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Episcopal Bishops who have been inhibited and deposed over the years

Episcopal Bishops who have been inhibited and deposed over the years

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
January 11, 2019

Today Presiding Bishop Michael Curry "partially inhibited" the Rt. Rev. William H. Love over the Albany bishop's failure to implement Resolution B012 in his diocese. The following is a history of inhibition, deposition and renunciation in The Episcopal Church.

Inhibiting is a favorite tactic in a Presiding Bishop's arsenal and in her tenure Katharine Jefferts Schori was not afraid to go after orthodox bishops. No Presiding Bishop inhibited and deposed more bishops than Jefferts Schori. Many conservative, orthodox and traditional bishops who left The Episcopal Church for greener spiritual pastures, received their walking papers either in the form of inhibition, deposition, or renunciation of orders from her, including, but not limited, to:

2007: Andrew Fairfield (X North Dakota);
2007: David Bena (Albany-Suffragan);
2007: William Cox (Oklahoma - Assistant)
2008: John-David Schofield (IV San Joaquin);
2008: Edward MacBurney (VII Quincy);
2008: Terence Kelshaw (VII Rio Grande);
2008: Jack Iker (III Fort Worth);
2008: Robert Duncan (VII Pittsburgh);
2009: David Bane (IX Southern Virginia);
2009: William Wantland (VI Eau Claire);
2009: Keith Ackerman (VIII Quincy);
2012: Mark Lawrence (XIV South Carolina);
2014: Peter Beckwith (X Springfield);
2015: Heather Cook (Maryland-Suffragan)

Jefferts Schori also attempted to inhibit Church of England Bishop Henry Scriven who was serving as an assisting bishop in the Diocese of Pittsburgh but had returned to his native England. In 2009, Bishop Mark MacDonald (VII Alaska & Assisting Navajoland) was inhibited when he was tapped as Canada's first National Indigenous Bishop by the Anglican Church of Canada.

However, Bishop Charles Bennison, Jr. (XV Pennsylvania) was justifiably inhibited in 2007 for conduct unbecoming by members of the clergy. That inhibition was eventually lifted in 2010 and he returned to his troubled leadership of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. He later resigned under pressure.

Before Jefferts Schori came on the scene, Episcopal Church history shows that only a handful of Episcopal bishops were deposed. They include: Bishop Levi Ives (II North Carolina) who left The Episcopal Church in 1852 to become a Roman Catholic; Bishop George Cummins (Kentucky-assistant) who left The Episcopal Church in 1873 to found the Reformed Episcopal Church and become its first presiding bishop; Bishop Samuel McCoskry (I Michigan) who fled to Europe in 1878 to escape moral charges; Bishop Donald Davies (I Fort Worth) who left The Episcopal Church in 1991 to form the Episcopal Missionary Church and become its first presiding bishop; Bishop Charles Boynton (New York-suffragan) who renounced his orders following his 1991 participation in the consecration of bishops for the Traditional Anglican Communion and Bishop Larrea Moreno (II Central Ecuador) who was deposed in 2004 when he declared his diocese independent of The Episcopal Church following the discovery of financial irregularities. His successor, Bishop Luis Ruiz (III Central Ecuador) was forced to resign his diocese in 2011, dissolve the Standing Committee and relinquish his authority to the Presiding Bishop when his diocese was found to be in a "complete meltdown." He fled to his native Colombia.

There is no known history of a Roman Catholic bishop becoming an Episcopalian, although many Catholic priests have made the trip and several Episcopal bishops have also swum the Tiber to become Catholic, including:

Levi Ives (II North Carolina)1852
Frederick Kinsman (III Delaware) 1919
Clarence Pope (II Fort Worth) 1994
Daniel Herzog (VIII Albany) 2007
John Lipscomb (IV Southwest Florida) 2007
Jeffrey Steenson (VIII Rio Grande) 2007

Bishop Herzog returned to The Episcopal Church in 2010 and is assisting in his former diocese. Bishop Pope returned to The Episcopal Church in 1995 only to go back to the Catholic Church in 2007, but again return to Anglicanism in 2008. When he died in 2012, he was honored by both The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

Most recently, in Feb. 2015, Bishop Heather Cook (Maryland-suffragan) had her ministry restricted following a Dec. 2014 fatal hit and run accident in which she was criminally charged with drunken driving while texting and leaving the scene of an accident. In May 2015, she was deposed of all ordained orders -- deacons, priest and bishop.

