News for Week Ending 5/12/2008

Southern Cone to amend constitution and canons to ‘regularize’ admission of dissident North American dioceses

In a story for The Living Church written by the communications officer of the Diocese of Fort Worth, it is reported that Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of the province of the Southern Cone has announced his intention to take the steps necessary to amend his province’s constitution and canons to allow admission of dioceses beyond the area approved by the Anglican Communion when his province was created. (Venables’ visit was covered in an earlier Pittsburgh Update post here.) “Despite articles of incorporation which seem to prohibit welcoming overseas dioceses and licensing deposed clergy and bishops for ministry in other Anglican provinces, Bishop Venables said he felt compelled to act so that brother and sister Anglicans can ‘get on with their ministry.’”

Canadian Court rules withdrawing parishes must share space with diocese

Three Canadian parishes in southern Ontario (in the Diocese of Niagara) that have tried to realign as part of the Southern Cone have been ordered by a court to share their facilities with the Anglican Church of Canada until higher courts resolve competing ownership claims. The diocese has suspended the realigning clergy and appointed new clergy to oversee the parishes. The trial judge, Jane Millanetti, ruled that title to two of the properties “rests with the diocese; the third appears to rest with them as well.” The court order requires the diocese to have access from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. on Sundays, and to have access on major feast days, as well as specified times during the week. One congregation has changed service times to comply with the order. The other two have announced that they will move to new locations rather than share their facilities. The Toronto Star has covered these developments here.

Settlement reached regarding ‘historic’ Central Florida parish

On May 7, the Diocese of Central Florida announced that all parties have reached a settlement regarding the historic Trinity Parish in Vero Beach, Florida, where a portion of the parish has decided to withdraw from The Episcopal Church. In 2003, the parish had around 1,300 members. The settlement provides that the “Leavers” will be paid $700,000, will get to remove the church’s bell carillon at their expense, and will cease using the parish facilities on July 1. During the next 10 years, they will have first refusal if the “Stayers” decide to “sell, transfer, lease, or otherwise convey interest in the historic Trinity property.” The Very Rev. G. Richard Lobs, retired dean of the Cathedral of St. Luke in Orlando, has agreed to serve as the interim of the Episcopal parish. The complete agreement can be read on the diocesan Web site. Stories from Episcopal News Service and The Living Church can be read here and here, respectively.

Connecticut diocese files suit against Bishop Seabury Church leaders

The Hartford Courant reported May 10 that the Diocese of Connecticut has filed suit against the Rev. Ronald Gauss and 12 leaders of the parish that, in November 2007, voted to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). (For additional details, see Pittsburgh Update story here). Gauss, who formally retired last year, but is serving as rector of Bishop Seabury Church in Groton, Connecticut, has been suspended by the diocese. He has refused to turn over the keys of the church to the diocese and has claimed that he will not surrender church records.

Colorado bishop asks 18 dissident priests to clarify status with diocese

The Diocese of Colorado has confirmed that letters were sent to 18 former diocesan clergy by Bishop Robert O’Neill informing them that they must either renounce their orders in The Episcopal Church or be inhibited for six months and deposed for abandonment of communion thereafter. The previous bishop of Colorado, Jerry Winterrowd, had granted 17 of the clergy letters dimissory to the Province of Southeast Asia in 2001. However, the clergy did not go to that province but remained active in the United States as part of the Anglican Mission in the Americas. The eighteenth recently affiliated with CANA. Bishop O’Neill and the diocesan Standing Committee (which certified that the clergy had abandoned the communion of the church) consider the steps a “housekeeping” process to clarify that these clergy are not under the jurisdiction of the diocese and not authorized to serve in Episcopal parishes. This story has not been widely reported, though one story about these events can be found here.

