Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has written to Archbishop Henry Orombi.
See Episcopal News Service Ugandan primate’s ‘incursion’ into Georgia violates Windsor Report, Presiding Bishop notes.
Archbishop of Uganda Henry Orombi’s actions to visit a Savannah congregation on May 14 without the invitation of Episcopal Bishop of Georgia Henry Louttit “violate the spirit and letter of the work of the Windsor Report, and only lead to heightened tensions,” Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori wrote in a May 12 letter to Orombi.
“We are more than willing to receive you for conversation, dialogue, and reconciliation, yet you continue to act without speaking with us,” Jefferts Schori wrote in her letter sent by email. “I hope and pray that you might respond to our invitation and meet with representatives of this Church.”But noting that Orombi’s planned visit comes without Louttit’s invitation, “I must protest this unwarranted incursion into The Episcopal Church,” Jefferts Schori wrote in her letter.
According to reports, Orombi plans to meet May 14 with clergy and laity who voted in October 2007 to disaffiliate with the Episcopal Church. The group continues to occupy historic Christ Church, Savannah, while the continuing Episcopal congregation meets at Savannah’s Church of St. Michael and All Angels. Christ Church, Savannah, dates from 1733.
The full text of Jefferts Schori’s letter follows.
May 12, 2008
The Most Revd Henry Luke Orombi
Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala
PO Box 14123
Kampala
UGANDA
EAST AFRICA
My dear brother,
I understand from advertising here that you plan to visit a congregation in the Diocese of Georgia on 14 May of this year. The diocesan, Bishop Henry Louttit, has not given any invitation for you to do so, nor received any information from you about your planned visit. I must protest this unwarranted incursion into The Episcopal Church. I am concerned that you seem to feel it appropriate to visit, preach, and exercise episcopal ministry within the territory of this Church, and I wonder how you would receive similar behavior in Uganda. These actions violate the spirit and letter of the work of the Windsor Report, and only lead to heightened tensions. We are more than willing to receive you for conversation, dialogue, and reconciliation, yet you continue to act without speaking with us. I hope and pray that you might respond to our invitation and meet with representatives of this Church.
I remain
Your servant in Christ,
Katharine Jefferts Schori
cc:
Bishop Henry Louttit
Archbishop Rowan Williams
The Diocese of Pittsburgh has issued an announcement Pittsburgh Bishops to Attend Lambeth Conference.
Bishops Robert Duncan and Henry Scriven confirmed today that they will be attending both the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jordan and Jerusalem in June and the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in Kent, England, this July and August.
“After consulting with the people of Pittsburgh and our friends around the globe, we have come to the conclusion that it is necessary for us to be present at both gatherings,” said Bishop Robert Duncan.
The Global Anglican Future Conference is focused on moving forward with the work and witness of the church even as the crisis in the Anglican Communion over discipline and biblical authority continues. It brings together hundreds of bishops who have, as a matter of conscience, decided not to attend the Lambeth Conference, as well as other bishops who believe that global partnerships and the current conflicts necessitate their presence at both meetings. Among those going to Jerusalem and Jordan are many of the strongest supporters of orthodox Anglicans in North America. “We will be among friends, focused squarely on the Gospel, and dealing openly with how we build the missionary relationships, covenantal boundaries and responsible structures for the future of Anglicanism,” said Bishop Duncan.
Bishops Duncan and Scriven will then join some six-hundred bishops and archbishops (about two-thirds of all Anglican bishops) who will be attending the Anglican Communion’s once-a-decade Lambeth Conference of Bishops. “Given the expense and the stated-intent of the Archbishop of Canterbury that Lambeth can no longer be considered a decision making council of the church, choosing to be present was not easy,” said Bishop Duncan. In an effort to limit costs connected to the meeting, an estimated $12,000 per attending bishop and spouse for the entire two-and-a-half week Lambeth Conference, Bishop Duncan will attend July 16-25 and Bishop Scriven will attend July 26 - August 3.
Both bishops believe it is important that the diocese be represented throughout the Lambeth Conference, if for no other reason than to provide an alternative perspective on the situation in The Episcopal Church. “Those who accuse us of abandoning the Anglican Communion will certainly be present and vocal. It is important for us to be able to respond directly to their claims about the situation in The Episcopal Church and our place in the Communion,” added Bishop Duncan. As with the Global Anglican Future Conference, both Pittsburgh bishops will also work to strengthen missionary partnerships with bishops from every corner of the world.
Bishop Scriven asked that Pittsburgh Episcopalians pray for both meetings. “We hope that many join us in praying for God’s clear presence and guidance in the Holy Land and Canterbury. With God, all things are possible,” he said.
Updated Thursday evening
Episcopal News Service has published a letter written to the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, USA by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. In this letter she reviews and comments on process related to deposition, inhibition, renunciation and resignation of bishops.
The full text of the letter is at Presiding Bishop writes to House of Bishops on process, canons.
Update
The Living Church has published an article by George Conger headlined Memorandum Concludes Presiding Bishop is Subverting Constitution and Canons.
Thursday evening update
The Anglican Communion Institute has published the “Presentment Memorandum” mentioned in the above report, read the full text here.
The Bishop of New Hampshire is currently in England for the UK launch of his book, In the Eye of the Storm.
There has been extensive press and broadcast coverage:
BBC Williams criticised by gay bishop
The Hardtalk interview can be viewed here but only for a week after transmission date.
