Fresno, Calif., Mar 15, 2008 / 15:09 pm
The Episcopal Church has deposed one of its Californian bishops after he affiliated his diocese with a conservative Anglican province based in South America, the California Catholic Daily reports.
In December Bishop John-David Schofield of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, with lay representatives and clergy, decided to change their ecclesial affiliation from the U.S. Episcopal Church to the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. The diocese decided to change affiliation because of the Episcopal Church’s toleration and promotion of homosexuality and other disputes about Biblical orthodoxy. The Fresno-based diocese, which has over 8,000 members, no longer calls itself Episcopal but Anglican.
Episcopal presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori in January placed an “inhibition” on Bishop Schofield, forbidding him from performing religious rites until an Episcopal Church meeting could make a decision.
At a Texas meeting of the Episcopal House of Bishops on March 12, the bishops voted to depose Bishop Schofield from ordained ministry because he had “repudiated the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church.” They also voted to depose a retired bishop from Maryland, William Cox, because he also continued to perform religious rites after affiliating with the Province of the Southern Cone.