The bishop and standing committees of two more dioceses have joined with the dioceses of South Carolina  and Western Louisiana to formally protest the means by which the House of Bishops removed two of its members from the ministry in March.
 
Bishop Peter Beckwith of Springfield and the standing committee of that diocese approved a resolution on May 22 calling on Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in part “to acknowledge publicly that the depositions of bishops [John-David] Schofield and [William] Cox were not validly procured, and, should it be their desire to continue to seek depositions in these questionable circumstances, to revisit this issue at a future meeting of the House of Bishops, conducting any further proceedings in accordance with the clear language of canon.”
 
In order to depose a bishop for abandonment of communion, the canons of The Episcopal Church require a majority “of all bishops eligible to vote.” A majority of bishops present at the meeting approved the depositions on a voice vote. The canons also stipulate that any procedural challenges must be made at the time of the vote.
 
The decision by the leadership of the Diocese of Springfield is similar to a letter sent to the Presiding Bishop by the bishop, diocesan board and standing committee of the Diocese of Central Florida on May 15. That letter requests that Bishop Jefferts Schori and the House of Bishops “revisit those decisions and make every effort to follow our Church Canons in this and all future House of Bishops decisions.” The letter is signed by Bishop John W. Howe and Anthony P. Clark, president of the diocese’s standing committee. It was published on the diocesan website after Bishop Jefferts Schori acknowledged receiving and reading it, according to a diocesan source.
 
A spokesperson for Bishop Jefferts Schori described the Central Florida letter as private correspondence and noted that if Bishop Jefferts Schori decides to respond to the request made of her in the letter, it will be sent only to the authors of the private correspondence.
 
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