He was also interviewed on the Sunday radio programme:
Gene Robinson
The issue of homosexuality continues to tear the Anglican Communion apart in the build-up to the 2008 Lambeth Conference. In June the conservatives who oppose the ordination of gay priests will meet in Jerusalem, in what some see as an alternative conference. Many of these will refuse to go on to Canterbury for the main meeting in July.Meanwhile the gay Bishop, Gene Robinson, whose consecration brought this dispute to a head, shows no sign of backing out of the limelight. His latest book In the Eye of the Storm is published this week by the Canterbury Press. He explained why he wrote it.
Listen here (7 minutes).
Guardian Riazat Butt Williams disappoints God in not taking a stand, says gay bishop
The Times Gay rites; New Hampshire’s Bishop Gene Robinson is about to enter into a civil union
Daily Telegraph Gene Robinson: ‘It is a sin to treat me this way’
And the Church Times blog is following the story, here, and again in Can Lambeth bar Gene Robinson from preaching in England?
Bishop Robinson did speak in London, in a church, in 2005. It caused a fuss then, see here. And was reported fully in the Church Times as shown here.
About the book:
Read the preface by Desmond Tutu here.
Read three quotes printed on the back cover here.
Updated Wednesday evening
ENS reports Fort Worth visit an ‘unwarranted invasion,’ Presiding Bishop tells Southern Cone primate:
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has advised Southern Cone Presiding Bishop Gregory J. Venables in an April 29 letter that his planned May 2-3 visit to address a special convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth “with the expressed purpose of describing removal to the Province of the Southern Cone is an unwarranted invasion of, and meddling in, the internal affairs of this Province.”
The ENS report contains the full text of her letter. It also goes on to report on the formation of Steering Committee North Texas Episcopalians. You can read more about that body at this post by Katie Sherrod at Desert’s Child.
Wednesday evening update
The Bishop of Fort Worth has published a letter written in response to the Presiding Bishop’s letter. It is contained in this PDF file or there is an html copy here. He also wrote a blog comment about the letter which is reproduced here.
Following up on the report above concerning Steering Committee North Texas Episcopalians, there is this report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Episcopal group against Fort Worth diocese’s secession which includes this paragraph:
Fort Worth Diocese Bishop Jack Iker said in a statement Tuesday that the steering committee is “a self-selected vigilante group whose only stated purpose is ‘to remain in The Episcopal Church’ no matter what — and regardless of what TEC believes or practices. They espouse a blind institutional loyalty that borders on institutional idolatry.”
Then, there is this from the Living Church Presiding Bishop in Dallas: “Have You Been Watching San Joaquin?” which includes the following:
Clergy and laity from the Diocese of Fort Worth comprised a little less than half of those attending the reception. Their questions dominated, with some pleading with the Presiding Bishop for “help to get us out of the wilderness we now find ourselves in.” Fort Worth is one of several dioceses that are likely to consider leaving The Episcopal Church when their conventions are held this fall.
Bishop Jefferts Schori assured her questioners that a plan similar to the one employed in San Joaquin has already been prepared. When the Fort Worth delegation declared that they have been forgotten in this battle, the Presiding Bishop replied, “Have you been watching San Joaquin? They were not forgotten and now show dynamic signs of new life. You will not be forgotten, either.”
Throughout much of the question-and-answer session retired Bishop Sam B. Hulsey of Northwest Texas stood in the back of the parish hall. Last January Bishop Hulsey held an organizational meeting for clergy from the Diocese of Fort Worth, offering continuing care to those who wish to remain with The Episcopal Church, an action to which Bishop Jack Leo Iker of Fort Worth objected. Since then Bishop Hulsey has visited a handful of Fort Worth congregations.
See also Katie Sherrod’s blog comments here.
Meanwhile, Mark Harris reports in detail on The Plans of Fort Worth as revealed in the documents he has made available here, which comprise a draft of “The Fort Worth Plan” and of an associated “Canon 41”.
Updated Sunday morning
The Diocese of San Joaquin has issued this press release (PDF):
Michael O. Glass, Esq., Chancellor to the Diocese of San Joaquin has provided notice that on April 24, 2008, the Diocese of San Joaquin and the Episcopal Church filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in Fresno County Superior Court to reclaim possession of the real and personal property belonging to the Diocese. Glass said, “The primary defendant is John-David Schofield, the former bishop of the Diocese who was recently deposed from the episcopate by the Episcopal Church on March 12, 2008 as a result of his attempts to remove the diocese from the Episcopal Church. Such actions are contrary to the Canons and Constitution of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese.”
Mr. Glass added that prior to the filing of the Complaint, the current Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin, the Rt. Rev. Jerry A. Lamb, attempted to secure Mr. Schofield’s timely turnover of Diocesan assets and property. “Mr. Schofield did not agree to this request,” said Glass.
Bishop Lamb has emphasized that the Diocesan leadership and the Episcopal Church have a canonical, fiduciary and moral duty to protect the assets and property of the Church for the Church’s mission. Lamb said, “While it is regrettable that legal action is necessary, the Diocese and the Episcopal Church have no other viable option but to seek the intervention of the Court to recover the property and assets of the Diocese.”
“Regardless of the necessity of proceeding with the litigation,” Bishop Lamb continued, “the diocesan leadership and I remain committed to reconciliation with clergy and parishes that are still trying to understand their relationship with the Episcopal Church.”The Bishop has recently sent letters to all clergy in the diocese inviting them to meet and enter into dialogue with him directly on these issues. The Diocese is also preparing for a three day faith-based reconciliation seminar in June and further programming regarding rebuilding and reconciliation in its October diocesan convention.
For further information please contact Michael O. Glass, Esq., Chancellor to the Diocese of San Joaquin at mglass@diosanjoaquin.org, or the Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb, Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin at jerrylamb@diosanjoaquin.com or 209.952.0006. For information about the Diocese of San Joaquin, see its website www.diosanjoaquin.org.
