Updated again Saturday morning
There have been several confusing reports about Bishop Henry Scriven’s status as a bishop.
ENS reported Presiding Bishop accepts two bishops’ voluntary renunciation of orders.
Religious Intelligence reported US Presiding Bishop deposes Church of England Bishop
…On Oct 16, Bishop Scriven wrote to Bishop Schori to inform her that he was returning to the Britain to take up the post of director of South American ministry for SAMS-CMS. Ordained in the Church of England, Bishop Scriven was consecrated in 1995 as Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe by Archbishop George Carey. In 2002, Bishop Scriven became the Assistant Bishop of Pittsburgh in the Episcopal Church. Following Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan’s deposition from office as Bishop of Pittsburgh on Sept 19, Bishop Scriven’s position in the US church was terminated.
In his letter, Bishop Scriven informed Bishop Schori he was returning to the UK to take up the SAMS-CMS post and had been appointed an Honorary Assistant Bishop and would be under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford.
In her response of Nov 12, Bishop Schori acknowledged that Bishop Scriven was now a Bishop of the Church of England, and said she would “release you from your orders in this Church” for reasons “not effecting moral character.” Bishop Schori added that she believed “that subtlety was lost on some of our Communion partners” over her understanding of canon law, as her action would not undo the “indelible” mark of ordination, but was a housekeeping action that would end his licence to serve in the US Church.
However, before Bishop Schori’s tenure as Presiding Bishop, bishops who left the US church to serve in other provinces were not released from their orders, but transferred to other churches…
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has issued a statement:
An article that appeared on Episcopal Life Online on January 23, 2009 reported that Bishop Henry Scriven, the former Assistant Bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, had renounced his orders and that the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, had accepted that renunciation. Although the article may suggest otherwise, the Standing Committee understands that this action was not in any sense a disciplinary action or an action taken because of Bishop Scriven’s support for the attempt to realign the Diocese with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
Before he relocated to England, Bishop Scriven had submitted his resignation as a member of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, inasmuch as he was planning to return to England and serve as Assistant to the Bishop of Oxford. In order to permit that, the Canons required that he be released from his orders in the Episcopal Church for reasons not affecting his moral character, which is what occurred. This is a routine way of permitting Bishop Scriven to continue his ministry. Orders in the Church themselves are indelible, but licensing is required to exercise them.
The Standing Committee gives thanks for the gracious way in which Bishop Scriven exercised his ministry in the Episcopal Church while he served here as Assistant Bishop and we hope he and his wife Catherine will visit us in the future.
Friday morning update
The Church Times has a report by Pat Ashworth ‘Really weird’, but Scriven bears no ill will on orders.
…Bishop Scriven described the letter he received in November releasing him from his orders as “really weird”. He retained it but did not respond to it. The promised certificate releasing Bishop Scriven from his orders did not reach him personally, “though, to be fair, she might have tried as I was wandering round the world,” he said on Wednesday.
The correspondence is now in the public domain. “I had no desire to publish these letters until the thing was announced but was then very happy for them to be released,” Bishop Scriven said. “Hers was a very gracious letter but I was kind of boggled by the language really. It’s two nations divided by the same language, it seems to me. I bear no ill will, and I think it’s a storm in a teacup really…
There is a further report from ENS which notes PITTSBURGH: Standing Committee acknowledges Scriven’s service to diocese.
The Anglican Communion Institute has published Is The Renunciation of Orders Routine?
Saturday update
Andrew Carey has also weighed in, see A dangerous move by the Americans.
What tempests in what teapots suddenly boil over when a conservative bishop is involved these days. Especially one with strong ties to, say, Duncan the virtual archbishop yet deposed and the Sydney-Akinola-Orombi-Venebles axis of our beloved conservative Anglican realignment campaign. Scriven’s new position seems a lot more clearly situated in a new church life context, insofar as his realignment campaign ministries will have to now be worked out in the CoE contexts, rather than the much vaunted antigay USA situations that have constantly been used as realignment wedge campaign issues. Interesting to note that, once Duncan and company were clearly… Read more »
Would you please correct our PB’s name. She is Bishop Jefferts Schori. There may not be a hyphen but it should be treated as if there is one.
“Bishop Schori added that she believed “that subtlety was lost on some of our Communion partners” over her understanding of canon law, as her action would not undo the ‘indelible’ mark of ordination, but was a housekeeping action that would end his licence to serve in the US Church” – George Conger – Religious Intelligence – What is is about this statement of the PB of TEC that George Conger does not understand? How can he, on the basis of this (his own) evidence, say that Bishop Katherine is “deposing a Church Of England Bishop”?. What, in fact, has happened,… Read more »
Charlie
I understand that, and always write it correctly myself. What appears above is quoted directly from Religious Intelligence.
The modus operandi of the realignment crowd has always been attack, attack, attack with full invective no matter how trivial the issue and cry ‘persecution!’ when confronted with the consequences of one’s behavior, again no matter how trivial.
It worked for a number of years, but now seems curiously quaint, vaguely ridiculous, and certainly disingenuous.
William, that is the modus operandi of the political right in America, of which the so-called “Renewal Movement” is a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Attack! (Melo)Drama! Paranoia! Cries of persecution! Condemnation of elitists!
In the 1920s hard line evangelicals left CMS because they felt that liberal evangelicals were in charge and they founded BCMS ( Bible Churchmans missionary society… called Cross links by a more sensitive generation )…..this move represents the victory of the conservatives!
“William, that is the modus operandi of the political right in America, of which the so-called “Renewal Movement” is a wholly-owned subsidiary. Attack! (Melo)Drama! Paranoia! Cries of persecution! Condemnation of elitists!” But it’s so effective! People are fearful, and will follow whatever promises to protect them from whatever it is they fear. So make them more fearful, making them even easier to manipulate. It is particularly ironic in Christians, since our religion teaches us that Christ “giveth us the victory” over all our enemies, even death has no meaning for us. What can there possibly be for us to fear?… Read more »