wfn.org | ACNS3615 Yukon bishop faces discipline; Same-sex blessing

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3615     |     CANADA     |     9 OCTOBER 2003

Yukon bishop faces discipline; Same-sex blessing opponents 'outraged'

by Solange de Santis

[ACNS source: Anglican Journal] The controversy in the diocese of New
Westminster over whether to bless gay relationships took a grave turn on
October 8 as Archbishop David Crawley moved to discipline the diocesan
bishop of the Yukon, Terrence Buckle, for asserting "episcopal authority"
over disaffected parishes in Vancouver-based diocese.

"Bishop Buckle is acting unlawfully," Archbishop Crawley stated in a message
to the members of the Anglican Church of Canada. "Disciplinary proceedings
against Bishop Buckle as provided in the canons have begun and will take
their proper course."

Archbishop Crawley, as metropolitan (senior bishop) of the ecclesiastical
(church) province of British Columbia and the Yukon, is Bishop Buckle's
supervisor. In his message, he noted that the bishop of New Westminster,
Michael Ingham, "has formally inhibited (Bishop Buckle) from functioning
within the diocese of New Westminster. I ... have required Bishop Buckle to
respect that inhibition and refrain from interfering in the life of the
diocese of New Westminster."

Archbishop Crawley wrote that "parishes cannot remove themselves from the
authority of their diocesan bishop and place themselves under the authority
of another bishop. Any parishes in the diocese of New Westminster accepting
Bishop Buckle's claim to authority over them are acting unlawfully and
contrary to the canons (church laws) of the Anglican Church of Canada."

He noted that the basic unit of the Anglican Church of Canada is the diocese
and that in the civil province of British Columbia, diocesan boundaries are
fixed by acts of the provincial legislature. "No bishop .. can claim or
assert any authority within the bounds of another diocese," he wrote. "Any
bishop proven to be doing so can be suspended, deprived of his or her
position as bishop, or be deposed from the order of bishops."

There were no details provided about what form the disciplinary action might
take. Archbishop Crawley and Bishop Buckle were unavailable for comment.
David Skillings, chancellor (church lawyer) for the province, declined to
comment and referred to the provincial canons.

Canon 8, "The Discipline of Bishops and Clergy," says the metropolitan may
investigate charges against a bishop, then a board of inquiry may be named.
If warranted, a final step would be a provincial court of appeal. There was
no indication from Archbishop Crawley's statement as to which proceedings
are underway.

"He should be more specific," commented Peter Turner, a lay member of St
Simon church in Vancouver, one of the parishes critical of Bishop Ingham.
"Outrage" was his reaction to the announcement from Archbishop Crawley, he
said. "When a bishop offers pastoral care, this is not something that should
be disciplined; it should be lauded," he said in an interview.

"We feel that Bishop Ingham, and now Archbishop Crawley, are acting
illegally," he said. "A year ago, we presented a legal brief to Bishop
Ingham that said blessing same-sex unions went beyond what a bishop and a
diocese could lawfully do. What they were doing impacted on the definition
of the sacrament of marriage."

In June 2002, a majority of New Westminster's diocesan synod voted to allow
parishes to offer blessings to gay couples, and Bishop Ingham concurred.
Eight parishes, out of 80 in the diocese, disagreed with the move and formed
a coalition called the Anglican Communion in New Westminster (ACiNW). Three
more parishes have since joined the coalition. The parishes, declaring they
could no longer trust Bishop Ingham, sought episcopal oversight from Bishop
Buckle.

As far as the jurisdictional issue, Mr Turner said, "What happens when a
bishop (Bishop Ingham) usurps his authority and can't be trusted? The
parishes have to go elsewhere."

On 7 September, a service was held in Delta, B.C., attended by about 1,600
people, eight Canadian Anglican bishops and two primates (archbishops) from
Africa and India. The bishops "commissioned" Bishop Buckle to provide
pastoral oversight to the ACiNW parishes. Earlier this year, Bishop Ingham
offered to provide an "episcopal visitor" in the person of retired Bishop
William Hockin, to disaffected parishes, but the offer was rejected.

Bishop Hockin has no authority to perform confirmations or appoint clergy in
New Westminster and the parishes have said they want an outside bishop with
full authority.

However, the principle of episcopal jurisdiction is a very old one, noted
the Revd David Neelands, a church historian and dean of faculty at the
divinity school of Trinity College in Toronto. "The Council of Hertford, in
672 in England, at the time of Bishop Theodore of Tarsus, declared that no
other bishop has jurisdiction in another bishop's diocese. So although he is
having a quarrel with his parishes, Michael Ingham is still the bishop of
the diocese," Mr Neelands said.

He said he was unaware of any similar case in recent years.

___________________________________________________________________
ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London, is
distributed to more than 7,000 journalists and other readers around
the world.  For subscription information please go to:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/acnslist.html