The Complaint document can be found here (PDF).
Also, Bishop Jerry Lamb has sent a letter of complaint to the Primate of the Southern Cone, Bishop Greg Venables. The PDF of the letter is here. The body of the letter reads as follows:
Peace be to you in the Risen Christ.
I have been informed of your intention to visit the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin on April 29, 2008. I understand you will be preaching and celebrating the Eucharist at St James Cathedral in Fresno, California.
As you know the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church deposed John-David
Schofield on March 12, 2008. I was nominated, selected and installed as the Provisional Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin on March 29, 2008.
I strongly protest your visit to this Diocese without my invitation or permission. Your
visit would violate the traditions of the ancient church as understood in the Anglican
Communion. It also violates the Windsor Report and statements from subsequent meetings of the Primates since the Windsor Report.
I strongly urge that you cancel your meeting in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin
scheduled for April 29, 2008. I also strongly urge you to refrain from interjecting yourself into the internal affairs of the Episcopal Church, the only Anglican Church in the United States.
The Anglican Communion Network issued a press release (not found on this website) titled Realignment Complete, San Joaquin Refocuses on Mission and Ministry.
Episcopal News Service has a report: San Joaquin diocese, Episcopal Church file suit to regain property.
Sunday morning update
Bishop Schofield has issued this statement:
To the clergy and parishioners of San Joaquin -
We recognize that the news of a lawsuit from the Presiding Bishop and the representatives of Remain Episcopal in Stockton, may be unsettling. However, please be assured that we have been expecting this litigation and the contents contain no surprises. Please know that our legal team has been at work for some time. They are optimistic and remain unperturbed by The Episcopal Church’s most recent action. What our legal counsel has accomplished on our behalf is already proving most helpful in defense of property and assets despite the fact that this preparatory work had to be done without the benefit of seeing what the Episcopal Church intended to do.
Furthermore, I want to remind you that in spite of the claims by The Episcopal Church, nothing in their current Constitution and Canons prohibits a diocese from leaving one province and moving to another. Also, just as we stood together for the sake of our witness to the Gospel at our Convention in December, so now will we continue to stand together for that same witness. I will continue to respond to those who disagree with us in a Christian and charitable manner and I trust that you will, as well.
Thank you for the trust that you have placed in me as your bishop and senior pastor, and know that I will continue to honor that trust with God’s help.
Faithfully, yours in Christ,
+John-David
The Diocese of Virginia announces that National Hierarchical Churches Support the Diocese of Virginia in Opposing Virginia Law Section 57-9 . The press release starts out:
A number of national hierarchical churches have filed an Amici Curiae arguing that §57-9 division statute of the Virginia Code “cannot withstand constitutional challenge.” The constitutionality of this statute is being examined in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia’s case to preserve Episcopal Church property. The brief, filed on April 24 in support of the Diocese’s position, calls §57-9 “hopelessly infused with religious concepts” and demonstrates how this section of Virginia Code ignores the theologically-based structures of hierarchical churches throughout the Commonwealth in violation of the U.S. and Virginia constitutions.
When the Court ruled on April 4 that the 57-9 statute allowed for the CANA congregations to file their claims to take Episcopal Church property, the Court explicitly acknowledged that constitutional issues remain and scheduled a hearing on those issues on May 28, 2008.
At issue is the government’s ability to intrude into the freedom of the Episcopal Church and every other church in Virginia to organize and govern themselves according to their faith and doctrine. The implications of the Court’s ruling reach beyond the Episcopal Church, as evidenced by the number of denominations signing on to the Amici filing.
The Diocese of Virginia welcomes the filing of the Amici Brief from:
1. United Methodist Church
2. African Methodist Episcopal Church
3. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
4. Worldwide Church of God
5. The Rt. Rev. Charlene Kammerer, Bishop of the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
6. W. Clark Williams, Chancellor of the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
Read the full text of the brief as a PDF file here.
TA has not reported any stories from the USA for two whole weeks. Time to catch up on some items from there.
Gregory Venables will be visiting Fresno, on 29 April, see details here.
And then he will be visiting Fort Worth, see details here.
Meanwhile the Living Church reports San Joaquin Incorporation Likely Faces Court Test. It also reports that there will be No Pre-Lambeth Meeting for House of Bishops.
The Bishops in the State of Ohio have taken a public stand on state legislation that seeks to secure equal access to housing and employment opportunities for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons. See Bishops Support Legislation Protecting Civil Rights of Gay and Lesbian Persons.
New lawsuits have arisen in Ohio and in Central New York.
Covenant has published The Hard Case Making Bad Law by Dale Rye. He starts out:
I have been asked to comment on the letter opinion of April 3 in the Virginia parishes case. My initial reaction: this 88-page document is probably about as well educated a discussion as we are likely to see from any of the judges dealing with the Episcopal/Anglican meltdown. My simultaneous reaction: that means we are all—liberals and conservatives alike—in a heap of trouble. My explanation may take awhile, but be patient… I will get there.
I must preface this by warning that I am not a member of the Virginia bar, and that Judge Randy Bellows’ letter opinion is expressly and exclusively based on a Virginia statute—Va. Code Sec. 57-9(A)—that has no analogue in Texas or most other states. That is, in fact, one of the most important things to remember when reading the opinion. The court honestly believes that it has put to one side all of the issues raised by the religion clauses in the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions; those are to be decided at a subsequent hearing on May 28. Other constitutional issues (including the Contracts Clause) will not be heard until the final hearing in October. Thus, the April 3 opinion has no direct application outside Virginia. Only a lawyer from that state can estimate how likely the decision is to hold up on subsequent appeals.
