The priests who received letters of deposition and were told they had abandoned the communion, an ecclesiastical measure which strips someone of clergy status by nullifying his or her ordination. The six are: the Rev. Alex Farmer, the Rev. James McCaslin, the Rev. James Needham, the Rev. Samuel Pascoe, the Rev. Dr. Robert Sanders, and the Rev. David Sandifer.

All of the priests in question had requested that Bishop Howard provide alternative episcopal oversight in 2005, and were refused. All but one had applied to the Panel of Reference and the Archbishop of Canterbury for protection. All of them are now members of the Anglican Alliance of North Florida and are faithfully serving as priests under archbishops in other parts of the Anglican Communion. Not only have they not abandoned the communion of the Church, they have come under the authority of orthodox Anglican bishops precisely because of their desire to remain in that communion.

In addition, Bishop Howard sent out a letter announcing that he had accepted letters of renunciation of ministry from seven clergy. But at least three of these clergy have never renounced their orders, either verbally or in writing, said a news release from the departing priests, but they have been accepted as clergy under an overseas Anglican authority and serve in parishes within the Anglican Alliance of North Florida; they have no intention of renouncing their orders and ask Bishop Howard to rectify his mistake.

"All of these clergy are in good standing in the dioceses to which they belong and are serving under the authority of their respective bishops; by the grace of God, they intend to continue to serve Christ and His Church as ordained ministers and are looking forward to working together for a common Anglican witness."

The actions, though vicious of the bishop are largely symbolic, as the priests in question had already made the decision to leave the Episcopal Church, but who had not in any way renounced the faith they swore to uphold, and who continue to uphold that faith under different jurisdictions.

Interestingly enough the first use of Canon 10 to attempt to intimidate orthodox priests was Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison's misuse of this canon in his attempt to force Fr. David Moyer to leave the Church of the Good Shepherd - an attempt that has failed because of the fraud and bad faith of Bennison. These priests have denied that they have abandoned communion. Under Canon 10, if there is a denial, the bishop has to bring charges and give the priests a trial - the last thing that Bishop Howard wants. Like the red queen in Alice in Wonderland, Howard wants to be prosecutor, judge and jury.

Theologian Dr. Robert J. Sanders, a former Episcopal priest, now with the Anglican Mission in America said of Bishop Howard's actions, that depriving several priests of the "right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority conferred in ordination" demonstrated a certain schizophrenia because while he and his fellow revisionist bishops had defrocked six orthodox priests, some priests uphold their priestly authority. "This is symptomatic of the conflict that now exists throughout the Anglican Communion," he wrote to VOL.

"First, what is meant by 'communion'? Secondly, who decides when someone is in or out of communion and upon what grounds? Further, what happens if one bishop defrocks priests and other bishops, as is the case, affirm their priestly ministry? These are vital and pressing questions for it harms the body of Christ when the faithful see such conflicts played out in the press as is the present case," he wrote.

"Anglicanism is a reform movement within the wider stream of Western Christianity. As such, we hold to the faith and practice of the ancient church insofar as it is based on Scripture. In the church of the first few centuries, conflicts between bishops were decided by general counsels that resolved the conflicts and published written norms which preserved orthodox understanding. For example there were bishops on both sides of the Arian controversy on the deity of Christ. The council of Nicaea in 325 resolved the matter and published a Creed which defined the Arian position as a heresy. Something similar needs to happen today."

Sanders then ripped the Episcopal Church saying it no longer upheld the integrity of the Word and Sacrament. "She has denied the Word because a number of her bishops do not believe that Jesus Christ the Word is the Way, the Truth, and the Light, the only way to the Father. She has also introduced heretical forms of biblical interpretation that undermine Scripture as the Word of God written. She has traduced the Sacrament in allowing heretics, immoral persons, and even persons of non-Christian faiths to come to Holy Eucharist. She has violated the church's norms on human sexuality."

