Seating at Lambeth: Schofield and Lamb

It appears that Bishop Lamb, provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, has been invited to Lambeth. Thinking Anglicans has the references to the various articles and blogs on this. Dan Martins and The Living Church also note that Bishop Schofield, lately bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin and now bishop of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin (Province of the Southern Cone) has not yet been uninvited, although his invitation was as the Episcopal Bishop of San Joaquin. So either both Schofield and Lamb are coming on the same invitation, or they are coming as bishops of different dioceses, or perhaps a dis-invitation is in the planning.

Dan Martins believes that this anomaly is a sign of things to come. "My guess is that, in true Anglican fashion--that is, with decisions being made by indecision--we are witnessing the first step in the legitimation of multiple Anglican jurisdictions occupying the same geographic area. There will be more. "

That may be, but I don't think so. I hope he is wrong.

My sense is that the Archbishop of Canterbury's determination to invite most but not all sitting bishops (and in particular Bishop Gene Robinson), that he would not invite the deposed bishop of Recife and the outrageous bishop of Harare (now also deposed), and his rather broad hint that he might disinvite some bishops at a later point has already put him in the position of being responsible for a certain culling of the herd. If he is at all consistent in not inviting the deposed, he needs to deal with Schofield's deposition and disinvite him.

As regards the Schofield deposition, the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin (Schofield in the chair) in a blog titled "Soundings" just published a rather odd statement, "Bishop Schofield remains a fully ordained bishop and is a member in good standing of the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone, a constituent member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Furthermore, at least five dioceses within The Episcopal Church have rejected or questioned the legality of the Presiding Bishop’s actions in deposing Bishops Schofield and Cox."

The first part of this odd statement makes it clear that Bishop Schofield has indeed abandoned the "communion of this Church" (meaning the Episcopal Church). He is a member of another church, one that by the actions and words of its Primate has broken communion with the Episcopal Church. The second supports the notion that he was illegally deposed. It would appear that he doesn't care to be part of the Episcopal Church, but he does care that deposition might be recognized by anyone else besides the Episcopal Church.

Perhaps the Archbishop of Canterbury ought to issue a directive that any bishop deposed by his or her own province will be excluded from invitation to Lambeth or inclusion in the episcopal representatives on Anglican Communion bodies, unless he has been received into another Province and exercises an active episcopal ministry within its jurisdiction, which cannot include territory part of another Province. That would acknowledge that being "fully ordained" is a sacramental reality, but that license and practice are provisional and provincial. It would get the Archbishop out of the business of having to render judgment as to the validity of the deposition.

While he is at it, of course, the Archbishop of Canterbury needs clarify the level of his engagement with Primates, for example the Primate of the Southern Cone, who deliberately engage in invasive actions in the jurisdiction of another Province. Why are Presiding Bishop Venables or Archbishops Akinola and Orombi invited to Lambeth? Their mucking about in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada are tearing at the fabric of the Communion, destructive of any positive efforts to mend nets, etc.

The invitation list to Lambeth seems cobbled together by a host unclear just why people are invited or not. We can at least hope the seating arrangements will be such that the seat for the Bishop of San Joaquin is reserved for Bishop Lamb. Bishop Schofield can be seated with the anomalies.