Let’s just get some housekeeping out of the way first.
1. We’re Episcopalians, not “Episcopals.” (Just like those folks down the street are Methodists, not Methods.)
2. The ecclesiastical body known as the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin hasn’t left the Episcopal Church just because some of its members have.
3. +Gene Robinson isn’t the first gay bishop, or the first openly gay bishop, in the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion, or Christendom. He’s the first openly gay man to be consecrated bishop. (That we know of. 1,980 years--plus or minus a few--is a long, long time to go without the Internet.)
4. Deposed clergy are not "stripped." They may retain their frocks, along with other contents of their closets. It's the title and the property they can't keep.
Breakaway Episcopal Bishop Defrocked
By GARANCE BURKE
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Episcopal leaders ousted a breakaway conservative bishop Wednesday in a struggle for control of the Diocese of San Joaquin and its properties.
The Episcopal House of Bishops, meeting in Texas, took the action against Bishop John-David Schofield, who last December led the Fresno diocese to secede from the Episcopal Church.
San Joaquin is the first full diocese to split from the liberal-leaning denomination, which in 2003 consecrated the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
It’s all here …
Episcopal church deposes two dissident bishops
By Michael Conlon
Mar 12, 2008
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bishops of the U.S. Episcopal Church on Wednesday formally kicked two conservative prelates out of the church in the latest jolt for a worldwide Anglican community divided over the role of gays, biblical interpretation and other issues.
The Episcopal Church's House of Bishops meeting in Texas announced that it had voted to "depose" from ordained ministry Bishops John-David Schofield of San Joaquin, California, and William Cox, a retired former bishop from Maryland who now lives in Oklahoma.
Both had previously affiliated with the conservative Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, based in South America.
It’s all here …
Turmoil for Episcopals [sic]
Bishop who led Diocese of San Joaquin to secede stripped of his title
By Tony Sauro
San Joaquin (CA) Record
March 13, 2008
The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, shaken by conflict and controversy, is about to undergo some rethinking and reorganization.
John-David Schofield was stripped of his role as bishop of the diocese, which stretches from Bakersfield to Lodi, by his national colleagues on Wednesday and barred from performing religious duties as part of the Episcopal Church in America.
Schofield, 69, who has refused to ordain women and gays, led the Diocese of San Joaquin to secede from the U.S. branch of the world's 77 million-member Anglican Church on Dec. 6. The Central California group joined the small Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America.
It’s all here …
Episcopal House of Bishops deposes leader of Fresno diocese
By Don Mayhew
The Fresno Bee
03/12/08
The House of Bishops of the U.S. Episcopal Church elected Wednesday to depose John-David Schofield, the bishop of the Fresno-based Diocese of San Joaquin.
The move was anticipated after the diocese three months ago became the first to secede from the U.S. Episcopal Church since the Civil War.
Schofield, 69, led the secession movement and was banned by the church, the U.S. wing of the Anglican Church, from practicing his religious duties for 60 days, which ended Tuesday.
It’s all here …
Central Valley Episcopal bishop stripped
Central Valley Business Times
March 12
John-David Schofield, who has led an effort to align thousands of Central Valley Episcopalians with a conservative South American diocese instead of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A., has been stripped of his powers by the national church.
The move was expected.
The Episcopal House of Bishops voted Wednesday to consent to the deposition from the ordained ministry of Mr. Schofield, who had been bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin, which stretches from Kern County in the south through San Joaquin County in the north.
It’s all here …
Episcopal Church expels San Joaquin diocese bishop
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
March 13, 2008
Leaders of the Episcopal Church formally ousted the bishop of California's breakaway Diocese of San Joaquin on Wednesday, saying John-David Schofield had abandoned the communion of the church in a bitter, years-long struggle over homosexuality and the Bible.
In December, Schofield's Fresno-based diocese became the first in the nation to secede from the Episcopal Church over the issues, placing itself under the authority of a theologically conservative Anglican archbishop in South America.
The decision by the Episcopal Church's bishops to depose Schofield, made during a meeting in Texas, was the latest step in a long-playing conflict within the church and the global Anglican Communion over theology and the role of gays in religious life. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the communion but has been at odds with much of that fellowship since 2003, when the U.S. church consecrated a partnered gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire.
It’s all here …
Episcopal Church Votes to Oust Bishop Who Seceded
By NEELA BANERJEE
The New York Times
March 13, 2008
The Episcopal Church moved to remove the bishop of the San Joaquin Diocese in California on Wednesday, in reaction to the diocese’s unprecedented decision late last year to secede from the church over theological issues.
The bishop, John-David Schofield, is the first bishop to face such action as a result of the disputes over the church’s stance on homosexuality.
At its semiannual meeting, in Texas, the church’s House of Bishops voted “to consent to the deposition from the ordained ministry” of Bishop Schofield.
It’s all here …
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