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San Joaquin Episcopal bishop ordered out of communion

BY LOUIS MEDINA, Californian staff writer
e-mail: lmedina@bakersfield.com | Friday, Jan 11 2008 7:33 PM

Last Updated: Friday, Jan 11 2008 7:33 PM

The Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori formally declared Friday that San Joaquin Diocesan Bishop John-David Schofield has abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church.

Under Schofield, the Diocese of San Joaquin voted at a Dec. 8 convention to leave the Episcopal Church and place itself under the authority of the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. The split was the result of theological differences between the conservative diocese and the church on matters including the ordination of gay and women priests and the blessing of same-sex unions.

"I hereby inhibit the said Bishop Schofield and order that from and after 5:00 p.m. PST, Friday, January 11, 2008, he cease from exercising the gifts of ordination in the ordained ministry of this Church,” she wrote in the text of the “inhibition.”

Although her proclamation sounds severe, it simply follows the Episcopal Canon and is the first step toward a process of checks and balances within the church, according to the Rev. Dr. Charles Robertson, Canon to the presiding bishop.

“What this is is the church holding one of its own leaders accountable,” Robertson said. Tim Vivian, an assistant professor of religious studies at Cal State Bakersfield, said the presiding bishop’s move was not unexpected and sets the clock ticking on a 60-day period during which Schofield could recant, something he doubts Schofield is going to do. However, Roberts said, “From our standpoint, hope springs eternal. He is able to recant within these 60 days.”

If Schofield has not recanted after that time, Vivian said, the presiding bishop will take the matter to the church’s House of Bishops and, by vote, they will determine that he has indeed abandoned communion with the Episcopal Church.

After that, Jefferts Schori will depose Schofield and declare the San Joaquin Diocese “vacant” and appoint an interim bishop, said Vivian who is also an Episcopal priest canonically resident in Los Angeles, but serving in a clerical advisory capacity to the Bakersfield faith community of Remain Episcopal, an organization for those who wish to continue in the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of San Joaquin.