What I will comment on are the ways in which this decision illustrates why secular litigation was a spectacularly bad idea for all the parties to this dispute. Under the “hard cases make bad law” principle, this case (and those like it in other states) have the potential to seriously damage the constitutional rights of Christians-and all other religious practitioners-throughout this country. The problem with inviting an outsider in to clean your house is that he may throw out your treasures while trying to dispose of the trash. Ultimately, you may find yourself in possession of a place that is no longer recognizably your home…
Earlier reports in previous article.
New York Times Neela Banerjee Virginia Judge Allows Case on Episcopal Property to Proceed
Washington Post Michelle Boorstein and Jacqueline L. Salmon Court Ruling Boosts Breakaway Churches
Time David Van Biema The Episcopal Property War
Washington Times Julia Duin Va. judge sides with breakaway Episcopal parishes
Institute on Religion and Democracy Court Rules in Favor of Departing Virginia Churches
Church of Nigeria CANA magnanimous in victory
Updated again Friday night and republished
The long-awaited Virginia court ruling has arrived. It is favourable to the breakaway congregations.
The PDF file containing the full text of it is here (4.5MB).
Episcopal Café has this summary of the situation, Judge rules: Advantage CANA.
Julia Duin has Breakaway Episcopal parishes awarded property, assets in the Washington Times.
No doubt other reports will follow. The full report is 88 pages. To give the flavour, two excerpts are reproduced below the fold.
Lunchtime additions
Diocese of Virginia press release
Anglican District of Virginia press release and CANA press release.
Evening additions
Associated Press Matthew Barakat Fairfax judge rules in favor of breakaway congregations
Reuters Michael Conlon US judge rules for Episcopal Church secessionists
Washington Post Michelle Boorstein Judge’s Initial Decision Favors Breakaway Churches
Ruth Gledhill has this blog article, Judge rules for Virginia ‘orthodox’.
Friday night additions
Episcopal News Service Office of the Presiding Bishop, Diocese of Virginia respond to preliminary court ruling
and also Mary Frances Schjonberg Virginia judge issues preliminary ruling on application of state statute
Fairfax Times Gregg MacDonald Fairfax judge rules against Episcopal Church
Letter from the Bishop of Virginia
Letter from the Reverend John Yates
Summary
The only way in which this Court could find a “division” not to exist among the pertinent entities in this case is to define the term so narrowly and restrictively as to effectively define the term out of existence. The ECUSA and the Diocese urge upon this Court just such a definition and further assert that any definition other than the one for which they argue would render the statute unconstitutional. The Court rejects this invitation. Whether or not it is true that only the ECUSA’s and the Diocese’s proposed definition can save 57-9(A) from constitutional infirmity, there is no constitutional principle of which this Court is aware that would permit, let alone require, the Court to adopt a definition for a statutory term that is plainly unwarranted. Rather, the definition of “division” adopted by this Court is a definition which the Court finds to be consistent with the language of the statute, its purpose and history, and the very limited caselaw that exists. Given this definition, the Court finds that the evidence of a “division” within the Diocese, the ECUSA, and the Anglican Communion is not only compelling, but overwhelming. As to the other issues in principal controversy, the Court finds the Anglican Communion to be a “church or religious society.” The Court finds each of the CANA Congregations to have been attached to the Anglican Communion. Finally, the Court finds that the term “branch” must be defined far more broadly than the interpretation placed upon that term by ECUSA and the Diocese and that, as properly defined, CANA, ADV, the American Arm of the Church of Uganda, the Church of Nigeria, the ECUSA, and the Diocese, are all branches of the Anglican Communion and, further, CANA and ADV are branches of ECUSA and the Diocese.
——-
VI.) Conclusion:
ECUSA/Diocese argue that the historical evidence demonstrates that it is only the “major” or “great” divisions within 19th-century churches that prompted the passage of 57-9, such as those within the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. ECUSA/Diocese argue that the current “dispute” before this Court is not such a “great” division, and, therefore, this is yet another reason why 57-9(A) should not apply. The Court agrees that it was major divisions such as those within the Methodist and Presbyterian churches that prompted the passage of 57-9. However, it blinks at reality to characterize the ongoing division within the Diocese, ECUSA, and the Anglican Communion as anything but a division of the first magnitude, especially given the involvement of numerous churches in states across the country, the participation of hundreds of church leaders, both lay and pastoral, who have found themselves “taking sides” against their brethren, the determination by thousands of church members in Virginia and elsewhere to “walk apart” in the language of the Church, the creation of new and substantial religious entities, such as CANA, with their own structures and disciplines, the rapidity with which the ECUSA’s problems became that of the Anglican Communion, and the consequent impact-in some cases the extraordinary impact-on its provinces around the world, and, perhaps most importantly, the creation of a level of distress among many church members so profound and wrenching as to lead them to cast votes in an attempt to disaffiliate from a church which has been their home and heritage throughout their lives, and often back for generations. Whatever may be the precise threshold for a dispute to constitute a division under 57-9(A), what occurred here qualifies.
For the foregoing reasons, this Court finds that the CANA Congregations have properly invoked 57-9(A). Further proceedings will take place in accordance with the Order issued today.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh has this announcement:
Bishop Duncan’s Attorney Protests Lack of Response from The Episcopal Church Document Actions
In a letter sent March 28, John H. Lewis, Jr., attorney for Bishop Robert Duncan, protests the behavior of The Episcopal Church’s national office. He notes that not only has there been no response to Bishop Duncan’s March 14 statement that he considers himself “fully subject to the doctrine, discipline and worship of this church,” but that The Episcopal Church’s national office has neglected to distribute Bishop Duncan’s letter and other information to House of Bishops.