Strong words indeed. He then went on to opine that the orthodox throughout the Anglican Communion need to come together and produce a document that defines the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. This document like the Nicene Creed, the Anglican Articles of Religion, or the Barmen Confession needs to specifically deny the heresies involved. Among other things, it needs to affirm Scripture as the final norm and deny experience as a norm alongside Scripture. Further, theological norms for correct biblical interpretation need to be affirmed as the North American Episcopal revisionists claim the authority of Scripture but interpret it from a heretical theological perspective."

The Rev. Dr. Samuel C. Pascoe, rector of Grace Church (Anglican) in Orange Park, Florida, put it just as bluntly regarding the actions of Bishop Howard to "unordain" six Anglican priests, saying he had neither the authority nor reason to issue such a decree. "I have neither abandoned the communion of this church nor have I renounced my orders as a priest in this church. I have continued to exercise ordained ministry within this communion and, by God's grace and gifting, I will continue to do so. I am an ordained member of the Anglican Communion. I exercise my ministry under the authority of Anglican Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, Primate of L'Eglise Episcopal au Rwanda, a province of the Anglican Church in full communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury."

"I and the other five named priests remain fully functioning priests in the world-wide Anglican Communion. We are under the authority of Anglican bishops and archbishops. We are recognized as such by all Anglican bishops including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the churches we serve are in full communion with the Anglican Communion and, indeed, the great majority of Christendom."

"In the language of the ordination service itself; our ordinations were to the whole Church. In fact, the service itself says "...you are to be ordained a priest in Christ's holy catholic (a Greek word meaning "universal") church." Similar phrases are used repeatedly in the service of ordination. The first vow an ordained person makes in the Anglican Communion is a promise to "be loyal to the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this Church has received them." Note well that our first loyalty is to Christ. Any contemporary church is merely the recipient of doctrines, discipline, and worship from those who have gone before. We are recipients and stewards of a great gift, not the creators of it."

"Anglicans believe what the service itself teaches, that the God of the universe, through His Spirit, "makes" the person a priest. If so, how can any bishop, by simply writing a letter, without even a hearing or a trial, claim to undo what we say God Himself has done? None of us six priests have ever renounced our callings, nor our ordinations, nor have we been accused of any behaviors which would make such revocation needful, we remain fully functioning, fully credentialed, fully recognized priests in the Anglican Communion. At least the rest of the Church seems to think so. Thus, tragically, Bishop Howard's unnecessary, unilateral, and punitive action has increased the growing chasm between the American Episcopal Church, which he represents, and the rest of the world-wide Anglican Communion."

The Rev. Neil G. Lebhar, Chairman, The Anglican Alliance of North Florida, "We are saddened by the depositions, which serve as further signs of the rift growing between the Episcopal Church and the rest of the Anglican Communion. We also question how a bishop can accept renunciations of orders which some of the clergy named never made. We challenge Bishop Howard to produce and publish all of the renunciations." To date Lebhar has not been deposed because his church is litigating for its property.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. C. FitzSimons Allison (S.C. ret) told VOL, that when a bishop of the TEC deposes clergy belonging to recognized dioceses in provinces of the Anglican Communion it is clearly evident that such a bishop is determined "to walk separately" from the Anglican Communion.

"These depositions are without regard to any moral or doctrinal charges and are evidences of contempt for fellow Anglican bishops as well as violations of the opening sentence of the Constitution: "The Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA...is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, a Fellowship within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of those duly constituted dioceses, provinces, and regional churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer," and no wonder an increasing number of faithful Anglican Archbishops and bishops are seeing North America as a mission field for authentic Anglicanism."

Wrote Sanders: "The church is defined by her faithfulness to Jesus Christ as revealed in Word and Sacrament. At the time of the Anglican Reformation, Anglicans broke with Rome who defined herself in terms of the bishop of Rome. Anglicans defined themselves in terms of orthodox norms, above all the Articles and the Homilies. The Anglican Communion cannot be defined in terms of a relation to the Archbishop of Canterbury, nor by a common historical origin, nor by a set of common liturgical practices, but by Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture, affirmed in Creeds, worshipped in orthodox liturgies, and theologically defined by theological norms in a common covenant that is enforced. That is the way forward."

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