Pittsburgh bishops to attend Lambeth Conference

Both Diocesan Bishop Robert Duncan and Assistant Bishop Henry Scriven will attend the Lambeth Conference in July and August, as well as the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in June, the Diocese of Pittsburgh announced May 6. According to the diocesan statement, Bishop Duncan will attend the Lambeth Conference July 16–25, and Bishop Scriven will attend July 26–August 3, in a move to reduce costs. “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,” Bishop Duncan is quoted as saying. Other supporters of realignment that have announced their intention to be at Lambeth include Fort Worth bishop Jack Iker and Southern Cone primate Gregory Venables.

News for Week Ending 5/5/2008

Brazilian bishops see no need for Anglican covenant

In a statement released this past week reacting to the so-called “St. Andrew’s Draft,” members of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil said they continue to believe that an Anglican covenant is unnecessary to guide relationships between Anglican provinces. “The Covenant continues to be a mistaken proposal for the resolution of conflicts through the creation of curial instances absolutely alien to our ethos,” the bishops’ statement says. The full statement may be read here. Episcopal News Service has a story on the statement here.

Canadian diocese sends subtle message

Anglican Journal reports that the synod of the Diocese of Athabasca, in northern Alberta, has passed resolutions to “inform the parishes and the bishops who have joined the Anglican Network in Canada and the Province of the Southern Cone that we are in full communion with them” and to express dismay at bishops’ using the courts to retain property of congregations leaving the Anglican Church of Canada for the Anglican Network in Canada. The local bishop, Archbishop John Clarke, has written a letter to clarify the synod’s resolutions. In it, he asserts that members of the diocese believe that the communion table is the place for all Christians to come together “to find the wisdom, courage, and grace, to overcome our differences.” The Diocese of Athabasca has 3,500 members, scattered among 33 worshiping communities in 18 parishes, none of which has voted to leave the Canadian church.

Williams: Robinson can perform no priestly acts in England

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams informed Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire by e-mail on April 29 that he is prohibited from preaching or presiding at the Eucharist while he is in England. The archbishop had already refused to invite Robinson as a regular participant in this year’s Lambeth Conference, although the gay New Hampshire bishop plans to be on hand as an observer. Extensive coverage of this development is provided by Thinking Anglicans, a British Web site.

Bishops reportedly circulating charges against Jefferts Schori

On April 30, The Living Church reported that a group of (unnamed) bishops and other church leaders are circulating a legal memorandum arguing that charges could be brought against Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori for the way she has handled the inhibition or deposition of Bishops Robert Duncan, of Pittsburgh; John-David Schofield, of San Joaquin (Calif.); and William Cox, a retired bishop now living in Oklahoma. The memo reportedly lists 11 counts of alleged violations of the church’s constitution and canons that could be included in a presentment, which might lead to an ecclesiastical trial. The Living Church quoted a spokeswoman as saying the Presiding Bishop declined to comment because she has not seen the memorandum.

Presiding bishop reviews canonical processes in letter to HoB

Also on April 30, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori e-mailed a letter to members of the House of Bishops reviewing and commenting on processes related to bishops’ deposition, inhibition, renunciation, and resignation. In it, she discussed the canon on temporary inhibition of a bishop pending a final decision by the full House, saying that her understanding is the one held by her chancellor, David Booth Beers, as well as by members of the Title IV Review Committee, an attorney who is an original member of the Committee, the chancellors of several dioceses who have been consulted, and the former chair of both the Standing Commission on the Constitution and Canons and the Legislative Committee on the Canons at the General Convention. The full text of the letter may be found here.

Loyalist Episcopal groups in Fort Worth diocese form umbrella group

Fort Worth area groups opposing “realigning” with another Anglican province have formed an umbrella organization named The Steering Committee North Texas Episcopalians. Groups within it are Fort Worth Via Media, North Texans Remain Episcopal, Remain Episcopal of Granbury, Steadfast Episcopalians, and several clergy members, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported April 30. The story quotes Bishop Jack Iker as calling the new organization “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.”

