Updated again Wednesday afternoon
See here for previous update.
Religious Intelligence has a report by George Conger that says:
THE DIOCESE of San Joaquin has welcomed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent letter to the Primates, seeing it as a validation of its secession from The Episcopal Church to the Church of the Province of the Southern Cone.
“I find it difficult to imagine any other reading of Canterbury’s Advent letter than the intent to recognize — or maybe I should say, to allow San Joaquin to be recognized as a legitimate member of the Anglican Communion,” Diocesan spokesman the Rev Van McCalister (pictured) told The Church of England Newspaper…
Read ‘Letter backs our move’. Another CEN story was Prayer ‘will be the only change in San Joaquin’.
The Church Times report is not available until next week, except to subscribers.
The Living Church has a report by Steve Waring of an interview with Bishop Schofield, see Bishop Schofield: ‘Not My Wish to Leave’:
“You are talking to someone who loves the tradition of the church. It is my heritage,” Bishop Schofield said during an interview with a reporter from The Living Church. “I don’t have any personal antagonism toward The Episcopal Church or its leaders, but day by day they seem to depart more and more from what is asked of us in scripture.
“It is not my wish to leave The Episcopal Church. If I saw signs that they were returning [to the historic faith] it is possible I would approach my convention about revisiting this decision.”
And an earlier Living Church report is titled San Joaquin Vicar Questions Bishop Schofield’s Visitation.
Episcopal News Service reports that Central, Southern California newspapers will carry Episcopal Church advertisement.
The advertisement itself can be seen as a PDF file here. The section on the San Joaquin diocese reads as follows:
The Diocese of San Joaquin
The Episcopal Church continues in Central California amid a current change in diocesan leadership. Assisting in this transition are members of Remain Episcopal (www.remainepiscopal.org) and Holy Family Parish in Fresno (www.holyfamilychurchfresno.org).
Resonating with the season of the Nativity, the Fresno parish’s name recalls Mary and Joseph’s faithfulness in overcoming their challenges in welcoming the Christ Child into the world. The Church’s historical tradition holds that Mary’s own parents, Joachim and Anne, also responded uniquely to God’s call during their lifetimes. It is for Joachim that California’s San Joaquin Valley and the local Episcopal diocese is named.
Earlier, Episcopal News Service had this report: SAN JOAQUIN: Atwater vicar asks bishop to clarify planned visit:
The vicar of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Atwater, California, in the Diocese of San Joaquin has written to Bishop John-David Schofield questioning his plan to visit the congregation December 23 and asking for clarification about his status as a bishop in the Episcopal Church…
…”We would like you to state to us your pastoral and canonical relationship with St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, and myself,” Risard wrote in his letter. “You publicly stated at our diocesan convention that you no longer are the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, and instead you are a Bishop within the Province of the Southern Cone. As such, we understand your visit is simply to worship with us; there will be no liturgical role for you, neither celebrating nor preaching. The Episcopal Church welcomes all, and you are most welcome to worship, with the purpose of seeking transformation and reconciliation.”
Update Saturday evening
Bishop Schofield’s letter in reply to this one from the Presiding Bishop is published at TitusOneNine. Read it all here. Here is one bit:
…Furthermore, I understood the Convention’s actions as a request that I provide episcopal oversight of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin under the Province of the Southern Cone of South America. Accepting such an invitation to be a part of the Southern Cone’s House of Bishops may not necessarily define my relationship with The Episcopal Church particularly since this may only be a temporary arrangement. This is true in light of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent Letter in which he proposes facilitated conversations not only between us but among others in the Anglican Communion.
The purpose of December 8th’s vote, then, was not to change anything within the Diocese but quite to the contrary. With the status of The Episcopal Church’s member-ship in the Anglican Communion looking more and more precarious, the people of San Joaquin simply wanted to remain what we have always been, namely Anglican…
Update Monday morning
Fr Jake reports: Early Reports from St. Nicholas, Atwater
What happened when Bishop Schofield visited.
Update Monday afternoon
Rebecca Trounson has a report in the Los Angeles Times Bishop at forefront of Episcopal divide.
Update Wednesday afternoon
Another report from St Nicholas Atwater.
