First diocese leaves Episcopal Church

To date about 55 conservative parishes have left the more theologically liberal national church and affiliated with an Anglican Province overseas but this is the first time since the Civil War that an entire diocese has left.

On Dec. 8, at its annual convention (or synod) delegates voted overwhelmingly by orders: 70-12 clergy and 103-10 laity, to remove all references to the Episcopal Church from its constitution and describe the Fresno-based diocese as “a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and in full communion with the See of Canterbury.”  

A later vote was taken to accept an invitation from Archbishop Gregory Venables and the bishops of the Southern Cone to become a diocesan member of that South American province. That vote was also overwhelming.

According to John-David Schofield, Bishop of San Joaquin (pron. wahkeen), “This is the first time in American Anglican history that a diocese has realigned with a like-minded province.” He added, “The vote was a resounding affirmation by our clergy and laity to remain within the worldwide Anglican Communion with its heritage and universally accepted teaching based on the Word of God.”

But this was no sudden move. As early as 1966 a liberal shift began in the Episcopal Church (TEC), most notably with Bishop James Pike of New York who denied the Virgin Birth (and hence Jesus’ divinity) and the doctrine of the Trinity. Other bishops followed. Recently Bishop John Spong of New Jersey has denied most credal elements of Christianity including the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection and has been met with adulation rather than discipline from church leaders while an active bishop. He is now retired. The final straw for the now minority conservatives came in 2003 when the national church consecrated a practicing homosexual, Gene Robinson, as Bishop of New Hampshire. 

“For 20 years and more we have watched The Episcopal Church lose its way, straying, at first from Scripture to the point of dismissing the Word of God, in some instances, as mere historical documents,” said Bishop Schofield. “In the end, this decision is all about freedom. It is about freedom to remain who we are in Christ. It is freedom to honour the authority of Scripture.”

San Joaquin has now passed the two-step formality: a convention must register two votes in two different years, with a two-thirds approval before a diocese may leave the national church. San Joaquin held its first vote in 2006. The dioceses of Pittsburgh and Fort Worth each have held their first votes to leave in 2007 and will have their second finalizing vote in 2008.

Bishop Frank Lyons of Bolivia read a statement from Archbishop Gregory Venables, “Welcome Home. And welcome back into full fellowship in the Anglican Communion.”

Many primates have declared “broken” or “impaired communion” with the Episcopal

Church. And the Anglican Consultative Council, one of the four instruments of union, has suspended the Episcopal Church (because of consecrating a practicing gay bishop) and the Anglican Church of Canada (for allowing same-sex blessings in one of its dioceses in 2002 and for declaring in 2004 that same-sex relationships have “integrity” and “sanctity”). 

The Diocese of San Joaquin was founded as a missionary diocese in 1911 and became a fully autonomous diocese in 1961. Today it has 9,000 members worshipping in 47 parish churches and mission churches. Its properties and assets are worth millions and could be hotly contested in court.

"I do not intend to threaten you, only to urge you to reconsider and draw back from this trajectory," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, head of the 2.4 million member U.S. denomination, wrote in a letter to Bishop Schofield just days before the vote.

Schofield responded that the Episcopal Church "has isolated itself from the overwhelming majority of Christendom and more specifically from the Anglican Communion by denying Biblical truth and walking apart from the historic Faith and Order."

San Joaquin is one of three Episcopal dioceses that does not ordain women.

Schofield said San Joaquin congregations wishing to remain with the national church may retain their property, as long as they don't owe the diocese money. "I just wish the Episcopal Church was as generous in the other direction," he said. Three congregations will likely stay with the Episcopal Church.

As of press time, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has made no public comment although some allege that he privately has said that the Southern Cone’s offer of episcopal oversight was “a sensible way forward.” In the spring of 2007, the Primates of the global Anglican Communion meeting in Dar es Salaam had recommended a Pastoral Council to oversee disaffected and distressed dioceses and parishes in North America but it was never put into effect.