Venables visit draws PB’s protest, Iker defense

Archbishop Gregory Venables, primate of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, drew a protest from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori regarding his May 2–3 visit to the Diocese of Fort Worth. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) In a letter dated April 29, Jefferts Schori called his visit “an unwarranted invasion of, and meddling in, the internal affairs of this Province [The Episcopal Church].” (The letter is reproduced in the Episcopal News Service story here.) Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker responded the following day with a letter to the presiding bishop calling her communication a “rude letter” and asserting that she had no say in the matter because a diocesan bishop is free to invite other bishops to visit and speak in his diocese. Venables’ visit to Fort Worth followed visits to Vancouver, where he licensed clergy to serve in the Anglican Network in Canada, and San Joaquin.

Iker going to Lambeth

Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker announced May 1 that he will attend the Lambeth Conference in England this summer, as well as the earlier GAFCON in Jerusalem. In a statement posted on the diocesan Web site, Iker said: “I stand in solidarity with all those Bishops who have decided, as a matter of conscience, that they are unable to be at Lambeth. However, given the situation the Diocese of Fort Worth finds itself in with the unfolding realignment that is taking place in Anglicanism, I think it is important for me to be there to make our case and to face our detractors.”

News for Week Ending 4/28/2008

Archbishop Venables visiting North American flock

Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone has been traveling in North America to visit with groups who have sought to affiliate with his province. Venables attended the annual conference of the Anglican Network in Canada, April 25-26, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (See Pittsburgh Update story on Archbishop Fred Hiltz’s efforts to keep Venables out of Canada here.) The archbishop will visit the “Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin,” made up of individuals and congregations in California who have separated from The Episcopal Church, on April 29. He goes to the Diocese of Fort Worth May 2–3, where he will conduct a “day of conversation” with the diocesan clergy, and participate in a special "questions and answer" convocation of clergy and convention delegates. Venables’ visit to Fort Worth was announced in February.

Eleven clergy resign from Canadian church

Eleven members of the clergy in the Vancouver-based Diocese of New Westminster resigned on April 21, citing theological conflicts with Bishop Michael Ingham. The Anglican Journal reported that they intend to continue their ministry in their present parish buildings under the jurisdiction of the Southern Cone. The resignation letters came in response to a notice sent the 11 clerics in February by Bishop Ingham, stating that he considered them to have abandoned the communion of the Anglican Church of Canada. Their parishes have joined the Anglican Network in Canada, a group headed by Bishop Donald Harvey and attached to the Province of the Southern Cone. The present conflict in New Westminster can be traced back to the 2002 vote by the diocese to allow the blessing of same-sex unions in New Westminster.

Australia to get second woman bishop

Canon Barbara Darling will become the second woman bishop consecrated by the Anglican Church of Australia. The Age reports that the priest, 60, will become an assisting bishop in Melborne nine days after Archdeacon Kay Goldsworthy is consecrated in Perth. (See Pittsburgh Update Story here.)

Diocese and Episcopal Church file suit to recover San Joaquin property

The Diocese of San Joaquin and The Episcopal Church jointly filed suit April 24 in California “to reclaim possession of the real and personal property belonging to the diocese.” The 31-page legal complaint asks the court to order former diocesan bishop John-David Schofield to vacate the diocesan offices he continues to occupy. It further requests that all defendants be required to provide an accounting of all real and personal property belonging to the diocese, its parishes and missions that they control, and to relinquish all property to Provisional Bishop Jerry Lamb and the diocese. The suit also asks for an injunction barring Schofield from using “symbols and other trademarks of the Episcopal Church,” including the bishop’s seal.

Bishop Schofield was deposed by the church’s House of Bishops after affiliating with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. (See previous Pittsburgh Update story here.) Scofield’s response to the legal action can be read here.

In a letter to all congregations concerning the lawsuit, Bishop Lamb asked clergy and church wardens “to enter conversations with me about their status in the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin. There are no conditions for these conversations.” An Episcopal News Service story on the legal action can be read here. Links to the filing and related documents can be found on the Diocese of San Joaquin Web site here.