Bishop Schofield: ““I don’t have any personal antagonism toward The Episcopal Church or its leaders, but day by day they seem to depart more and more from what is asked of us in scripture.” What Waring should have asked him as follow-up: “Other than your dispute with them over the role of gays and lesbians in the church, can you specify those other ‘departures’?” The conservatives keep making these claims that it’s more than Gene Robinson, more than same-sex blessings, that is causing this rift–yet they never seem to be able to point to anything concrete beyond those things. Someone… Read more »
Other disputes against the Episcopal Church by conservatives include a misogynistic point of view concerning women in priesthood and other leadership roles (San Jaoquin is one of the remaining dioceses which will not ordain women as priests) and revisions of the Book of Common Prayer & Hymnal. A few conservative/traditional groups have broken away and succeeded. Others have not been so successful, many experiencing splintering within their own ranks. It will be interesting to see how long +John David’s group does in the future.
Well, the most frequent additional charges laid against TEC are: (1) traditional Anglican leeway for variations in ethics or theology (based on open-ended inquiry, mind, and involving a range of empirical or scholarly best practices, fallible as they admittedly are) indicates that TEC is soft on Jesus, with buttressing evidence garnered from any TEC activity or occasion which dares to cross hard lines in the interfaith sands which con evo realignment campaigning says are NoNoNo’s. Plus (2) an underlying simmer that is really all about women, so far as I can hear it. Having lost the TEC campaign against the… Read more »
(Re xSchofield’s reply)
Oh brother: and they accuse *liberals* of FUDGE?
The way they keep on saying and insisting the letter is pro-realignment, shows how they are trying to convince themselves of the rightness of their actions. Me thinks they protest too much.
Two observations: 1. The former Bishop of San Joaquin’s whinge about how “those most affected” weren’t involved in the discussion of alternate primatial oversight. You hypocritical schismatics absented yourselves. Now you try to blame everyone else for your negligence in your duties. Bah. 2. From the letter of the mission parish to their former bishop: “Will you be coming as our Episcopal Bishop, having repented of your actions at Diocesan Convention, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation? Or will you be coming to worship as a visiting foreign Bishop seeking to reconcile with your former congregation and Vicar, and, following the Mass,… Read more »
“visiting foreign Bishop seeking to reconcile with your former congregation and Vicar, and, following the Mass, to join us as we take groceries and coats to the poor?” Vicar Risard.
Well, no. +Schofield ran out the back door without saying goodbye after dominating the mass..he had, afterall, just “fired” the Vicar in front of the Congregation and threatened the “mission” with closing (“although it hadn’t occured to him before coming”).
Merry Christmas to the REAL Episcopalian SURVIVORS (they refuse to be victims) of emotional/spiritual “challenges” at the Church of St. Nicholas, Diocese of San Jaoquin, The Episcopal Church!
Inhibit NOW!
According to eyewitness accounts at Fr. Jake’s, Schofield shut down St. Nicholas today.
A couple of reports from St. Nicholas, Atwater CA (this morning, Advent4):
[The vicar’s name is Fr. Fred *Risard*]
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/terry137/4336486022947099431/?a=22169#470014
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/terry137/4336486022947099431/?a=22169#470041
Lord have mercy! God bless the Episcopal Church!
And here’s another report (St. Nicholas, Atwater):
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/terry137/4336486022947099431/#470081
Concerning Schofield and his antics – “I’m not firing you, I’m just not going to pay you” is a pretty good one – I wholeheartedly recommend ePisc0pal0oza’s wonderful Christmas card to any who have not already seen it. It’s currently at the head of the blog:
http://4mrwrdn.blogspot.com/
My deep admiration for Fr. Fred and the people of St. Nicholas leads me to ask if there is a way to send financial support that cannot be claimed by the former bishop or the folks he controls.
Columba Gilliss
Columba Gilliss,
Remain Episcopal in the Diocese of San Jaoquin is available here:
http://www.remainepiscopal.org/
I suggest you “earmark” your donation for Fr. Fred, St. Nicholas, Atwater although the entire group is remaining “Episcopal” and WELCOMING!BRAVO!
Merry Christmas from the Anglican Center
Pat O’Neill asked, “The conservatives keep making these claims that it’s more than Gene Robinson, more than same-sex blessings, that is causing this rift–yet they never seem to be able to point to anything concrete beyond those things. Someone should force them to make the argument, if they have one.” Well, OK – I’m sure it’d go something like: 1. Gays are icky. If we’re around them, we might get “the gay cooties.” 2. We find uppity* women disturbing, and vaguely threatening. 3. Only political conservatives are truly Christian. Liberals make the Baby Jesus cry. That sums it up, I… Read more »
Father Jake has now posted an even more detailed account here —
http://frjakestopstheworld.blogspot.com/2007/12/another-report-from-st-nicholas-atwater.html
of the visit by the former bishop of San Joaquin.