California diocese leaves Episcopal Church in historic split

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  1. Hello everyone,

    I spent a few minutes today with Bishop Schofield in simple conversation and prayer. We (well, at least I did) had an enjoyable time. Please keep him in your prayers.

    SBerry

    Posted by  on  12/22  at  11:16 AM

  2. More TEC “silliness” as it trys to deal with “break-away” churches. Today’s Fresno Bee has this story on the Diocese of the San Joaquin and her Bishop John David Schofield.

    Local bishop is banned from practicing
    But breakaway Episcopal diocese he leads indicates it won’t comply.

    By James Guy / The Fresno Bee
    01/11/08 23:41:23

    A local bishop was banned Friday by the Episcopal Church from practicing his religious duties, but a spokesman for the Fresno-based Diocese of San Joaquin indicated the ban would not be recognized.

    Bishop John-David Schofield was ordered to cease ministerial acts until March by a presiding bishop of the national Episcopal Church.

    The act follows a Dec. 6 decision by the Diocese of San Joaquin to leave the Episcopal Church largely because of differences with the national body’s approval of same-sex blessings, the ordination of gay bishops and the role of women in church.

    Under the ban, Schofield cannot give sermons, do confirmations or perform any religious rites until the national denomination’s leaders meet to determine a final judgment by March 13, according to the Rev. Canon Charles Robertson, representing Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

    Diocese officials disagree with the ban.
    “We don’t believe [the Episcopal Church] has the authority,” said the Rev. Bill Gandenberger, a spokesman for Schofield.

    In the December decision, the local diocese voted at its annual convention to align with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of South America as a temporary solution to its differences with the national church. The diocese was the first to break with the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican community.

    A statement from the San Joaquin diocese asserted that the national Episcopal Church “rejects the historical Anglican faith.”

    “It is the primary duty of bishops to guard the faith and Bishop Schofield has been continually discriminated against for having done so while bishops and archbishops around the world have affirmed not only his stance, but the move to the Southern Cone.”

    The action against Schofield by the Episcopal Church “is a demonstration that the Episcopal Church is walking apart from the faith and its expression of morality held by the rest of the Anglican Communion,” the statement said.

    Speaking for the national body, Robertson said that Schofield and other diocese leaders are free to leave the Episcopal Church, but they cannot take the diocese with them. “You are talking about a heritage,” he said. “The institution does remain even if its bishop chooses to exit.”
    Robertson indicated the Episcopal Church was moving to support those in the San Joaquin diocese who chose to remain with the national body. “It’s a matter of the larger [national] body and honoring those that very much want to be Episcopalian,” he said. “We have some of the same checks and balances as the U.S. Constitution.”

    In the December vote, several parishes in the region voted not to secede - including Holy Family in Fresno, St. John the Baptist in Lodi, St. Anne in Stockton, Church of the Saviour in Hanford and St. Matthew in San Andreas. These churches now make up the Diocese of San Joaquin as far as the U.S. church is concerned, according to Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies of the church.

    Unresolved in the dispute is the question of who owns the nearly 50 churches and other property that make up the diocese. The U.S. church and officials of the seceding parishes each say that the property belongs to them. Both Robertson and Gandenberger left open the chance for reconciliation. Were he to reverse course, Schofield would again be held in good standing, Robertson said. “Absolutely, and this is the whole point [of the national church’s actions],” he said.

    Said Gandenberger: “We are holding out that there will be repentance and reconciliation with the Episcopal Church. Until the [Episcopal] church repents and changes its direction, we would disassociate. We are looking forward to one day being one.”

    End of the Newspaper story -

    Steven

    Posted by  on  01/13  at  01:47 AM
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