Lewis goes on to note what appears to be “the deliberate failure of The Presiding Bishop to follow the Canons” in the purported depositions of Bishops William J. Cox and John-David Schofield.
The full text of Lewis’ letter is available here (pdf).
Update: Bishop Robert Duncan, Bishop Henry Scriven and Melanie Contz began again receiving emails from the House of Bishops at approximately 1 pm on Monday, March 31. Bishop Duncan’s March 14 response to the Presiding Bishop has also been added to the College for Bishops website.
Updated again Sunday noon
Fr Jake has links to several first-hand reports from Friday evening in Healing Begins in Stockton.
Some further information about that Standing Committee which Fr Martins and others wrote about, is contained in this comment on Stand Firm. It appears that three of the remaining six (out of eight original) members are planning to leave TEC after all. (I am open to correction on this.)
The Anglican Communion Office has recorded here that the see is vacant. And now added the new diocesan website.
Episcopal News Service has San Joaquin Episcopalians anchor reorganization in themes of resurrection, hope and the full text of Presiding Bishop’s address to San Joaquin diocesan convention and San Joaquin Episcopalians celebrate new beginning.
Early press reports:
Reuters Episcopal bishop elected in disputed California diocese and this also appears in the Washington Post.
Central Valley Business Times Episcopal Church reorganizes in Central Valley
This includes an audio file of the press conference.
Lodi News-Sentinel Episcopal diocese reorganizes in Lodi, might allow gay priests
Fr Jake has more first-hand comments at San Joaquin: “We’re Back!” and also here and here.
The Living Church has a report from Friday night, Presiding Bishop Seeking Quicker Way to Intervene Before Other Dioceses Leave.
Fresno Bee Episcopal diocese selects new temporary bishop
Stockton Record Episcopal Diocese has new leader
KFSN Fresno A Call For Healing (includes video)
Modesto Bee Bishop delivers healing message
Updated again Saturday midday
Earlier articles here were due process for bishops and further reports on Bishop Schofield and San Joaquin.
Since then, the following have appeared:
Living Church San Joaquin Special Convention May Violate Canon Law
Episcopal News Service San Joaquin diocese prepares for its future
titusonenine Diocese of South Carolina Protests Presiding Bishop’s Failure to Follow the Canons
Dan Martins formerly a senior priest in that diocese has written this blog article: Perfect Storm Brewing. The specifics of the San Joaquin situation are dealt with in the last part of the article. titusonenine has extracted a key segment here.
Saturday updates
The Living Church has some further details about the action of the South Carolina diocese in South Carolina Asks Presiding Bishop to Postpone San Joaquin Special Convention.
Some local press reports:
Lodi News-Sentinel Episcopals to reorganize, appoint new bishop
Sonora Union-Democrat Controversial bishop to visit Lode
Central Valley Business Times Episcopal Church to install new Central Valley bishop
Stockton Record Episcopal leader to head diocese reorganization
Episcopal News Service has a report of Friday night’s event in Stockton, San Joaquin Episcopalians place their future in context of healing. This includes a response to a question about the deposition process:
…Answering a question about reports of problems with the March 12 consent by the House of Bishops to her request for authority to depose or remove Schofield from his diocesan position, Jefferts Schori said that the vote was conducted in the same way that other such deposition requests have been done.
While the applicable canon (Canon IV.9.2) may have “varieties of interpretation,” the Presiding Bishop said that her chancellor and the House’s parliamentarian ruled that the canon called for approval by the majority of those bishops present at the meeting. She added that the canon does not allow for a poll by mail of all bishops eligible to vote, as some have suggested ought to have been done.
“We believe that we did the right thing,” she said, adding that the consent came from “a clear majority of those present…”
Earlier, I posted a note titled whither the Network?
Now, The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, Chief Operating Officer of the Anglican Communion Network has written this article entitled Who is “in” the Network?. Here’s his explanation of numbers, emphasis added:
… By our latest figures, the Anglican Communion Network has 828 affiliated parishes.
To arrive at that number, we are counting the parishes of the nine affiliated Network dioceses of Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy, San Joaquin, Springfield, and South Carolina. (Rio Grande took a number of steps towards affiliation, but had not finalized its status when its bishop resigned to join the Roman Catholic Church.) We do not count the parishes in each of those dioceses who have asked to be removed from the Network’s database. For instance, that means that we don’t include the five parishes in the diocese of San Joaquin that have clearly thrown their lot in with The Episcopal Church.
To speak very frankly, we don’t expect all of these dioceses to maintain their Network affiliation indefinitely. However, we are not in the business of kicking people out. Affiliated parishes and dioceses can change their status as they wish, and we honor their decisions.
We are also counting the 105 parishes under the pastoral care of the Anglican provinces of Kenya, Uganda and the Southern Cone. These parishes, and the bishops that oversee them, look to the Network to provide their connection to Common Cause, as well as to other orthodox Anglicans, whatever their jurisdiction. With them, the Network’s system of convocations continues to operate. There are currently 136 parishes primarily connected to Network convocations. The vast majority of these remain within The Episcopal Church.
A smaller group of Network parishes have also decided to come under the jurisdictional authority of our Common Cause Partners. These include the Convocation of Anglicans in North America or the Reformed Episcopal Church. We are happy for these parishes to maintain their relationship with us…
I interpret this to mean that the 828 total includes all the CANA and REC parishes.
See the CANA figures here (62 at 20 March.)
