Virtue Online reported yesterday that the American Anglican Fellowship (AAF), a group of current and former members of The Episcopal Church (TEC), filed a formal complaint last December with TEC's Intake Officer seeking to invoke formal
ecclesiastical proceedings against Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori because of the litigation in civil courts that she has undertaken against break-away parishes. AAF claims:
The litigation authorized by the Presiding Bishop and various bishops asks courts to interpret provisions of the Constitution and Canons. The litigation thus violates Canon IV.19.2, which provides that "No member of the Church, whether lay or ordained, may seek to have the Constitution and Canons interpreted by a secular court, or resort to a secular court to address a dispute arising under the Constitution and Canons, or for any purpose of delay, hindrance, review or otherwise affecting any proceeding under this Title."
The litigation further violates Canon IV.4.1(e), which requires the Presiding Bishop and various bishops, as members of the Clergy, to "safeguard the property and funds of the Church and Community." The expense for litigation is a violation of the canon since other solutions with substantially less cost have been used in the past and today by TEC as well as the Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches.
For failure to safeguard the property and funds of the Church, the Presiding Bishop "shall be accountable" (Canon IV.4.2).
The AAF complaint says: "We framed this document in a caring and loving way ... not to discipline, but to achieve an Accord of conciliation as Christ would have us do, to bring an end to this madness of Christians suing Christians," AAF has not yet received a formal response from TEC to its complaint.
