Three months after the Diocese of San Joaquin took a momentous vote to leave the U.S. Episcopal Church, the bishop leading the charge says there’s a lot of work to do and there’s no looking back.
John-David Schofield, 69, bishop of the Fresno-based diocese for 20 years, says he never has felt he was leading people down the wrong road.
“The conviction of ‘this is right’ has done nothing but grow,” he said Friday morning in his office in the diocesan headquarters at St. James’ Cathedral.
On Dec. 8, the local diocese became the first American diocese to secede from the U.S. Episcopal Church since the Civil War, largely over differences with the national body’s approval of same-sex blessings, ordination of a gay bishop, the role of women in the church and how to interpret the Bible over such issues.
I wonder if his diocese has grown? He’s been there 20 years, a pretty long time to do some interesting work. And he wants to be there until he’s 80. Its nearly 600 members of a diocese that has 4500 people or so?
Good luck, bishop!
John, the membership has held steady for 10 years at ~10,200. I imagine the will undergo a tremendous growth phase now that they have been released from the clutches of the corrupt and corrupting TEc.
The membership figure for our diocese has remained fairly constant at around 9,000….give or take a few hundred., and we are in the process of mission-planting. I’ve heard nothing but optimism since we got shed of TEC….and no regrets.
If TEC is all you needed to let go of to plant, god bless you. I do think tnat ANY community that sees itself in conflict won’t be attractive to new members. On the other hands, which of the small splinter Anglican oriented Protestant groups are growing?
[blockquote]On the other hands, which of the small splinter Anglican oriented Protestant groups are growing?[/blockquote]
Answer: All of them. (To the best of my knowledge.)
CANA is certainly growing:
[blockquote][url=http://www.canaconvocation.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=146&Itemid=50]
In November 2006, CANA began with 19 clergy and 14 congregations. By March 2007, the number of clergy grew to 47 and the number of congregations totaled 34. By November 2007, CANA was comprised of 118 clergy and 61 congregations. Overall, CANA clergy have increased by 621% and congregations have increased by 436%.[/url] [/blockquote]
Question for John: Which dioceses are growing when adjusted for population?