Diocese of San Joaquin (Anglican)
Fresno, California
October 17, 2008
Anglican Holy Orders Valid in California and World Wide
On December 8, 2007 an overwhelming majority of the priests and deacons serving in the Diocese of San Joaquin, representing over 40 churches, chose to remain with Bishop John-David Schofield and the Diocese of San Joaquin and were officially admitted, along with the diocese, into the Province of the Southern Cone.
The Holy Orders of those clergy are recognized across the world wide Anglican Communion. Any decision made by The Episcopal Church concerning the exercise of ministry by the Clergy in the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin is irrelevant and of no effect.
As Bishop Jerry Lamb noted in his October 10th Friday Reflection, the inhibition of Anglican Clergy in San Joaquin “implies no moral judgment of an individual clergy person. It speaks only about the person’s relationship to the Episcopal Church. The person can of course function in another church that may recognize their ordination.”
8 comments:
So, you're going with the "radical" idea then that the LORD and not a church political body makes you a pastor? Next you'll be telling us that I as a Christian have an obligation to love my brothers and sisters here, there and everywhere!
It is true that a priest/pastor is ordained by God, using the Church (The Body of Christ) as the agent for that selection and ordination process,and that person is ordained to the WHOLE Church, not merely to a specific congregation or geographical area. This is why the suggestion by Bp Lamb's inhibition letter that he can inhibit Anglican priests and imply that they belong to another denomination is very odd and seems to press the point further that TEC views itself as somehow above and beyond the fraternity of the Anglican Communion. Obviously, Bp Lamb wants to clean up the clergy roster but he does not need to inhibit fellow clergy of his own denomination in order to do that. If he had a British priest serving in an Episcopal parish, who transferred back to England, Bp Lamb wouldn't inhibit him as if he had suddenly become a Hindu, he would simply remove him from his list of clergy and so inform the Church Pension Group, etc. Transfers are very common; inhibitions, until recently, were used to identify those who had abandoned the Christian Faith or left the Anglican Communion without notifying their bishop.
By the way, the inhibition letter can be found here:
http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/102
Fr. Van,
The inhibition letter can be found in YOUR mailbox.
"...or left the Anglican Communion without notifying their bishop."
And that's the point, sir. They were ordained within the Episcopal Church and therefore should have given notice that they were leaving. I don't care if they exited en masse. Did each and every one give notice to an Episcopal Bishop?
"The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, otherwise known as The Episcopal Church (which name is hereby recognized as also designating the Church), is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion..." [Preamble of 2006 C&C].
We are still members of the Anglican Communion. Are you suggesting that TEC has left the Communion? Do you suppose TEC's House of Bishops will amend their preamble to declare their complete separation from the rest of the Communion?
I think to say that TEC is still part of the anglican communion is not true. A majority of the Providences of the communion has, in fact, declared that they are no longer in communion with TEC because of its immoral acts.
By the way, does anyone know when the next primates meeting is? What are the chances that a new anglican providence being created for the faithful in the US and Canada?
Sorry it took so long to post this! (We've been busy with convention)
It is true that some archbishops have declared impaired fellowship with TEC and a few have ex-communicated TEC, but TEC is still viewed as "in communion" with the ABC and many of the provinces.
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