Two senior Anglican bishops are facing legal actions from their own church in the US.
In Pennsylvania, the liberal diocesan bishop Charles Bennison has been suspended by the Primate, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, while accusations that he concealed a relative’s abuse of a teenage girl are investigated.
And in Pittsburgh, the conservative diocesan bishop Bob Duncan has been warned that he could face disciplinary procedures under Canon Law over proposals that his diocese seccede from the wider pro-gay Episcopal Church.
Both actions have stunned Episcopalians, who have been left in no doubt that their leader, a formidable woman who was formerly a marine biologist, is determined to take whatever steps necessary, both to stamp out abuse and also to maintain unity.
Don’t want to pummel a previously deceased equine, but again, certainly our PB picks the oddest things to decry, considering all she allows.
Sad….KTF!…mrb
This is exactly the headline she wanted: equating Bob Duncan with someone odious like Bennison, showing her as tough, and demonstrating her “even-handedness.”
[blockquote] a formidable woman who was formerly a marine biologist, is determined to take whatever steps necessary, both to stamp out abuse and also to maintain unity [/blockquote]
Ah, but Ms. Gledhill does know how to turn a phrase, does she not?
This will maintain unity? It won’t even work with squid.
#3, better to be a Formidable Christian, n’est pas? Pity that was missing from her resume…
KTF…mrb
I too had to laugh at the phrase “…a formidable woman who was formerly a marine biologist…” Doesn’t exactly make one quake in one’s boots. (Unless you are a shrimp). There may be a certain amount of what psychologists call [i] projection [/i] going on here, on the part of the writer.
Now, if the author could have written “…formerly a [b] marine [/b] .” and stopped right there, the attribution of formidability would have some credibility.
Bishop Duncan has answered the Formidable Marine Biologist:
[blockquote]The Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori
Episcopal Church Center
New York, New York
Dear Katharine,
Here I stand. I can do no other. I will neither compromise the Faith once delivered to the saints, nor will I abandon the sheep who elected me to protect them.
Pax et bonum in Christ Jesus our Lord,
+Bob Pittsburgh[/blockquote]
#6
Ah, but there are no “former” Marines. Once a Marine, always a Marine.
Evan, that’s no “ex” Marines. There are plenty of [former] Marines.
The usual snotty remarks about the PB here. In fact she is doing her job according to the canons of the Church. She is a tough person.
+Duncan’s evocation of Luther here is a bit of a stretch, I think.
Dear #10, As a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) who regularly reads this site, the evocation of Luther is spot on. I hope and pray for the success of +Duncan and his movement daily. He gives courage to us in the ELCA who fear we are becoming just another dying mainline protestant sect, spewing a dubious social gospel in place of the real gospel, like TEC, UCC et al. And I have proposed in our synod and elsewhere that the evangelical catholics in the ELCA work closely with the reasserting Anglicans in the US to form a common witness “to the faith one delivered.” As far as I am concerned, as a former ecumenical officer in my denomination, the reappraisers have seriously jeopardized the Call to Common Mission that links our two churches. There is nothing standing in the way of evangelical and catholics ELCA churches linking up with reasserting Anglicans and, moreover, providing them with the use of our church buildings to begin mission starts in reappraising dioceses.
Does anyone else wonder at how the article described the matter of the abuse as: “The Bishop of Pennsylvania is accused of concealing a close relative’s sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl in the 1973” and is completely silent to the fact that the close relative was in fact, +Bennison’s brother, also a priest who had been put in position by +Bennison?
Why not make this point?
#12, Yes, I noticed the description a relative as if it might be some third cousin, twice removed, when in fact it was his own brother. Ms. Gledhill could also learn how to spell
“secede.“
If PB Schori want to stamp out abuse and preserve unity in TEC, she needs to take a good long look in her mirror.
An odd characterization. The one thing Schori is not is formidable. To be sure, she is trying to look that way, but I am still reminded of the frog and the ox.
I continue to have the distinct impression that she is playing well out of her league. She has only second string potential as her words and actions make clear. What she does not have is the inner charisma of a real leader. LM
#10 says:
“+Duncan’s evocation of Luther here is a bit of a stretch, I think”.
Well, Spong has already stretched that one with the title of his autobiography.
My money would rather be on Bishop Duncan.
I’m just glad we are not dealing with a formidable marine and former biological woman.
So let me get this straight……..
KJS beleives it is ok to : kill babies in the womb, refuse to discipline priests who claim to be Muslim as well as Christian, allow clergy to publically lead lives contrary to scripture, preach that Jesus is merely a vehicle to the divine rather than the divine itself…
…yet suddenly comes down hard on two bishops who ‘themselves’ are not exactly guilty of much.
Seems like a political move to me- to demonstrate that she has a spine. Or else a way to remove +Duncan (whom she fears) without it looking like persecuation.
It will be interesting to see if Bennison is later reinstated….
I’m reminded of the song:
“How Long? Has this been goin’ on?