiphany, Herndon, the path of reconstitution was a slower process. They started their "40 Days of Discernment" in October, and didn't announce their vote to leave the Episcopal Church until January 14, 2007. Parishioners who wanted to remain Episcopalians but were no longer welcome at the now-Nigerian church formed weekly caravans to visit different Episcopal churches on Sundays. "But other churches didn't seem to be the answer," said Gabe Paul, parishioner and now senior warden of the reconstituted congregation. So, after consulting with the diocese, they reorganized the Episcopal congregation, meeting two times a week: once at St. Timothy's, Herndon, and once as a home Eucharist. Today, with a membership 25, "our journey continues," said Paul. Their new "permanent temporary" home is at Oak Hill Elementary School.

Sharing and Healing
The two-day retreat was not just dedicated to telling stories. It was about sharing ideas. Over a plate of Shrine Mont fried chicken, members of Epiphany and The Falls Church discussed logistics: Where do you worship? How do you provide music for your Eucharist services?

A group of parishioners from St. Stephen's Episcopal brainstormed the best way to build and support their internal church family.

Time was set aside for healing, too. Anderson asked attendees to look inward, to examine their hearts.

"How many of you feel like your heart's been broken?" asked Anderson. Hands were raised, but for the attendees present, it wasn't just a question of broken or not; it was an examination of whether or not their hearts were open.

"I'm convinced my heart is open," said Winifred Gilmore, a parishioner at St. Margaret's Episcopal, Woodbridge.

The Healing of Music
For some who were present, music played a large role in the opening of hearts during the retreat. When the retreat reconvened on the morning of October 8, music director Dr. Ray Glover had a hymn for morning prayers, which he described as one that encapsulated everything that the attendees were doing: "All my hope on God is founded; he doth still my trust renew, me through change and chance he guideth, only good and only true. God unknown, he alone calls my heart to be his own. "

Members of St. Margaret's conveyed a similar sentiment when they sang a song for attendees: "We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord."

And Anderson used a melodic chant to further that healing process, one that carried with it a message of comfort and hope: "All will be well. And all will be well. All manner of things will be well."

Looking Ahead
While discussing the past, participants looked toward the future of their parishes, too. Anderson led the group in exercises to explore the congregations' gifts and potential for mission work.

"I see the abundance in relationships that have grown out of the struggle," said George Mahaffey, a parishioner at St. Stephen's Episcopal, where members have already started ministering at a hospice and delivering potable water to some of the 4,000 homes in the Northern Neck area.

Ministry, noted Anderson, is at the heart of the parish healing process. For St. Margaret's parishioner Gregg Reynolds, healing is "When I get the sense that I can help somebody else," which Anderson pointed out can "shift our vision from scarcity to abundance."

And it's this God of abundance who was at the heart of this retreat, as participants looked for healing by recognizing that extravagance of God's love.

As St. Stephen's parishioner Rocco Tricarico said, "We're healing, we're going forward, we're reinventing nothing. The Episcopalian wheel continues."