Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on January 11 inhibited the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of San Joaquin. Bishop Jefferts Schori acted after the Title 4 Review Committee certified that Bishop Schofield had abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church.
According to the text of the inhibition, Bishop Jefferts Schori wrote that Bishop Schofield “cease from exercising the gifts of ordination in the ordained ministry of this Church” and that he “cease all 'episcopal, ministerial, and canonical acts, except as relate to the administration of the temporal affairs of the Diocese of San Joaquin,'” as of 5 p.m. PST Jan. 11.
On January 9, Upper South Carolina Bishop Dorsey Henderson, chairman of the Title 4 Review Committee, wrote to Bishop Jefferts Schori, telling her that the nine-member committee had met that day and that a majority agreed that the documentation provided to them "demonstrated that Bishop Schofield has abandoned the communion of this Church by an open renunciation of the doctrine, discipline or worship of this Church."
Bishop Jefferts Schori needed, in accordance with Title 4, Canon 9, Section 1, the consent of the three senior bishops of the church with jurisdiction to issue the inhibition. She noted in the inhibition that Bishops Leo Frade of Southeast Florida, Peter Lee of
Episcopal Life Online contributed to this report.
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1 Comment
Bishop Katherine was only doing her primatial duty - on behalf of TEC, which had already warned Bp. Schofield of the consequences of the action which he proposed to take. Disagreement is no excuse for desertion of one's post.
Having flouted the legitimate conventions ot the Episcopal Church in the USA. Bp. Schofield is now adrift in the uncertainty of the Province of the Southern Cone. He can hardly expect to any longer be the recipient of the hospitality of Lambeth - the spiritual fountain of Ecclesia Anglicana. However many will choose to flee from the jurisdiction of TEC, their presence in the USA can only be an embarrassment to themselves and our Communion.
The Primate of the Southern Cone may actually be biting off more than he can chew if he finds himself without a welcome at Lambeth by the Bishops of the continuing Anglican Communion. He will then have to deal with a far-flung coterie of parishes without the resources to pastor them! Perhaps he is looking forward to the travel involved in being a 'Flying Bishop'. At least, his total congregation should be increased by the influx.
Perhaps Nigeria will provide the resources he will need?