The Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman expressed dismay on Monday that the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has described him as renouncing his orders as a bishop. Bishop Ackerman resigned from the Diocese of Quincy in November 2008.
 
“I did so for reasons of physical, spiritual and emotional distress, related to the ongoing demise of the Episcopal Church,” he said in a statement that he read at the beginning of a conference call arranged by Anglicans United, which is based in Dallas, Texas.
 
Now that Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has described him as renouncing his ministry, “I cannot go back to the church of my childhood and perform a funeral,” Bishop Ackerman said. “There has been absolutely no pastoral concern or pastoral care.”
 
Bishop Ackerman said he would not have responded to the Presiding Bishop’s actions if she had not gone public with the matter. He said that publicity prompted many people to ask whether he had indeed renounced his orders as a bishop.
 
“For me, this is not a matter of whether I’m in the Episcopal Church or not in the Episcopal Church. I want to be obedient to the call on my life,” he said, adding that his mother had dedicated him to God while he was still in her womb.
 
The bishop said he had sent two handwritten letters to the Presiding Bishop, the first of which said that he did not write in order to renounce his ministry. Instead, Bishop Ackerman had been invited to serve as a U.S.-based bishop for the Diocese of Bolivia, without a vote in its House of Bishops. Bishop Ackerman requested a transfer to that diocese.
 
Bishop Ackerman said he wanted his correspondence with the Presiding Bishop to be honorable and discreet, and he wanted to continue ministry to Episcopalians in the dioceses of Quincy and Springfield.
 
“If this happens to me when I’ve tried to do this above board, what happens to those who have not voted to work within the system?” he said. “I’m concerned that they’re also going to be treated with a lack of love. I don’t want anyone else to be mistreated.”
 
Bishop Ackerman said he has heard from the Diocese of Bolivia regarding the Presiding Bishop’s actions. “Having heard from the Diocese of Bolivia, I understand that I’m a priest in good standing in that diocese,” he said.
 
Bishop Ackerman said he is troubled by the Episcopal Church’s apparent inability to transfer bishops peaceably to other provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
 
“It must see itself as highly independent,” he said. “If orders are not universal in the Anglican Communion, they cease to be catholic in the full sense of the word. … The Episcopal Church does not own the ministry of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”
 
Neva Rae Fox, the Episcopal Church’s program officer for public affairs, said the Presiding Bishop was unlikely to respond to Bishop Ackerman’s remarks.
 
“I do not know if the Presiding Bishop has seen Keith Ackerman’s statement, nor do I know if he has sent any correspondence to the Presiding Bishop,” she wrote in response to a request for comment. “I do not anticipate that the Presiding Bishop will have a statement.”
 
Douglas LeBlanc
 

Following is Bishop Ackerman's Oct. 19 statement to the press:

I greet you in the precious Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose servant I am.

When I retired one year ago as the Bishop, Diocese of Quincy, the Episcopal Church, I did so for reasons of physical, spiritual and emotional distress, related to the ongoing demise of the Episcopal Church. When promised assistance with my health insurance was denied by the Episcopal Church Center in freezing invested funds in Quincy, my health insurance was cancelled. It, therefore, became necessary for me to seek part time employment that would provide the money necessary to have health insurance.

I accepted a position counseling the homeless, and the unemployed, in a Christian non-profit organization in Dallas, Texas. It became necessary for me to learn Spanish since 95% of the people with whom I am counseling speak only Spanish.

I did so and this experience made it possible for me to respond positively to the kind invitation of the Bishop of Bolivia to minister part time, in addition to assisting part time in the Diocese of Springfield (Ill.). Both dioceses are duly recognized members of the Anglican Communion. I saw no conflict of interest with the Episcopal Church, but wrote the Presiding Bishop for clarification in July 2009 and believed that there would be no problem with this extension of ministry.

This letter was handwritten, sharing with the Presiding Bishop my current health, my new ministry with the homeless, my desire to assist another Anglican partner in ministry in Bolivia and, at their invitation, to participate informally (seat but no voice and no vote) in the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone. At no time did I express dissatisfaction with the Episcopal Church, or make any statement of a desire to be separated from it.

I made no copies of my letter because I wanted it to be clear that this was a very personal communication. She responded by written letter, telling me that she would send the appropriate documentation. After two months with no communication, I sent another handwritten, unduplicated letter asking about this matter.

This past Friday, October 16, 2009, I received an e-mail from the Presiding Bishop, “indicating that there is no provision for transferring a bishop to another Province.” At no time did I request transfer to the Southern Cone. Her letter concluded, “I am therefore releasing you from the obligations of ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church.” (Clarification: I asked to be transferred to the Diocese of Bolivia.)

I did not ask for release and have never considered ministry in this Church an obligation, since it has been the source of my greatest joy.

I have not renounced, and in fact, in my first handwritten letter indicated that my intention was not to be seen as either “abandonment of the Communion” or “Renunciation.”

I have never received telephone calls from either the Presiding Bishop or any member of her staff asking for clarification. I can only conclude that assumptions were made, in the press of events, which are incorrect. I intend to continue my ministry wherever and whenever possible.

Yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, retired

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