Bishop Lamb: Unlikely to Depose San Joaquin Clergy Friday

From The Living Church:

Posted on: August 14, 2008

Bishop Jerry Lamb, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, said it is unlikely that there will be any action taken Aug. 15 at a meeting of the standing committee to depose clergy who failed to reply to a letter sent with an Aug. 5 deadline.

Bishop Lamb said it was within his canonical authority as the elected bishop of the Episcopal diocese to proceed to depose all clergy who did not respond affirmatively to the first of three options he outlined in a July 10 letter. But he said it was very unlikely that the standing committee would take any action toward that purpose at this time. He said a more likely prospect would be the issuance of another invitation leading to reconciliation.

Shortly before he left for England to attend the Lambeth Conference, Bishop Lamb sent a letter to all clergy canonically resident in the Diocese of San Joaquin prior to the vote last December to amend the diocesan constitution and disaffiliate from The Episcopal Church by the majority of clergy and lay delegates. The July letter stated, in part:

“We come to places in our lives when we are faced with a choice. It is time for you to make that decision as a member of the clergy of the Diocese of San Joaquin. Enclosed with this letter is a form with three choices, “(1) I want to remain a member of the clergy of the Episcopal Church and adhere to my ordination vows; (2) I no longer wish to exercise my ordained ministry in of the Episcopal Church, and desire to be removed therefrom for reasons not affecting my moral character; or (3) I do not consider myself a clergy member of the of the Episcopal Church, nor do I believe I am obligated to conform to the doctrine, discipline, or worship of the Episcopal Church.”

Bishop Lamb said the response to option one has been 100 percent among clergy who have already acknowledged his episcopal oversight, but responses from other clergy was “not very good.”

Bishop Lamb said the July letter was the fourth attempt he had made to reach out to alienated clergy, many of whom now claim canonical residence in the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone. In one of those letters, Bishop Lamb said he had rented hotel conference rooms in four cities in the diocese as neutral places to hold open conversation on reconciliation. He said one of the other letters was an open invitation to enter into dialogue.

Bishop Lamb noted that his efforts to communicate with alienated clergy have been hampered by the fact that he does not have an updated list of clergy and addresses. That information remains in the possession of the Anglican Diocese of the San Joaquin, led by Bishop John-David Schofield.

On Aug. 4, Bishop Schofield, his standing committee and diocesan council wrote to Bishop Lamb informing him that “we accept the recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury of our bishop and reject any purported authority of The Episcopal Church, or Bishop Jerry Lamb, over any of our ministries. Our obligation is to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the world-wide Anglican Communion.”

Encouraged by Lambeth

Bishop Lamb expressed cautious optimism about the Windsor Continuation Group proposals unveiled during the Lambeth Conference.

“I am somewhat encouraged by the Windsor Continuation Group proposals,” he said. “I want to see what finally comes out, however.

“This Lambeth Conference was so much better than the last one in 1998,” he continued. “The Archbishop was clear that we would deal with the issues without making statements or decisions.”

During the Lambeth Conference, the six-member Windsor Continuation Group, which includes Bishop Gary Lillibridge of West Texas, distributed three papers to be used as starting points for discussion by bishops about implementation of issues addressed in the Windsor Report, one of which includes cross-border incursions by bishops from other jurisdictions. Among the Windsor Continuation Group proposals distributed during Lambeth was one calling for establishment of a pastoral forum for traditionalist parishes and dioceses which have accepted episcopal or primatial oversight from other Anglican churches.

Steve Waring