Network Bishops to Meet April 24
Bishops of those Episcopal Church dioceses that have formally affiliated with the Anglican Communion Network will meet in Chicago on April 24. The purpose of the meeting is to allow Network bishops to speak frankly with each other about the future.
As the crisis in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion has deepened, Network bishops and dioceses have been moving in several directions. Some Network dioceses have reaffiliated or are considering reaffiliating with other provinces of the Anglican Communion. Individual Network bishops have left The Episcopal Church to join other communions. Other bishops are attempting to be a voice for orthodoxy within The Episcopal Church.
“I have called this meeting because we need to talk frankly and openly about the future and how we as Network bishops can help the Network best fulfill its mission to build a biblical, missionary and united Anglican witness in the years ahead,” said Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Network. “It is clear that the Network has a continuing mission to unite orthodox Anglicans, especially as increasing numbers of Network parishes and now dioceses are exiting The Episcopal Church. We will be talking about how we can work together to accomplish this goal even as we bless the several paths we have chosen as bishops and dioceses,” he added.
Dioceses that have made formal decisions to affiliate with the Network are Fort Worth, Quincy, Pittsburgh, Albany, South Carolina, San Joaquin, Central Florida, Dallas and Springfield. (The Diocese of the Rio Grande took a number of steps toward affiliation. However, their status was never completely clear.) With these dioceses, the Network also has 231 individual parish affiliates in five geographical convocations and one non-geographical convocation. Of this group, 105 parishes are under the care of The Anglican Provinces of Kenya, Uganda, or the Southern Cone. The entire diocese of San Joaquin is also under the oversight of The Province of the Southern Cone.
Riazat Butt of the Guardian spent the weekend in the Diocese of New Hampshire, and her report is titled Gay bishop’s mission to unite.
… The Guardian spent the Easter weekend with Robinson as he battled the winds and blizzards on a 400-mile road trip around his US diocese. But the conditions were nothing compared with those he has encountered trying to make it to the Lambeth conference, the 10-yearly gathering of the world’s Anglican bishops, which takes place in Canterbury, Kent, from July 16 to August 3.
Two weeks ago Robinson was told he would not be allowed to take part in the event - the only bishop out of 880 to be excluded. He will still go to Canterbury, but with no official status and the same access as a member of the public. Yet he will, inevitably, be one of its star attractions. Robinson will not go into detail, but says he has his own events planned, including one with award-winning actor and gay rights campaigner Sir Ian McKellen, who will perform a reading…
Pat Ashworth wrote in the Church Times US bishops agree to depose Schofield.
George Conger at Religious Intelligence/CEN continued to take a different view over what happened at the recent meeting of the American House of Bishops: Doubts over deposition trial.
Mark Harris takes serious issue with the quality of George Conger’s report, see Beyond Schofield and Cox.
Rob Eaton reports from the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin (he is a member of it), in Answers from the Standing Committee: What are you “doing”?
(TA readers will recall that this committee wrote this reply on 1 February to this letter sent to them by the Presiding Bishop on 25 January.)
Meanwhile, the new diocesan website shows increased activity relating to the forthcoming diocesan convention, see here, here, and here.
There has been considerable discussion on blogs, for example here, about the voting process in the American House of Bishops. Some articles arising from that:
Living Church HOB Secretary: ‘No One Challenged’ PB’s Ruling by George Conger and Steve Waring, and also this commentary Flaws in Misconduct Canons by Steve Waring.
The Anglican Communion Institute has published On the Matter of Deposing Bishops at a Time of Communion Self-Assessment by Ephraim Radner, Christopher Seitz, Philip Turner.
Tony Clavier wrote To encourage others: The canon-legal conundrum on Covenant.
Updated Tuesday morning
(Apologies for the lack of TA for about ten hours today.)
The Bishop of Pittsburgh, Robert Duncan has responded to the charges made against him earlier, as reported here.
His letter to the Presiding Bishop is in PDF format here.
His lawyer’s letter to the lawyer for the national church is in PDF format here.
The Pittsburgh diocesan news release is here.
Episcopal News Service has a detailed report: Duncan replies to charges of abandonment of communion with Episcopal Church. There is this explanation about what may happen next:
Diocese of North Carolina Bishop Michael Curry, one of the bishops who briefed the media on the March 12 sessions of the House of Bishops meeting, told ENS that very few of the bishops had read the lengthy certification of the charges against Duncan. Hence, he said, Jefferts Schori suggested that the material be sent to all bishops to read.
Curry said the Presiding Bishop then agreed that her office would poll the bishops about the advisability of convening a special meeting of the House in May 2008 or whether to consider the matter at the House’s already-scheduled September meeting. Curry predicted that the answer to the question may be based in large part on the logistics of coordinating all the bishops’ calendars to find a meeting time in May.
Lionel Deimel has written two analyses, see Duncan’s Defense and Legal Matters.
ENS reports San Joaquin Episcopalians greet bishop recommended for provisional role.
The new website for the San Joaquin diocese contains information about the Special Meeting of the Convention of the diocese.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a report by Steve Levin Clock is ticking for fate of Bishop Duncan:
The leader of the Episcopal Church will poll bishops nationally next month in an effort to move the possible deposition of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. ahead to May.
While Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s reasons have not been made public, the impact of accelerating the deposition could be far reaching not only for Bishop Duncan but the entire worldwide Anglican Communion…
…According to an e-mail sent this week from David Booth Beers, the chancellor to the presiding bishop, to about two dozen Pittsburgh Episcopalians representing a spectrum of the diocese, he wrote that the Rev. Jefferts Schori would “poll the House of Bishops in April to see when the House would next like to meet to discuss, among other things, the certification respecting Bishop Duncan. It is not accurate to say that she is seeking approval to proceed; rather, she seeks the mind of the House as to when to proceed.”
