Duncan Half-In, Half-Out

ENS this evening released a story that the Title IV Review Committee has agreed that Pittsburgh bishop Robert Duncan has abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church. That could have been that, if the three "senior bishops with jurisdiction" had agreed, as they did in the inhibition of Schofield.

The members of the Title IV Review Committee are Upper South Carolina Bishop Dorsey Henderson (committee chair), Bishop Suffragan David C. Jones of Virginia, Bishop C. Wallis Ohl Jr. of Northwest Texas, Bishop Suffragan Bavi E. Rivera of Olympia, Bishop James Waggoner of Spokane, the Rev. Carolyn Kuhr of Montana, the Very Rev. Scott Kirby of Eau Claire, J.P. Causey Jr. of Virginia, and Deborah J. Stokes of Southern Ohio. Please note: None of those people are notorious liberals. They come from the mainstream of our church.

I don't know what evidence was presented, though the ENS story points to it. But I was impressed that the very diverse Title IV Review Committee found the evidence clear and persuasive.

In meeting after meeting, Duncan has excoriated the Episcopal Church. He has done it within his diocese. He has done it in U.S. meetings such as the Hope and a Future conference. He has done it in his trips to Africa, in which he participated in the consecration of non-TEC bishops to serve in the U.S. To wee laypeople like me, it is clear that he has not simply abandoned the "doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church," but is actively working to destroy the Episcopal Church. And let us not forget the words he has spoken on the Choose This Day video, in which he says TEC isn't even a Christian church.

So I was dismayed that the ENS story proceeds to report that the three "senior bishops with jurisdiction" declined to assent to the findings of the Title IV Review Committee. Are the senior bishops just feckin' blind? Are they paying no attention to what Schofield is doing in San Joaquin? [I bet the answer to that question is "yes," for many TEC bishops are willfully stupid when it comes to following news about our own church.] Will they refuse to act until after Duncan has "pulled a Schofield" by stealing church property and dismissing clergy?

The "three senior bishops" who declined to ratify the inhibition are Leo Frade of Southeast Florida, Peter Lee of Virginia, and Don Wimberly of Texas. No one knows (yet) which voted "yea" or "nay." We don't know whether it was one or two or all three of them who blocked this step. But these guys are blinder than a stump. When it comes to discerning what Duncan is doing in TEC, my cats must be smarter than they are. I spew them out of my mouth and onto the blog.

Three Blind Mice – Which is the Blindest?

[Left to right: Leo Frade, Peter Lee, Don Wimberly]







Postscript: While I was writing this, Father Jake was digging more deeply into the canons and inhibition documents. Go over there and read more. My only quibble is that Jake assumes it was Bishop Wimberly who "blinked." I haven't yet seen any evidence of who or how many of the old white guys blinked.

The Episcopal Café is also following the story. Count on them and Father Jake to stay on top of the news while I go to bed.

Mark Harris now has also weighed-in. Count on Mark to be careful and generous. He does not disappoint.

Addendum (01.17.08): Please see my follow-on essay here.