The view from the diocese being sued can be read on the Web site of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. “Realignment Complete, San Joaquin Refocuses on Mission and Ministry” was written just before the suit was filed.

Other hierarchical churches support Diocese of Virginia position in court

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia said April 24 that the United Methodist Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the World Wide Church of God, along with the bishop of the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and the conference’s chancellor have joined in a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the diocese’s position that a Civil War-era state law dealing with a “division” in a religious institution is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment to the Constitution. The hearing on these issues is scheduled for May 28. The filing is described on the diocese’s Web site here. The text of the filing, along with other documents related to the court case, can be read here. See also the previous Pittsburgh Update story on the court case in Virginia here.

Seabury-Western declares ‘financial crisis’; issues termination notices to faculty

Trustees of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill., announced April 24 that, in response to a “financial crisis that threatens survival of the institution,” it has formally notified all faculty members that they will be terminated effective June 30, 2009, and that nine staff positions are being eliminated. The Episcopal News Service story can be read here. A newspaper story on the situation can be found here.

The seminary faced an ongoing deficit of $500,000 a year and had already suspended recruitment for an incoming class. Cooperation from neighboring Garrett Theological Seminary will allow currently enrolled students to complete their degrees. The Board of Trustees is still considering ways that the seminary may continue its educational mission.

Seabury-Western also noted that two of the other nine Episcopal Church seminaries have had to take drastic actions in recent months to meet financial challenges. Bexley Hall is phasing out its operations in Rochester, N.Y., and consolidating its remaining program and students in Columbus, Ohio, where it will continue its MDiv program with Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, Mass., announced last month that it has sold some of its campus to Lesley University in order to remain in Cambridge.

Network vision ‘again affirmed and embraced’

Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, moderator of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (Anglican Communion Network), issued a brief statement following a meeting of Network bishops April 24 in Chicago (available here and reproduced below):

The diocesan bishop of every Network diocese, as well as a dean representing all the Network convocations, met together in Chicago on April 24. It was an extraordinarily productive meeting. As has happened so many times before in the Network’s five year history, deepened understanding and deeper unity, despite remarkably different contexts and strategies regarding the Episcopal Church, were the fruit of the meeting. The Network’s vision of a biblical, missionary and united Anglicanism was again affirmed and embraced.

News for Week Ending 4/21/2008

Archbishop Venables told he is violating Windsor Report

Anglican Church of Canada’s archbishop and primate Fred Hiltz has written to Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone, requesting that he not attend a meeting of the Anglican Network in Vancouver and reminding Venables of statements in the Windsor Report and by the primates against border crossing. The story is reported here by the National Post. Archbishop Hiltz’s quoted the Archbishop of Canterbury as writing: “I am quite content to repeat that I do not endorse any cross-provincial transfers of allegiance, and that this office and that of the Anglican Communion recognize one ecclesial body in Canada as a constitutive member of the Communion, the Anglican Church of Canada.” The letter is available here. Venables has replied saying he intends to attend the meeting anyway.

Many views aired at Covenant Conference

A variety of views on the proposed Anglican Covenant were aired during the conference “An Anglican Covenant: Divisive or Reconciling” held April 10–12 at the Desmond Tutu Center in New York City. The conference was sponsored by The General Theological Seminary and other seminaries of The Episcopal Church and by the Anglican Church of Canada. An Episcopal News Service story summarizing the event, plus audio files and transcripts of presentations can be reached from here.

Priest-in-charge appointed to Groton parish

The evolving story of the “Connecticut Six” continued this week, as the suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut announced the appointment of the Rev. David Cannon as priest-in-charge of Bishop Seabury Church, Groton. The Bishop Seabury congregation voted in November 2007 to leave The Episcopal Church and to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). They have remained in control of the parish property, which Bishop Andrew Smith insisted they vacate last January. The Rev. Ronald Gauss has continued to lead the breakaway congregation. The appointment of the Rev. David Cannon was reported April 14 by Episcopal News Service (ENS). An April 15 story in The Hartford Courant can be read here.

