New GC2012 Resolution could force PA Bishop Charles Bennison out of office
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
August 27, 2012
The 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church passed an historic resolution in Indianapolis recognizing that when the relationship between bishops and dioceses is severely strained, sometimes to the breaking point, there is a way out that includes getting rid of the diocesan bishop. The canonical process of Resolution B021 prescribes methods for ending an episcopal relationship.This now allows the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, if it so chooses, to finally get rid of Bishop Charles E. Bennison without using any of the Title IV disciplinary canons.
Resolution B021 was the result of a call (via Resolution B014) from the 2009 meeting of General Convention on how to help dioceses and bishops resolve their differences.
The failure of dioceses stuck with bad or deficient bishops (and there are a slew of them) has been a sticking point for years as there has been virtually no way of getting rid of a bishop except for public adultery which is still deemed scandalous. (What you can do is divorce your wife, take her to the altar and ecclesiastically unmarry her, then run out and find a man to marry if you are of the same sex.) But good old fashioned adultery is still a no-no in The Episcopal Church even though the late Bishop of New York, Paul Moore, engaged in an extensive homosexual affair while married with nine children. It was known by many that Moore committed adultery, but he was never exposed. He was inhibited by his successor, Bishop Richard Grein, though the charges against Moore were never made public. Grein was caught in an adulterous relationship, divorced his wife, and married another woman.
As well as pansexuality, gross incompetency has been the hallmark of many a bishop. The good folk of Western Michigan are just waiting for Bishop Robert Gepert to go having left in his wake busted churches and a financial deficit.
The passage of Resolution B021 Convention offers a way to help bishops and dioceses reconcile or dissolve an episcopal relationship.
Resolution B014 (from 2009) noted in its explanation, The toll of that lack is "enormous," and comes in the form of "bishops and their families leaving stigmatized and without the gratitude and caring of the dioceses they have served, members of Standing Committees exhausted and ill-used, dioceses being left demoralized and split by factions, and the name of the church often compromised for lack of a more humane process." A better description of the situation in The Diocese of Pennsylvania could not be found.
If a diocese and bishop do decide to invoke the canon, such a decision allows any party to ask the presiding bishop to intervene and assist in resolving the disagreement or dissension. The presiding bishop then begins a process - including the possible use of a consultant or licensed mediator - meant to lead to reconciliation. If the parties agree to reconcile, they must define the "responsibility and accountability for the bishop and the diocese," according to the new Section 9.
In addition, the bishop, or two-thirds of the Standing Committee or a two-thirds majority vote of the Diocesan Convention can begin a process to dissolve the episcopal relationship. The reasons for the dissolution must be given in writing to the presiding bishop, along with a report of any mediator or consultant who might have been engaged. That notice sets in motion a series of steps that would last a matter of months. The presiding bishop may require further attempts at mediation and reconciliation. If there is still no resolution, a committee of one bishop (appointed by the presiding bishop) and one priest and one lay person (appointed by the president of the House of Deputies) from outside the diocese is to be convened to recommend a resolution of the matter. The committee could recommend that the episcopal relationship continue or that it should be dissolved.
The recommendation would have to be approved by two-thirds of the members of the House of Bishops present and eligible to vote at the house's next regularly scheduled or special meeting. If that majority does not agree, the committee would have to recommend another resolution to the same meeting, which would then be voted on at that meeting.
"In terms of church time, this thing moves at lightning speed," the Rev. Ledlie I. Laughlin, a Pennsylvania deputy and chair of the diocese's Standing Committee, told the Episcopal News Service.
Laughlin, the rector of St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia, said he followed the formulation of the eventually approved process "and was invited to participate in some of the conversations as edits were being made along the way.
"My guess is that the exercise of this canon will be rare, but in cases where it might be necessary, it could help spare undue damage to a diocese and the episcopal relationship," Diocese of Ohio Bishop Mark Hollingsworth, who proposed B021, told ENS. "Most likely, having the canon will incent a speedier resolution before having to invoke it."
The Pennsylvania Standing Committee has been at odds with Bishop Charles Bennison since the mid-2000s over concerns about how he has managed the diocese's assets and other issues.More than once the Standing Committee has called for Bennison's resignation, including the day he returned to work in August 2010 after the church's Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop overturned a lower church court's finding that he ought to be removed from ordained ministry because he had engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy. The review court agreed with one of the lower court's two findings of misconduct, but said that Bennison could not be deposed because the charge was barred by the church's statute of limitations.
In September 2010, the Standing Committee asked the House of Bishops for its "support and assistance" in securing Bennison's retirement or resignation. The bishops later that month called for Bennison's "immediate and unconditional resignation." The next day, Bennison refused. He remains the diocesan bishop.
Bennison has no guilt or shame. As a sociopath, he feels no compunction to resign despite his appalling behavior concerning his brother's sexual abuse of a minor and the way he has treated Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals in the diocese. He rides rough shod over the Standing Committee, his behavior ameliorated only marginally by bishops Rodney Michel and Alan Turner.
The process agreed to by this meeting of convention in B021 is akin to the mechanism for a parish that finds itself in serious conflict with its rector (Title III.9.12-13). It will be added to the "Of the Life and Work of a Bishop" canon of Title III, the church's policies regarding ordained ministry. The addition becomes effective Sept. 1.
'via Blog this'
