The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin on Wednesday deposed 61 clergy from Lodi to Bakersfield because they have left the national Episcopal Church and aligned themselves with the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Episcopal Bishop Jerry Lamb, who called the action “heartbreaking,” said from his Stockton headquarters that such clergy will have their retirement assets frozen and no longer can participate as Episcopal priests. But, he added, “this action is not taken for any ethical or moral concerns.”
The news didn’t seem to matter to the priests, who are now under Anglican oversight.
The idea of Jerry Lamb being a bishop is heartbreaking. His conception that he can fire people who don’t work for him, not so much – let’s call it delusional, instead.
“We had to destroy the village in order to save it.”
From the comments on the Modesto Bee site – TEC pr is not doing so well.
Actually, of course, this is old news. But it’s typical of the Liberal news media, isn’t it? Always looking for a headline grabber, only in +Lamb’s case, they failed miserably.
The question really is: “Who left what?”
I’m curious — can anyone tell me what, exactly, is meant by saying that the deposed priests “will have their retirement assets frozen…”? That they can no longer contribute to the pension fund? Surely it can’t mean that they will be denied access to the contributions they have already made, right?
They simply will no longer be able to contribute to the pension fund since they no longer work for “the company.” Like all pension funds, Church Pension Fund falls under Federal regulation. Talk about “non-news.” This should not be a hardship for the clerics since there presumably have been new pension provisions set up.
But any old disinformation which may spread anxiety among those who dare to defy the heretics is worth publishing, right?
That’s the way Schori and Company see it. And yes, the ACNA has a pension plan up and running. TEC would be in violation of Federal law if they were to freeze our clergy out of their pensions, and I believe that any violation of that law would make all of TEC’s present problems seem like child’s play in comparison.
Meanwhile the TEC keeps sliding down a slippery path that becomes ever steeper. Hang in everyone we are in for a big blow!!
Cennydd writes … “TEC would be in violation of Federal law if they were to freeze our clergy out of their pensions, and I believe that any violation of that law would make all of TEC’s present problems seem like child’s play in comparison.”
Of course, the Episcopal Church hasn’t considered such an action. Just as with any retirement plan, the departing clergy can no longer contribute as they are no longer associated with the organization under which the retirement plan is established. This, however, doesn’t stop the departing clergy from getting what is due them when the time comes to retire.
Cennydd also refers to the Modesto Bee article as being of the “liberal news media.” I note that similar articles were run in a number of publications across the United States and beyond. Yet, in Modesto a number of points were changed to present the departing “conservative” clergy in an even better light than the one in which the actually stand.
Just one example is as follows: The Modesto Bee article says that the bishop and clergy left the Episcopal Church to aligned themselves with the Anglican Communion … which among the mainstream is a respected institution. Of course, the Episcopal Church IS the official Church of the Anglican Communion in the United States … while the Church of the Southern Cone (the Church the departing clergy joined) isn’t recognized as having any authority here.
Frankly, it is very easily determined that neither Bishop Schofield, his clergy, nor his diocese is officially recognized by the Anglican Communion. All one need do is visit the Anglican Communion’s website. And if that’s not proof enough … just write to Anglican Communion Office, St Andrew’s House, 16 Tavistock Crescent, London W11 1AP, England.
Ah … if only we could edit.
Change aligned to align in paragraph 4.