Central N.Y. congregation sued by diocese in property dispute

The Diocese of Central New York has filed suit in a state court seeking “a full accounting and delivery of real and personal property … to the diocese” from Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, N.Y., according to a story from Episcopal News Service. The vestry, wardens, and rector of Good Shepherd, which, according to its Web site, is a member of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, voted to leave The Episcopal Church and to apply to affiliate with the Anglican Church of Kenya. Good Shepherd leaders rejected an offer by Bishop Gladstone (Skip) Adams to remain in its building while it sought alternative accommodations.

Houston area parish splinters

The rector, staff, and an unknown number of parishioners of the 1000-member Church of the Good Shepherd in Tomball, Texas, northwest of Houston, have left The Episcopal Church, probably to affiliate with the Anglican Mission in the Americas. A final service presided over by the Rev. Stan Gerber, rector, was held Sunday, April 13. The Houston Chronicle reported April 18 that Gerber and an expected majority of Good Shepherd members will reorganize as St. Timothy’s Anglican Church and hold services in rented space at a junior high school. At least two vestry members will remain with the Episcopal parish. Services will be led by the Rev. Canon C. Andrew Doyle until a suitable interim rector is named.

Protests over depositions continue

The bishop and standing committee of the Diocese of Western Louisiana adopted a resolution rejecting the March depositions of Bishops William Cox and John-David Schofield. A similar protest was made earlier by leaders of the Diocese of South Carolina, charging a quorum was not present when the House of Bishops voted on the action. The Presiding Bishop’s chancellor, David Booth Beers, has rejected suggestions that the depositions were in any way improper.

No special House of Bishops meeting in May

The Rev. Canon Charles Robertson, canon to the Presiding Bishop, wrote to bishops April 16 to inform them that a poll of the bishops had resulted in a decision not to convene a special meeting of the House of Bishops in May. This makes it likely that bishops will not vote on the deposition of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan before the September meeting of the House. Details are available here.

News for Week Ending 4/14/2008

Violence against gays decried

Changing Attitude, the British-based organization working for GBLT “affirmation” within the Anglican Communion, wrote a letter April 8 to “conservative Anglican church leaders” asking them to tone down anti-gay rhetoric. Gay leaders of Changing Attitude Nigeria have been assaulted, and the life of the director of the parent organization has been threatened. The next day, the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement calling the threats against gay leaders “disgraceful.”

Brazilian bishops protest Venables visit to Recife

In a statement made public April 9, bishops of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil expressed “strong repudiation” of a recent visit by Southern Cone Archbishop Gregory Venables to Recife. They said Bishop Venables “took part in and celebrated at official occasions outside his Province without the knowledge and consent of the Archbishop of the Province of Brazil and this House of Bishops.” Details are available here.

First woman Anglican bishop named in Australia

Archdeacon Kay Goldsworthy, will become Australia’s first woman bishop. On May 22, she will be consecrated an assistant bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Perth. The Anglican Church of Australia will become the fourth province in the Anglican Communion to appoint or elect a woman to serve in the episcopate, although 14 of 38 provinces have approved the consecration of women bishops. Stories from The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion can be found here and here.

More developments reported regarding disciplinary proceedings against bishops

The Living Church reported April 9 that Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has sent e-mail to all bishops entitled to vote on the deposition of Bishop Robert Duncan. The story suggests that, although a House of Bishops meeting has been scheduled for September 17–19, a special meeting might be held to vote on deposition before the Lambeth Conference this summer.

The Presiding Bishop inhibited retired Bishop of Quincy Edward H. MacBurney on April 2. The bishop’s adopted son died two days later, and Bishop Jefferts Schori has now temporarily lifted the inhibition “to offer the bishop the opportunity to function liturgically in any services for his son if he desires to do so.” The Living Church reports the story here.

