San Joaquin head south

Retuers writes the story as follows:

An entire California diocese of the U.S. Episcopal Church voted to secede on Saturday in a historic split following years of disagreement over the church's expanding support for gay and women's rights

You can read it all here.

But the fact is that dioceses can't leave the Church because it is the Church which creates dioceses, and not dioceses which create the Church. What happened today is that somewhere in the vicinity of 7,500 members decided to leave the 2.2 million member Episcopal Church. That they chose to make their decision collectively does not alter the fact that they leave as individuals. At least five congregations remain, and it will be up to the Church to reconstitute the diocese.

Next the delegates will decide whether to align themselves with the tiny province of the Southern Cone, which is based in Argentina. The Southern Cone has previously laid claim to the Diocese of Recife in Brazil, but its claim is not recognized by the Anglican Communion,

Posted by Jim Naughton on December 8, 2007 2:28 PM | |
Comments (4)
But the fact is that dioceses can't leave the Church because it is the Church which creates dioceses, and not dioceses which create the Church.
This is the standard line from the Episcopal Church Center, which is hardly a church. I think most people view the Episcopal Church as a voluntary association of Episcopal Dioceses, and the Episcopal Church Center and other administrative entities exist to serve the dioceses, not the other way around.

San Joaquin has finally had enough of beating its head against a wall, and I don't blame them.

Posted by Randy Muller [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 8, 2007 3:07 PM

Well sure it is the standard line And the standard line on 2+2 is that it is equal to 4. The diocese is claiming power it does not have.

Posted by Jim Naughton [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 8, 2007 3:20 PM

Jim, where does it say in TEC's Constitution or Canons that a diocese can't leave?

Posted by Connie Sandlin [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 8, 2007 4:17 PM

Connie, the simplest answer is that the constituion establishes the General Convention as the final authority on issues affecting the entire body and not specifically delegated elsewhere. Once a diocese enters the church (see Articles V and VI) it comes under the jurisdiction of the convention. There is no provision in the Constitution for dioceses to exercise authority on issues of mebership after the initial acceptance of membership. Diocesan leaders, such as Bishop Schofield and his clergy can "abandon the communion of the Chuch," but when they do so, they no longer exercise authority within it. The relevant material is Title IV, Canons IX and X.

Posted by Jim Naughton [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 8, 2007 6:12 PM

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