The Diocese of California has overhauled its canons, saying the action will make its operations more transparent and its leaders more accountable.
At a special convention May 10, delegates voted to eliminate the bishop’s complete control over property and created an executive council to replace a more complicated, less transparent administrative structure.
The actions were the culmination of a process set in motion by California Bishop Marc Andrus about 10 months ago. But the actions of the neighboring Diocese of San Joaquin also served as inspiration, and Bishop Andrus contended that opposition to that move might have been greater had the structure of the diocese been more transparent.
“Some have said that people who might have acted to prevent the actions in San Joaquin didn’t do so because they were not kept fully aware of what was happening,” Bishop Andrus said after the convention.
I hardly think lack of transparency had anything to do with the situation in San Joaquin. I live on the other side of the country, and I knew what was happening in San Joaquin from following the various blogs.
Playing around with process and diocesan busy-work will do nothing to resolve the divisions in TEC over much more fundamental matters. In any case, it has long been clear that no one in TEC feels any obligation to conform to canons when it interferes with a political agenda. We might as well be truly transparent and just admit that those in power in TEC do whatever they feel like doing and any “process” is only window dressing.
Just wait for the super-Dennis Canon coming in 2009:
[blockquote]All property is held for the national church. We do as we please. Don’t even think about it. Send in those contributions. Have a nice day.[/blockquote]
[blockquote] And don’t forget to continue to pay off our mortgage and maintain our facility. You need not send us the bills. And don’t get us involved in any liability payments or claims stemming from our property. Don’t even think about it. [/blockquote] [size=1][color=red][url=http://resurrectioncommunitypersonal.blogspot.com/]The Rabbit[/url][/color][color=gray].[/color][/size]
“Transparency?†I wonder how things in the National Episcopal Church would be like today if the laity knew that so many of their clergy were drifting into apostasy. Where was the transparency then? And now look what is left. Not ECUSA, but TEC – The Episcopal Club.
Closing the pasture gate after the horses are gone.
Bp. Andrus is dellusional! The people who are decrying that they had no idea what was going on here in San Joaquin are the ones who paid no attention and did not get invloved until it was the 12th hour! Not too mention their utter disdain for our Bishop whom they blame everything under the sun on. My one word answer to this is “Whatever!” ….We’ve moved on!
But they have learned from the national structure that the Executive Council had best be responsible to the Convention or you get all the crap the EC has done without General Convention approval. So – let’s not follow Andrus’ red herring about transparency and San Joaquin, okay?
And isn’t it nice that they changed the word but not their intent? Another trick learned from the national structure and the PB, no doubt?!
I guess changing the doctrine of the church was not enough, now they want to change the polity.
#8 JustOneVoice,
It’s called a “Remodel into their own image!”
Just look how far tolerance takes you in the end.
Anyone in San Joaquin who was unaware of what the leadership of the diocese was trying to do wasn’t paying attention. No lack of transparency whatsoever.
There is a bit of confusion here, I think. There are the “Diocese of San Joaquin,” and the “Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin.” In the case of the latter, let there be no doubt about it: There was complete transparency about what we were doing. We knew perfectly well what we were doing and what we were getting ourselves into. We have NO REGRETS.
Transparency? How about Marc Andrus’ Christmas sermon given at Grace Cathedral? If ever their was a vacuous, rambling and hopeless speech, it was then and there. These convention resolutions are window dressings for shops that burned down, starting in the pulpit of its apostles.