Amicable parting of parish in Rio Grande diocese

The Diocese of the Rio Grande announced this week that clergy and congregants of the mission Church of Ascension, Cloudcroft, New Mexico, have been received into the Anglican Province of Uganda. The mission vicar and president of the standing committee concelebrated a service of Holy Eucharist on Sunday, April 6. According to the diocese, the departing group will move to an “alternative location” during the coming week. The diocese also announced that Episcopal worship will continue at the mission location beginning April 13. “Conversations were respectful, cordial and acknowledged respective positions,” the diocesan announcement said. A newspaper report can be read here.

Duncan to preach at Iker celebration

Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan will preach Sunday, April 27, at a service of Evensong marking the 15th anniversary of the consecration of Bishop of Fort Worth Jack L. Iker. (Fort Worth, like Pittsburgh, has voted once on constitutional changes intended to facilitate the diocese’s leaving The Episcopal Church.) The event will be held at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas, in the Diocese of Fort Worth. Details can be found on the cathedral’s Web site.

News for Week Ending 4/7/2008

Virginia trial court rules for CANA on one issue

Eleven congregations that have broken away from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia have won an initial round in court. A Fairfax County (Va.) trial judge ruled late Thursday that a Civil War-era Virginia law regarding “division” within a religious body applies to the present situation in which majorities in 11 parishes have voted to leave the Episcopal Church and affiliate with the newly created Anglican District of Virginia. (The Anglican District of Virginia is part of the Convocation of Anglican Nigerians in America, or CANA.) The court rejected arguments by the Diocese of Virginia and The Episcopal Church that the “division” statute does not apply in this instance.

The court reserved judgment on the question of whether the Virginia statute is constitutional, setting oral arguments on those issues for May 28. A separate trial on church property issues is scheduled this fall. The court further said that legal proceedings on the validity of the voting process employed by the congregations will be scheduled at a later date.

The Lead has provided the best coverage of both the decision itself and the reaction to it here. Its coverage includes links to the court opinion itself, to the Virginia statute that is central to it, and to press coverage. Conservative journalist David Virtue has written his own story on the decision.

Litigation involving parish property of congregations that have left The Episcopal Church has generally favored the church, though state law and parish history can be important factors in determining the outcome of such litigation. The Virginia statute is apparently unique, and its ultimate effect on the Virginia cases cannot be predicted.

Bishop and congregation clash in B.C.

Just as congregations have voted to leave The Episcopal Church, congregations in Canada have voted to leave the Anglican Church of Canada for much the same reasons. This past weekend saw a flare-up in British Columbia involving a parish on Vancouver Island.

The congregation of St. Mary of the Incarnation, Metchosin, voted in February to align with the Anglican Network in Canada. On Friday, April 4, the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia changed the locks on the church, installed a security system in the building, and issued this press release. A court issued an injunction, however, requiring the diocese to allow the breakaway congregation to worship in the church on Sunday. The diocese relented, allowing services to be held, but Bishop of British Columbia James Cowan asserted Sunday that the facts of the case were misrepresented to the court and, apparently, the legal action will continue. News stories can be read here and here.

The Anglican Network in Canada is an arm of Anglican Essentials Canada. It is led by Bishop Donald Harvey, who came out of retirement to head the group now associated with the Southern Cone, as described in an Anglican Communion Network press release. The other arm of Anglican Essentials Canada is Anglican Essentials Federation, which seeks to change the Anglican Church of Canada from within.

Network bishops to meet April 24

Bishops of Anglican Communion Network-affiliated dioceses will meet April 24 in Chicago. Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator, has said that he called the meeting because “we need to talk frankly and openly about the future.” The meeting is reported on the Network’s Web site. The bishops will likely be discussing, among other matters, the relationships among the Network, the Common Cause Partnership, and such entities as the newly declared Diocese of San Joaquin of the Province of the Southern Cone.