Updated again Saturday morning
The Church Times has a report by Pat Ashworth Lambeth ban on Robinson upheld. The CT went to press before the Wednesday announcements re San Joaquin etc.
The Living Church has a report No Decision on Bishop Schofield’s Lambeth Invitation.
The Church of England Newspaper has a report by George Conger Lambeth invitations reviewed.
For secular press reports on San Joaquin there is a round-up at epiScope Schofield minus plus. And this item at Episcopal Café.
The soon-to-be new Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin has a new website.
There are further comments and reactions in this ENS report House of Bishops’ actions draw reactions from interest groups, ELO readers.
Two further items:
Forward in Faith North America reports that Bishop Edward MacBurney, bishop retired of the Diocese of Quincy, has been formally charged with canonical violations by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. See Former Quincy Bishop Charged.
And Stand Firm reports that Presiding Bishop Plans to Try Bishop Duncan before the Lambeth Conference. (What this means is to some extent explained in the comments to the article.)
Friday evening update
Several bishops have posted comments on their recent meeting, see here.
There is a report in the Living Church by George Conger and Steve Waring which asserts that Deposition Votes Failed to Achieve Canonically Required Majority.
Added Saturday morning
Official response to the above: House of Bishops’ votes valid, chancellor confirms. See text below the fold.
House of Bishops’ votes valid, chancellor confirms
March 15, 2008
[Episcopal News Service] The Presiding Bishop’s chancellor has confirmed the validity of votes taken in the House of Bishops on March 12, correcting an erroneous report published online March 14 by The Living Church News Service.
Chancellor David Booth Beers said votes consenting to the deposition of bishops John-David Schofield and William Cox conformed to the canons.
“In consultation with the House of Bishops’ parliamentarian prior to the vote,” Beers said, “we both agreed that the canon meant a majority of all those present and entitled to vote, because it is clear from the canon that the vote had to be taken at a meeting, unlike the situation where you poll the whole House of Bishops by mail. Therefore, it is our position that the vote was in order.”
A quorum had been determined at the meeting by the House of Bishops’ secretary, Kenneth Price, Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Southern Ohio.
Episcopal News Service reports:
House of Bishops deposes Schofield; San Joaquin special convention set for March 29. It includes:
…The Presiding Bishop, during a telephone press conference after the conclusion of the March 7-12 Camp Allen meeting in Navasota, Texas, said she will personally convene the special convention in San Joaquin. She declined to identify a nominee for provisional bishop.
“As of today he is no longer a bishop in the Episcopal Church,” she said of Schofield. “Matters down the road will include clarifying the status of Corp Sole, which is how property is held in that diocese…”
and
San Joaquin diocese asked to consider Jerry Lamb as provisional bishop:
Bishop Jerry A. Lamb — retired bishop of Northern California and most recently interim bishop of Nevada — has been recommended by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to serve as provisional bishop of the Central California Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin.
Lamb can begin work in this capacity after ratification by the diocese’s convention, set to meet March 29 in Lodi, California…
The House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church issued this House of Bishops statement on the Lambeth Conference.
It includes this:
Even though we did not all support the consecration of the Bishop of New Hampshire, we acknowledge that he is a canonically elected and consecrated bishop in this church. We regret that he alone among bishops ministering within the territorial boundaries of their dioceses and provinces, did not receive an invitation to attend the Lambeth Conference.
Updated twice
ENS reports House of Bishops consents to deposition of John-David Schofield, William Cox:
The House of Bishops voted March 12 to consent to the deposition from the ordained ministry of the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin, and the Rt. Rev. William Jackson Cox, bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Maryland, resigned.
Members of the House of Bishops are preparing a statement regarding these actions and for release after a March 12 afternoon session…
Here’s the text in the case of Bp Schofield:
RESOLUTION
RESOLVED, that pursuant to Canon IV.9.2 of the Episcopal Church, the House of Bishops hereby consents to the Deposition from the ordained ministry of the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin.
EXPLANATION: On January 9, 2008, the Title IV Review Committee certified to the Presiding Bishop, pursuant to Canon IV.9.1, that the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin, has repudiated the Doctrine, Discipline, and Worship of the Episcopal Church and has abandoned the Communion of the Church by, inter alia, departing from the Episcopal Church and purporting to take his Diocese with him into affiliation with the Province of the Southern Cone. In the intervening two months since the Presiding Bishop gave notice to Bishop Schofield of the foregoing certification, Bishop Schofield has failed to submit to the Presiding Bishop sufficient retraction or denial of the actions found by the Title IV Review Committee. Accordingly, the Presiding Bishop has presented the matter to the House of Bishops and requested consent to Bishop Schofield’s Deposition.
Update One
Bishop Schofield responds to the HOB decision
NACDAP: Episcopal House of Bishops Votes to Depose Network Bishops
Update Two
House of Bishops statement on Schofield, Cox
Archbishop Venables Memo to Bishop Schofield
For press coverage, see Episcopal Café Secular media file reports on the actions of the House of Bishops.
Episcopal News Service carries a report titled Lambeth invitation ‘not possible’ for Robinson. It links to two word processing files, but see below.
The House of Bishops was informed March 10 that full invitation is “not possible” from the Archbishop of Canterbury to include Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as a participant in this summer’s Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops.
Robinson, addressing the House, urged the other bishops of the Episcopal Church to participate fully in the conference, and thanked all who are willing to “stay at the table.”
Robinson told the House that he respectfully declined an invitation to be present in the conference’s “Marketplace” exhibit section.
