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Episcopal Epistles

Abstract: Letters to disaffected Bishops.

On December 8, 2007, delegates to the Diocese of San Joaquin annual convention will vote on the second reading of constitutional changes that were first approved on December 2, 2006.
The revisions to the consitution declare the diocese to be a member of the Anglican Communion in full communion with the See of Canterbury and assert the local Bishop's control over all the trust funds of the diocese.
If approved, these changes clear the way for the diocese to sever ties with the Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Anglican Communion's Province of the Southern Cone (South America).
In a December 3 letter to Bishop John-David M. Schofield of the Diocese of San Joaquin, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori urged Bishop Schofield to reconsider:
"You have been clear that you feel your views are dismissed or ignored within the Episcopal Church, yet you have ceased to participate in the councils of the Church. It is difficult to have dialogue with one who is absent. While there are a number who disagree with you, I believe many more would welcome your participation, particularly as a sign of your faithfulness to your vow to share in the councils of the Church. The Church will never change if dissenters withdraw from the table. "
Bishop Schofield responded on December 5:
"The decision to be made by our Annual Convention this Saturday is the culmination of The Episcopal Church�s failure to heed the repeated calls for repentance issued by the Primates of the Anglican Communion and for the cessation of false teaching and sacramental actions explicitly contrary to Scripture."
Similar constitutional revisions have been approved on first reading in the by the Diocese of Pittsburgh (November 2-3) and by the Diocese of Fort Worth on November 16.

(Vol. II, vi December 7, 2007 )

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