Resolution Number: | 2015-A143 | |
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Title: | Amend Canon IV.16 [Of Abandonment of The Episcopal Church] | |
Legislative Action Taken: | Concurred as Amended | |
Final Text: |
Resolved, That Canon IV.16 be amended as follows:
A. By a Bishop
Sec. 1. If the Disciplinary Board for Bishops receives information
suggesting that a Bishop abandonsmay have abandoned
The Episcopal Church (i) by an open renunciation of the Doctrine, Discipline or
Worship of the Church; or (ii) by formal admission into any religious body not
in communion with the samethis Church; or (iii) by
exercising Episcopal acts in and for a religious body other than the Church or
another church in communion with the Church, so as to extend to such body Holy
Orders as the Church holds them, or to administer on behalf of such religious
body Confirmation without the express consent and commission of the proper
authority in the Church, the Board shall promptly notify the Presiding
Bishop and the Bishop in question that it is considering the matter. Upon
receipt of such notification, the Presiding Bishop may, with the advice and
consent of the Advisory Council to the Presiding Bishop, place restrictions on
the ministry of the Bishop in question for the period while the matter is under
consideration by the Board. If, after consideration of the matter, the Board
concludes, by a majority vote of all of its members, that the Bishop in
question has abandoned The Episcopal Church, the Board it
shall be the duty of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, by a majority
vote of all of its members, to certify the fact to the Presiding
Bishop and with the certificate to send a statement of the acts or declarations which show such abandonment, which certificate and
statement shall be recorded by the Presiding Bishop. The Presiding Bishop
shall then place a restriction on the exercise of ministry of said Bishop until
such time as the House of Bishops shall investigate the matter and act thereon.
During the period of such restriction, the Bishop shall not perform any
Episcopal, ministerial or canonical acts.
Sec. 2. The Presiding Bishop, or the presiding
officerPresiding Officer of the House of Bishops, shall
forthwith give notice to the Bishop of the certification and restriction on
ministry. Unless the restricted Bishop, within sixty days, makes declaration by
a verified written statement to the Presiding Bishop, that the facts alleged in
the certificate are false or utilizes the provisions of Canon III.12.7, the
Bishop will be liable to Deposition or Release and Removal. If the Presiding
Bishop is reasonably satisfied that the statement constitutes (i) a good faith
retraction of the declarations or acts relied upon in the certification to the
Presiding Bishop or (ii) a good faith denial that the Bishop made the
declarations or committed the acts relied upon in the certificate, the
Presiding Bishop, with the advice and consent of the Disciplinary Board for
Bishops, shall terminate the restriction. Otherwise, it shall be the duty of
the Presiding Bishop to present the matter to the House of Bishops at the next
regular or special meeting of the House. The House may, by a majority of the
whole number of Bishops entitled to vote, (1) consent to the deposition of the
subject Bishop, in which case the Presiding Bishop shall depose the Bishop from
the ordained ministry of The Episcopal Church, and pronounce and record in the
presence of two or more Bishops that the Bishop has been so deposed, or (2)
consent to the release and removal of the subject Bishop from the ordained
ministry of The Episcopal Church, in which case the Presiding Bishop shall
declare such release and removal in the presence of two or more
Bishops.
(B) By a Priest or Deacon
Sec. 3. If it is reported to the Standing Committee of the Diocese in
which a Priest or Deacon is canonically resident that the Priest or Deacon,
without using the provisions of Canon III.7.8-10 or III. 9.8-11,
hasmay have abandoned The Episcopal Church, the
Standing Committee shall promptly notify the Bishop Diocesan and the Priest or
Deacon in question that it is considering the matter. Upon receipt of such
notification, the Bishop Diocesan may, with the advice and consent of the
Standing Committee, place restrictions on the ministry of the Priest or Deacon
in question for the period while the matter is under consideration by the
Standing Committee.then theThe Standing Committee
shall ascertain and consider the facts, and if it shall determine by a vote of
three-fourths of all the members that the Priest or Deacon has abandoned The
Episcopal Church by an open renunciation of the Doctrine, Discipline or worship
of the Church, or by the formal admission into any religious body not in
communion with the Church, or in any other way, it shall be the duty of the
Standing Committee of the Diocese to transmit in writing to the Bishop
Diocesan, or if there be no such Bishop, to the Bishop Diocesan of an
adjacent Diocese, its determination, together with a statement setting
out in a reasonable detail the acts or declarations relied upon in making its
determination. If the Bishop Diocesan affirms the determination, the Bishop
Diocesan shall place a restriction on the exercise of ministry by that Priest
or Deacon for sixty days and shall send to the Priest or Deacon a copy of the
determination and statement, together with a notice that the Priest or Deacon
has the rights specified in Section 24of this Canon and
at the end of the sixty day period the Bishop Diocesan will consider deposing
the Priest or Deacon in accordance with the provisions of Section 4.
Sec. 4. Prior to the expiration of the sixty-day period of restriction, the Priest or Deacon may utilize the provisions of Canon III.7.8-10 or III.9.8-11, as applicable. If within such sixty day period the Priest or Deacon shall transmit to the Bishop Diocesan a statement in writing signed by the Priest or Deacon, which the Bishop Diocesan is reasonably satisfied constitutes a good faith retraction of such declarations or acts relied upon in the determination or good faith denial that the Priest or Deacon committed the acts or made the declarations relied upon in the determination, the Bishop Diocesan shall withdraw the notice and the restriction on ministry shall expire. If, however, within the sixty day period, the Bishop Diocesan does not declare the release and removal of the Priest or Deacon in accordance with Canon III.7.8-10 or III.9.8-11, as applicable, or the Priest or Deacon does not make retraction or denial as provided above, then it shall be the duty of the Bishop Diocesan either (i) to depose of the Priest or Deacon or (ii) if the Bishop Diocesan is satisfied that no previous irregularity or misconduct is involved, with the advice and consent of the Standing Committee, to pronounce and record in the presence of two or more Priests that the Priest or Deacon is released and removed from the ordained Ministry of this Church and from the obligations attendant thereto, and (for causes which do not affect the person’s moral character) is deprived of the right to exercise in The Episcopal Church the gifts and spiritual authority conferred in Ordination.
Sec. 5. For the purposes of Section 3 and 4 of this Canon, if there is no Bishop Diocesan, the Standing Committee shall submit the matter to the Bishop Diocesan of an adjacent Diocese, who shall have the authority of a Bishop Diocesan in the matter.
Citation: | General Convention, Journal of the General Convention of...The Episcopal Church, Salt Lake City, 2015 (New York: General Convention, 2015), pp. 816-818. |
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