Robinson confirmed for ENS that he plans to be in Canterbury during the July 16-August 3 once-a-decade gathering, but not as an official conference participant or observer…
Episcopal Café carries more information here in Full invitation for Robinson “not possible” including the full text of:
Report from Bishops Ed Little, Bruce Caldwell and Tom Ely to the House of Bishops regarding conversations about Bishop Gene Robinson’s participation at the Lambeth Conference.
And also, here in Bishop Gene Robinson responds, the full text of his remarks to the House of Bishops.
See also Daily Account from the House of Bishops for Monday, March 10.
Updated Friday morning
Episcopal Café has published a letter from Bishop John-David Schofield in which he resigns from the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church.
See John-David Schofield writes Katharine Jefferts Schori.
The letter is a PDF file (200Kb) available here.
Friday morning update
titusonenine has an html version of the letter here.
Episcopal News Service reports that this letter had still not arrived last night at 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017. See last sentence of Bishops prepare for Camp Allen gathering; Schofield posts letter of resignation from House of Bishops. I’m sure this can’t be because of the multiple spelling errors in the name of the addressee.
The letter has now been posted on the website of the former (erstwhile?) Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin and can be seen here.
There have been varying accounts of this event.
Episcopal News Service On the road in South Carolina with the Presiding Bishop by Neva Rae Fox
Statement from Bishop Mark Lawrence in response to the recent ENS article on the Presiding Bishop’s visit to South Carolina (original here, URL temporary):
I have read the recent article from the ENS regarding the Presiding Bishop, The Most Reverend Katherine Jefferts Schori’s visit to the Diocese of South Carolina. It was a gracious and accurate description of much of our time together. Indeed, there was a warm hospitality which we were most intentional in cultivating through our prayers and our hearts. What the article failed to convey, however, is the depth of the theological chasm that lies between many of us in South Carolina (and others within the church for that matter) and the trajectory of so much of the leadership of The Episcopal Church. To explore these cavernous depths is indeed the great work that lies before anyone in leadership today. Along with showing hospitality and witnessing to God’s work among us, the earnest exploring of this chasm was and remains one of our chief objectives.
—The Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence
Audio recordings of events during the visit can be found here.
Video recordings of Bishop Mark Lawrence’s opening remarks are here and here.
The reports of the Episcopal Forum of South Carolina can be read here:
1. Bishop Lawrence Approves Release of Edited Tapes of Clergy Meeting with Presiding Bishop Katharine (3/5)
2. Day Two of Bishop Katharine’s Visit: Disaffected Clergy Challenge Presiding Bishop (2/25)
3. Day One of Bishop Katharine’s Visit: Efforts by St. Philip’s to Humiliate Presiding Bishop Backfire (2/24)
Comments on the visit by others:
The Reverend Steve Wood and also here.
Updated Monday evening
Following on from last week,
The Bishop of Fort Worth spoke to the Living Church about the American House of Bishops:
…Bishop Jack Leo Iker of Fort Worth said he was “disheartened” that to date he has been “unable to secure a future, safe place for this diocese within The Episcopal Church,” and “saddened by the fact that the HOB has been unwilling to make adequate provision for us in response to our appeal for alternative primatial oversight.”
Bishop Iker described the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church as a “toxic environment,” and said he will not be attending the meeting at Camp Allen March 7-16.
“In recent years I have increasingly dreaded the thought of attending another meeting of the House of Bishops of TEC,” he said. “For me, the small-group table discussions are places of hostile confrontation, not support and affirmation.”
Addendum The comments at this blog entry here include remarks by Bishop Iker.
The Bishop of Central Florida and the Bishop of Western Louisiana also spoke to the Living Church about the “Anglican Bishops in Communion” proposal:
The House of Bishops will receive an informal presentation on the “Anglican Bishops in Communion” proposal that was shared with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori during a 50-minute meeting on Feb. 21 at the Episcopal Church Center. The House of Bishops meets March 7-13 at Camp Allen in the Diocese of Texas.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori expressed no objections to the plan during the meeting, according to bishops John W. Howe of Central Florida and D. Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana, who met with Bishop Jefferts Schori. The Bishops in Communion plan is a modified version of the “Episcopal Visitor” concept announced by Bishop Jefferts Schori during the fall House of Bishops’ meeting in New Orleans. It includes a commitment to abide by existing canon law of The Episcopal Church…
Still no mention of this matter by Episcopal News Service.
And another story, about the Bishop of Pennsylvania who has been inhibited: Church sets trial date for suspended bishop.
Monday evening update
There is now an Episcopal News Service report on Bishop Bennison’s forthcoming trial.
The Diocese of Fort Worth tonight released “a procedure to be followed if a parish wishes to initiate a separation from the diocese”, see Bishop and Standing Committee release Guidelines for diocesan Canon 32:
The Guidelines set out a procedure to be followed if a parish wishes to initiate a separation from the diocese. They were prepared after consideration was given to specific concerns raised at deanery covocations and at the Convention. As much as possible, these concerns have been taken into consideration as the Guidelines were drafted.
The leadership of this diocese has watched with sadness as issues and attitudes have caused deepening differences at all levels in the Anglican Communion. Adding to this rupture of the bonds of affection are the growing numbers of lawsuits being filed by those who once were unified in faithful witness and ministry. “Disagreement and division may be inevitable,” commented Dean Ryan Reed, President of the Standing Committee, “but Christian charity must not be sacrified in the process.” The purpose of the Canon and the Guidelines is to provide for a charitable parting, if parting is necessary…
Updated Thursday morning
The Living Church has published two items which add new information to running stories:
House of Bishops will Address ‘Bishops in Communion’ Plan updates alternative oversight in the