Diocese of San Joaquin Votes to Leave The Episcopal Church
First Diocese in the Nation to Leave TEC
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
12/8/2007
In an historic move that surprised virtually nobody, the Diocese of San Joaquin today voted to leave the Episcopal Church (TEC) and realign with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone becoming the first diocese in the nation to formally leave TEC.
Delegates to the 48th diocesan convention voted by orders, 70-12 clergy and 103-10 in the lay order, to effectively remove all references to the Episcopal Church from its constitution and describe the diocese as "a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and in full communion with the See of Canterbury."
The vote was overwhelming to leave. San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield asked for a moment of silence in deference to those who opposed the change, reminding the gathering that he "knows what it feels like to be a minority" before the vote tallies were read.
"This is a historic moment...a vote for freedom," Schofield told the gathering of about 88 clergy and 113 lay delegates meeting at St. James Cathedral in Fresno. He reminded the gathering that the diocese as a whole was realigning and said that clergy who reject the move have time to discern whether or not to accept the invitation to join the Southern Cone. The vote was taken after about 30 minutes of emotional debate, often interrupted by applause.
One delegate told the Episcopal News Service that the vote was ironically "a good thing. We can get on with our ministry, now that this diocese is free of this poison," she said, referring to the rancor surrounding the issue of leaving.
"The Episcopal Church receives with sadness the news that some members of this church have made a decision to leave this church," said Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. "We deeply regret their unwillingness or inability to live within the historical Anglican understanding of comprehensiveness. We wish them to know of our prayers for them and their journey. The Episcopal Church will continue in the Diocese of San Joaquin, albeit with new leadership," ENS reported. A handful of delegates vowed to "remain episcopal".
In his convention address on Friday, Schofield told delegates he would retire within two years, by General Convention 2009 "with no reasonable hope for an orthodox successor" and a return to "where we were before last December's convention. Canon laws will be introduced to make it impossible for dioceses and persons to leave."
Although the move makes San Joaquin the first diocese in the nation to separate from the Episcopal Church, Schofield predicted that more dioceses will follow. Flanked by Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan and Bolivia Bishop Frank Lyons from the Southern Cone province, Schofield told a gathering of reporters December 7 that the consecration of an openly gay bishop in 2003 was merely a "flashpoint" for those who had had "enough because of the liberal theology of the Episcopal Church."
"Those who want to remain Episcopalians, but reject the biblical standards of morality, the ultimate authority of the Bible, and the biblical revelation of God to us in His Son the only savior of mankind, will in the end be left solely with a name and a bureaucratic structure," he said.
The central California-based diocese represents about 8,500 Episcopalians in 47 congregations, at least five of whom Schofield predicted will opt to remain with the Episcopal Church.
Schofield characterized Venables' invitation to align with the Province of the Southern Cone as a "Godsend" for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, allowing for disagreeing factions to still remain within the Anglican Communion. The Province of the Southern Cone has about 22,000 members and encompasses Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
Lyons also told reporters that Williams approved of the new affiliation and described it as "a sensible way forward."
But, the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Anglican Communion secretary general, disagreed. "I would be surprised to hear that the Archbishop would formally support such a development which is contrary to the Windsor Report," he said in a November 27, 2007, letter to a Fort Worth delegate who had asked for verification of similar assertions Lyons made during the Texas diocese's November 17 convention.
Delegates to the Fort Worth diocese's 25th convention also gave the first of two approvals to dissociate from the Episcopal Church. Similarly, Pittsburgh delegates on November 2 voted for realignment. Delegates at Quincy's October 20-21 annual synod, however, chose to remain with the Episcopal Church, at least for the immediate future.
Schofield said San Joaquin congregations wishing to remain with the national church may retain their property, as long as they don't owe the diocese money. "I just wish the Episcopal Church was as generous in the other direction," he said.
He said that nothing will change immediately as the diocese waits to see what, if any, action the Presiding Bishop will take. "On Monday, the doors won't be locked."
Chancellor Kenneth VanRozeboom gave a lengthy report to convention detailing the legal implications of the move. Schofield said the diocese is monitoring the decision in the property disputes between the Diocese of Los Angeles and four breakaway churches which are awaiting a hearing before the California Supreme Court.
He characterized such litigation as being "like cannibalism, like Christians eating each other. Christians should not be taking Christians to court," he said. Regardless of the outcome in Los Angeles, the future remains murky because that decision involves "churches, not dioceses." Schofield concluded that any litigation "will be a fairly long, drawn-out process."
Bishop Schofield was warned by Mrs. Jefferts Schori not to attempt to leave the Episcopal Church with the properties and threatened legal action if he did so. She warned Schofield that any constitutional changes would "implicitly reject the Church's property and other canons."
As recently as June, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church warned that actions by Episcopal Church dioceses that changed their constitutions in an attempt to bypass the Church's Constitution and Canons were "null and void."
Jefferts Schori said that any attempt to affiliate with the Southern Cone would amount to abandoning the communion of the church and amounted to "violating your own vows to uphold the doctrine, discipline, and worship of this Church."
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GJ - While the Issues in WELS people are wringing their hands, the Episcopalians are voting to leave. This action will encourage other groups to leave The Episcopal Church in the US. The Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts-Schori, will sue her brothers in court.
Did anyone else notice that the photo features men leading their group?
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson must be weeping.
"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor."
Aristotle