Diocesan Council: Southern Cone ‘wisest forward course’

The Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Pittsburgh adopted a “sense of the council” resolution on April 1 asserting “that alignment with the Province of the Southern Cone is the wisest forward course for the Diocese should the second reading of the constitution changes adopted on November 2, 2007, be passed at second reading.” The vote was 20-1 with 3 abstentions. The motion, which is not binding, asks that a resolution providing for such realignment be drawn up and submitted to the Council for final consideration no later than June. It will then be scheduled for a vote at the diocese’s November 2008 convention. The action of the Council is reported on the diocesan Web site here.

Diocese drops church insurance

As of April 1, the diocese dropped insurance coverage offered by the Church Insurance Corporation and the Church Insurance Corporation of Vermont. These companies are part of Church Pension Group, a company specifically set up to serve Episcopal churches.

In a post on the diocesan Web site, the diocese explained that it was switching coverage to other providers based on cost, the desire for local representation, and because it “provides stability of coverage as the diocese considers realigning to another province of the Anglican Communion.” The change covers worker’s compensation; directors & officers insurance; and property, casualty, and liability policies.

News for Week Ending 3/31/2008

Diocese of San Joaquin (Calif.) reorganizes

The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin held a special convention March 28-29 in Stockton and Lodi, Calif., to fill open diocesan offices and voted unanimously to accept Bishop Jerry Lamb as provisional bishop for the diocese. He had been recommended by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. The convention took a number of other administrative actions, including election of deputies to the 2009 General Convention, formation of a new standing committee, adoption of a budget, and restoration of the previous diocesan constitution containing language acceding to the constitution and canons of The Episcopal Church.

The special convention was necessary because, in December 2007, a majority of those attending the convention of the Diocese of San Joaquin voted to adopt constitutional changes intended to allow the diocese to withdraw from The Episcopal Church. Bishop John David Schofield then announced that the diocese was joining the Province of the Southern Cone (in South America). (See ENS story here.) Bishop Schofield was deposed by vote of the House of Bishops in March.

Episcopal News Service has provided extensive coverage of the special convention. Stories from ENS may be read here, here, here, and here.

N.Y. trial court rules in favor of TEC in property lawsuit

Episcopal News Service reported March 26 that the Queens County (N.Y.) Supreme Court—a trial court, not an appellate court, despite its name—had ruled that the property of St. James’ Church, Elmhurst, N.Y., is held in trust for the Diocese of Long Island and The Episcopal Church. The court’s decision can be found here.

The ruling responded to a lawsuit filed by the members of the parish who voted in 2005 to split from The Episcopal Church and to affiliate with the Anglican Church in America. St. James’ was a colonial Church of England parish that officially became part of The Episcopal Church in 1793. The court found that The Episcopal Church is indeed a hierarchical, not a congregational, church, and that St. James’ is bound by the Dennis canon.

The plaintiffs, now members of the St. James’ Anglican Church, were ordered to turn over possession and control of the parish property to the priest-in-charge appointed by the Bishop of Long Island. The court blocked The Episcopal Church from collecting damages for trespass, however.

It is unclear whether the decision will be appealed.

Bishop’s supporters plan prayer vigil

Shepherd’s Heart Fellowship, at 13 Pride Street in Pittsburgh, has scheduled a 24-hour prayer vigil for Bishop Robert Duncan and the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes “as they fight to protect and maintain the Orthodox faith in the Episcopal Church.” The vigil is scheduled to begin on Friday evening, April 11, and to end Saturday night. Details are available here.

Deposition of bishops sparks controversy

A letter from the Bishop and standing committee of the Diocese of South Carolina has kept alive the controversy surrounding the House of Bishops’s votes to depose Bishop John David Schofield of San Joaquin and Bishop William Cox, the retired suffragan of Maryland. Both the House of Bishops parliamentarian and the Presiding Bishop’s chancellor, David Booth Beers ruled that the House of Bishops needed only a majority of the bishops present and eligible to vote, and there was no objection at the time of the vote. The letter from South Carolina insists that the canons had not been followed, and Bishop Mark Lawrence has announced he will not recognize the election of a new bishop for San Joaquin.