I met Bishop Ci Jones at a Recovery Ministries Gathering in Sarasota, Fla., some years back. Since then, and as a consultant to the board of Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church, of which I am the president, he has proved himself most worthy of his office. Over at least the past six years, Bishop Jones has contributed immensely to our work and never fails to share his story with us, his remorse, and now the joy he, his wife and family share in his recovery.

The court's decision to depose [TLC, March 11] "feels" like the Episcopal Church again attempting to "prove" to the insurance industry, an uninterested public and the so-called "victim" that we are on top of this situation and will speedily depose the predator before they get their hands on the diocesan coffers.

It is ludicrous for this particular court to cite "the risk of similar abuse" as one of its reasons for deposition. Anyone who knows Ci Jones and his wife, Ashby, knows full well that such a possibility is highly improbable. Bishop Jones has helped literally hundreds in the throes of addiction to find their way to the rooms of recovery where he himself sits as one of them.

As trite as this may sound, do we indeed have a double standard in the Episcopal Church that readily forgives laity their sins and just as readily withholds same from the ordained "who should know better"?

Deposed, suspended or reprimanded, Bishop Jones continues to stand as a model of hope and encouragement to those in recovery and those "still out there" waiting to be embraced by such a man.

(The Rev.) W.D. McLean III

Church of the Good Shepherd

LaBelle, Fla.