The Associated Press: Diocese Breaks With Episcopal Church

As expected, the Diocese of San Joaquin has voted to leave the Episcopal Church. A little church history fact for you: this isn't the first time a diocese has left the Episcopal Church. Bishop John-David Schofield in his address to the Diocese gives a little history lesson: During the time of the Civil War in the 1860's when this nation was torn apart, dioceses in those states called the Confederacy withdrew from what was then known as The Protestant Episcopal Church. During the war years they held their own conventions, developed their own Constitution, had there own House of Bishops, elected a Presiding Bishop, and consecrated a bishop for one of their dioceses. Nothing could be clearer. The southern dioceses had departed and had created a separate church. Today we might call it their own Province. Unlike many of the Protestant denominations, however, it didn't make sense to Episcopalians to maintain the separation when the war ended. Not only were the southern bishops and their dioceses welcomed back, the newly consecrated bishop was recognized, and no punitive action was taken against anyone. Presumably the southerners had taken their property with them when they left. David Virtue outlines the likely next scenario: "...the Presiding Bishop could ask the Title IV Review Committee to consider whether the bishops who have proposed and supported them [Diocese voting to leave TEC] have abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church. If the Presiding Bishop presented materials to the Review Committee regarding potential abandonment by those bishops, and if the Committee agreed that abandonment had taken place, the bishops would have two months to recant. If they failed to do so, the matter would go to the full House of Bishops. There is no appeal and no right of formal trial outside of a hearing before the House of Bishops. If the House concurred, the Presiding Bishop could depose the bishops and declare the episcopates of those dioceses vacant. Members of congregations in the diocese remaining in the Episcopal Church would be gathered to organize a new diocesan convention and elect a replacement Standing Committee, if necessary. An assisting bishop would be appointed to provide episcopal ministry until a new diocesan bishop search process could be initiated and a new bishop elected and consecrated. A lawsuit would be filed against the departed leadership and a representative sample of departing congregations if they attempted to retain Episcopal Church property." Millions of dollars will then be spent on important legal questions. The Episcopal Church maintains that individuals can leave the Church but parishes and dioceses cannot. Kind of like the Hotel California. The other side to that is if diocese or parishes existed prior to the formation of the Church and voluntarily joined, why can they not voluntarily leave. Furthermore, The Rt. Rev. William Wantland, the retired Bishop of Eau Claire and a canon lawyer, makes some interesting statements about "The National Church", i.e. the denomination the Episcopal Church. In a David Virtue interview he states: VOL: It is also alleged that all properties are also held in trust for the National Church. Is that automatically true if the diocese can also lay claim? WANTLAND: What is the National Church? We commonly use that title, but the so-called National Church has no current machinery for holding title to property outside of New York. While the Canons in both Title I and II recognize an interest in parish property for the diocese, this only re-states law that has been a part of our Church for over 400 years. Further, a careful reading of the Dennis Canon does not grant any real interest in diocesan property to 815 2nd Avenue. VOL: What exactly is the National Church? Is it an ecclesiastical body or strictly an administrative body? WANTLAND: The so-called National Church is an administrative body with very limited authority. It has defined itself in a number of documents over the years as a confederation of dioceses. Neither General Convention nor Executive Council has any jurisdiction over dioceses granted in either the Church Constitution or Canons. VOL: In the 'which came first, the chicken or the egg', is the national church a product of General Convention, or are the dioceses the product of the national church and General Convention? WANTLAND: The Episcopal Church came into being in 1789. Dioceses preceded the existence of TEC by a number of years. For example, the Diocese of Connecticut not only existed for years before 1789, but elected a bishop and had him consecrated in Scotland in 1784. New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia also elected bishops and had them consecrated in England in 1787. Clearly, the dioceses came together to create the Episcopal Church by adopting a Constitution and Canons and a Book of Common Prayer. The dioceses created the Episcopal Church, and not the other way round. This is whole mess with San Joaquin is just the tip of the iceberg. It would be one thing if the Church was just dealing with a renegade dioces, but what does the Episcopal Church do when it is attacked on several fronts with multiple dioceses leaving? This schism continues to get uglier. We haven't even heard yet what will happen to the pensions of the priests in San Joaquin.