"It seems ironic if not disingenuous to receive a letter in the convention packet which contains comments, allegations and innuendo over the signature of Bishop Bennison which is in direct contradiction to previous public statements regarding what would be the agenda at convention," they wrote."

What motivated Bishop Bennison to use an introductory letter to the Special Convention as a forum to respond to the Mathews Report can only be a matter of speculation, wrote the 'Concerned' group.

"We respectfully suggest that a more appropriate process would be for Bishop Bennison to respond directly to Bishop Mathews and/or the Presiding Bishop. Furthermore it should be noted that the Mathews Report stated: "A new design which had the Bishop coming into each session at the end as an observer to hear a summary of the content of the meetings was put into place.

At the end of each summary the following question was presented to all assembled, 'has anything new been said today that you have not already said to the Bishop before,' and the answer was always, "no.""

In other words, the information contained in the Mathews Report has been communicated to Bishop Bennison before, they said. To use a pre-convention letter to question the honesty and accuracy of the information contained in this report does little to bring about an atmosphere of understanding.

In fact it could be argued that this action simply widens the growing division within our Diocese. The Concerned Pennsylvania Episcopalians, said they supported and stood behind the statements, facts, assessments and conclusions of the Mathews Report, which said that reconciliation between the diocese and Bennison was now no longer possible and all that remained was mediation for Bennison to go.

While the special convention to be held Saturday March 25 is open to all, it is being held in Christ Chapel at Episcopal Academy on the city's mainline, and its small size would appear to be an attempt to limit attendees.

Wrote Bennison: "Because seating in Christ Chapel at Episcopal Academy is limited, only clergy canonically resident in the diocese, those clergy licensed to officiate who are now actively engaged in a ministry in the diocese, delegates and alternates to the Convention, will be admitted prior to the beginning of the Eucharist at 8:30 am, and may sit wherever they chose (sic). Seating will not be arranged by deaneries. Please fill the seats nearest altar first. At 8:30 a.m., members of the Youth Council will be admitted. After that, visitors will be admitted only if seats are available".

Concerned Episcopalians wrote advising non delegates to arrive early and get on line for admission. In another note at their website www.concernedpaepiscopalians.org the group said that Bennison had all his priorities wrong and was focusing on issues that ranked at the very bottom of diocesan clergy concerns.

Asked to rank what they thought the priorities of the diocese should be, the leadership of the Diocese viewed a commitment to aiding, assisting and strengthening congregations as their highest priority while capital expansion (Development) programs and the continued funding and development of the Wapiti (camp) facility as being the lowest priority by the people of the diocese.

Bennison, in trying to fix his legacy has done the exact opposite, pouring millions of dollars in developing the Maryland camp facility and rebuilding the cathedral ignoring the deaneries recommendations.

Bennison also took a hit from the Union of Black Episcopalians and in a passionate plea to Bennison, Jane R. Cosby, President Philadelphia Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians in the Diocese of Pennsylvania wrote, "Don't punish people who have little because they have little". She ripped the Bishop saying his actions have caused consternation amongst the clergy and great fear and doubt amongst the lay people, both those in affected parishes and parishes not directly involved.

"Why is it that ministries with so little are required to document their lives more than other ministries? Why isn't the Parochial Report sufficient? Are the "marginal" ministries also included in the required "additional documentation? What is the background of these people who will make value judgments about these ministries that have such a long history and whose people work so diligently to keep the ministries alive? Have these committee/commission people experienced the anti-racism training offered by the diocese or the national church? Are you aware of the message this action sends? Are you aware of the interpretation we have given this whole process?"

Then she tore into Bennison: "We worry that you may not be aware of the racial implications in this matter. For people whose responsibility it is to 'crunch' numbers...race is not an issue. But for you as the Diocesan here in Pennsylvania to have the majority of Black ministries be in that number, for you to either allow or order this to happen...is problematic. You will put yourself in the position to bear the burden of being labeled "racist.""

She then blasted Bennison saying that a recent example of this was his appointment of a black clergy who is new to the diocese (less than a year) to chair this committee/commission. "This is an act that sets him up in a divisive and adversarial role with his Black clergy peers whose ministries' future will be determined by this chair's and his committees' decisions. Your placing him in this position deflects the frustration, anger and tension over the fate of these ministries away from you and toward him as chair along with his committee. What you have created, in other words, recalls a tactic as old as the days of slavery when one Black would be placed in a position to report to the master on the behavior and misdeeds of others. In this case, it is the future of Black ministries in the diocese at stake. We have no choice but to oppose this cynical historical maneuver especially when we see it exercised in the church of which we are a part. We understand that decreased funding requires examination and cuts...across the board. In a diocese the size of ours it is doubly difficult. However, to focus on the Black parishes in the diocese gives rise to angst and responses we would rather not experience."

The Diocese of Pennsylvania is among those dioceses with the highest number of Black communicants in the ECUSA.

"To take action which could result in "gutting" ministries in African American and poor communities will require action on our part to save them.

"We ask that you rethink what is about to take place...reconsider this action...so that we can focus on the stability of these ministries, helping them to grow and, looking to the future, to recruit new clergy As an older aged lay person, I wonder how I would approach a young person, engage him/her in conversation that focuses on life in the church and describe how a group of people, at the Bishop's request, shuffled some papers and decided what a priest is to be paid, whether or not a parish should stay open or have a full time/part time priest or be yoked with another parish or, worse yet, be closed without ever informing the members of the parish or spending time to hear what the people were willing to do."

"This action seems particularly painful since there has been no Archdeacon whose presence would have been both informative and healing. He/she would have worked with the various parishes, earned their trust and would have given the people some understanding and warning of what the situation was. For all intents and purposes this situation has the appearance of punishing people who have little because they have little."

"The Union of Black Episcopalians has existed over the years in order to educate, motivate, equip and send persons of color to participate fully in the life of the Episcopal Church. It also has been a place where persons of color could gather and "heal" from the racism in our secular and worship lives. It now looks as if we must gear up for a different kind of struggle," Cosby concluded.

END