Contemporary TEC bishops who have been deposed:

Larrea Moreno (II Central Ecuador) -- 2004 Deposed;
William Cox (Oklahoma-assistant) 2008 -- Deposed;
William Wantland (IV Eau Claire) 2008 -- Deposed;
John-David Schofield (IV San Joaquin) 2008 -- Deposed, RIP: 2013;
Jack Iker (III Fort Worth) -- 2008 Deposed;
Edward MacBurney (VII Quincy) 2009 -- Deposed;
Keith Ackerman (VIII Quincy) -- 2009 Deposed;
Robert Duncan (VII Pittsburgh) -- 2009 Deposed;
David Bane (IX Southern Virginia) -- 2009 Deposed;
Mark Lawrence (XIV South Carolina) -- 2012 Deposed;
Charles Bennison, Jr. (XV Pennsylvania) -- 2008 Deposed;
Heather Cook (Maryland-suffragan) -- 2015 Deposed

Other Episcopal Sanctions:

Joseph Minnis (VI Colorado) -- 1968 was forced to resign;
Luis Ruiz (III Central Ecuador) -- 2011 Forced to resign

Attempted depositions:

Henry Scriven (Church of England) 2008;
Mark MacDonald (Anglican Church of Canada) 2009

Contemporary bishops who left for Rome:

Clarence Pope (II Fort Worth) 1994 & 2007 (twice) RIP: 2012;

Daniel Herzog (VIII Albany) 2007;
John Lipscomb (IV Southwest Florida) 2007;
Jeffrey Steenson (VIII Rio Grande) 2007

Contemporary bishops who went to Rome and came back:

Clarence Pope (II Fort Worth) went to Rome in 1994 returned to TEC 1995 & went to Rome 2007, returned to TEC 2008 RIP: 2012;

Daniel Herzog (VIII Albany) went to Rome in 2007, returned to TEC in 2010

Bishops who went to ACNA and came back to TEC:

David Bane in early 2009. He first went to the Southern Cone, then joined the ACNA after it was formed, but returned to TEC in 2015.

Contemporary bishops who had their orders restored:

Clarence Pope 1995 & 2008 (twice) RIP 2012;
Charles Bennison, Jr. 2010;
Daniel Herzog 2010;
David Bane 2015

Historical bishops who went to Rome

Levi Ives (II North Carolina)1852;
Frederick Kinsman (III Delaware) 1919

Bishops who have left for other Anglican entities:

George Cummins (Kentucky-assistant) 1873 left for the Reformed Episcopal Church;
Albert Chamber (VII Springfield) 1976 left for The Anglican Continuum RIP: 1993;
Donald Davies (I Fort Worth) 1991 left for the Episcopal Missionary Church RIP: 2011;
Charles Boynton (New York-suffragan) 1991 left for the Traditional Anglican Communion; RIP: 1999;
Andrew Fairfield (X North Dakota) 2007 left for the Anglican Church of Uganda;
David Bena (Albany-Suffragan) 2007 left for CANA - Nigeria;
Henry Scriven (Pittsburgh-assistant) 2008 left to return to the Church of England;
Mark MacDonald (VII Alaska) 2009 left for the Anglican Church of Canada;
Terence Kelshaw (VII Rio Grande) 2008 left for the Anglican Church of Uganda RIP: 2015;
Peter Beckwith (X Springfield) 2014 left for ACNA

Retired TEC Bishops-in-Residents within the ACNA Diocese of South Carolina and continuing to serve ACNA congregations since realignment in 2012:

Alden Hathaway (VI Pittsburgh). Since 2007 St. Helena - Beaufort, SC;
Alex Dickson (I West Tennessee). Since 2008 St. Michael's - Charleston, SC

PRESENTMENTS AGAINST BISHOPS WHILE UNDER JEFFERTS SCHORI'S WATCH

2012 BISHOPSGATE: Presentment charges were brought up against nine TEC bishops for their support of realigning dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy. They include:

Maurice Benitez (VI Texas) Signed Fort Worth Amicus Curiae brief. RIP: 2014;
John Howe (III Central Florida) Signed Fort Worth Amicus Curiae brief;
James Stanton (VI Dallas) Signed Fort Worth Amicus Curiae brief;
William Love (IX Albany) Signed Fort Worth Amicus Curiae brief;
Daniel Martins (XI Springfield) Signed Fort Worth Amicus Curiae brief;
Paul Lambert (Dallas-Suffragan) Signed Fort Worth Amicus Curiae brief
Bruce MacPherson (III Western Louisiana) Signed Fort Worth Amicus Curiae brief & Quincy affidavit RIP: 2017
Edward Salmon (XIII South Carolina) Signed Quincy affidavit
Peter Beckwith (X Springfield) Signed Quincy affidavit

2008: Anglican Communion Institute reports there was a Presentment Memorandum written against Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori concerning her violation of Episcopal Church canons for her roughshod treatment of Bishops Cox, Duncan and Schofield.

2013: The American Anglican Fellowship files Title IV presentment charges against Katharine Jefferts Schori for violating various canons as Presiding Bishop.

Bishops whose ministries have been restricted during Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's reign

2017: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry placed a partial restriction of episcopal ministry of Bishop Jon Bruno (VI Los Angeles) for his trying to sell St. James the Great -- Newport Beach property during the on-going Title IV process leading to a Trial of a Bishop. Bruno was forbidden to sell the property.

2018: Bishop Jon Bruno (VI Los Angeles) was told by the by the Disciplinary Board for Bishops to refrain from the exercise of the gifts of ministry conferred by ordination and shall not exercise any authority over the real or personal property or temporal affairs of the Church for a period of three years. This resulted in Bishop Bruno's early retirement.

2019: Bishop William Love (IX Albany) a partial restriction was placed on his episcopal ministry by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry for his refusal to allow homosexual weddings in his upstate New York diocese.

END

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