ECUSA ousts 61 clergy in California
The Layman, May 29, 2009
The Episcopal Church USA has ousted 61 priests and deacons who joined former San Joaquin Diocese Bishop John-David Schofield in leaving the denomination in protest of liberal ordination standards.
The official actions remove the clergy from ECUSA’s rolls and prevents them from serving in ECUSA again. Taken May 22 and May 26, San Joaquin Bishop Jerry A. Lamb said the actions are heartbreaking.
“I have known a few of these clergy personally and others by the stories I have heard about their ministry,” he said. “But, the fact is, they chose to abandon their relationship with the Episcopal Church. They declined to ask for a release from their ordination vows, and I had no option but to bring the charges of Abandonment of the Communion to the Standing Committee last year and take these final steps … It is a sad day.”
Schofield , who is now bishop in the Diocese of San Joaquin of the Anglican Church in North America, was critical of the action.
“Clearly, the traditional understanding of what it means to be a member of this historic Communion has been tragically altered by this action; and thereby The Episcopal Church needlessly isolates itself from their brothers and sisters around the world,” he said. “We are, however, grieved that the leadership of The Episcopal Church feels compelled to create this unprecedented division between the ministries of The Episcopal Church and their brothers and sisters throughout the rest of the Anglican Communion. For our part, we continue to recognize the orders of those who are properly ordained according to the Book of Common Prayer and who have chosen to continue to serve Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior within (ECUSA).”
Schofield was deposed by ECUSA in March 2008 after he led the Diocese of San Joaquin to become the first full diocese to secede from the denomination in 2007. Schofield and his supporters are among many Episcopalians/Anglicans who opposed the ordination of an openly gay man as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, an issue that continues to divide the church today.
In October and November 2008, the Diocese of San Joaquin charged the priests and deacons who had supported him with abandonment of communion. The clergy had six months to deny their abandonment, recant or renounce their ministry, or face removal or deposition.
“This action does not imply a moral judgment of an individual clergy person,” Lamb said in October. “It speaks only about the person’s relationship to the Episcopal Church. I recognize that these people may have many wonderful gifts for ministry, and perhaps these talents could be used in another Christian denomination.”
In December, the conservative group joined other dioceses and parishes in forming the Anglican Church in North America, part of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion.