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Episcopalians from throughout Valley talk about possible schism

Carol Dyer came all the way from Hanford to tell some 350 Episcopalians assembled in Lodi that her bishop was breaking her heart.

"We're losing our church," Dyer, a member of Church of the Savior, said on Saturday as she trembled in tears.

Dyer's church is an example of how divisive the 47 parishes and missions in the San Joaquin Diocese — from Lodi to Bakersfield — have been the past three years.

The division pits differing opinions by priests and parishioners within the diocese on social issues such as abortion and homosexuality. It's become such an issue that Bishop John-David Schofield has been accused of putting on the table a proposal for the diocese to leave the Episcopal Church, much like the South tried to secede from the Union during the Civil War.

The issue was discussed during a five-hour gathering at St. John's Episcopal Church on Lower Sacramento Road to welcome Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies, one of two governing bodies of the Episcopal Church USA.

"I came because I don't want to see the Episcopal Church fall apart," said Kathy Dugan from St. Mark's, a mission church in Tracy. "Priests in a lot of churches are taking a neutral stand because congregations are divided."

Saturday's Eucharist, followed by Anderson's speech and a panel discussion, was advertised as a day to celebrate Anderson's appearance and to rejoice in a love for Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, the main topic centered around what will happen if the diocese leaves the Episcopal Church.

A special Eucharist was held Saturday morning, followed by Anderson's address, which focused on the church's opposition at the national level to any attempt by the San Joaquin Diocese to secede.

Anderson told the crowd in the St. John's sanctuary that Schofield has no right to pull his diocese out of the national church because of differences Schofield has over issues like homosexuality and abortion.

Anderson got a rousing standing ovation after her remarks. Schofield, in a surprise appearance Saturday, sat as virtually everyone around him cheered.

In an interview with the News-Sentinel on Saturday, Schofield emphatically denied any desire to secede from the Episcopal Church, but he invited any parish or priest who disagrees with him politically and theologically to leave the diocese.

"If they are free of debt, they can take away their buildings, their priests — the works — and they can go with my blessings," Schofield said.

Bishop John-David Schofield, right, receives Communion from Bonnie Anderson, president of the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies, during Saturday's special Eucharist at St. John's Episcopal Church in Lodi. (Angelina Gervasi/News-Sentinel)

The social division comes from delegates taking an initial vote at the diocese's convention in December to align with the Anglican Church in England. The motion won't go into effect unless the same vote is taken at the next convention in October.

Furthermore, it's questionable whether it's legal for the diocese to secede from the national church. That issue may be decided in court.

The two sides to the controversy center around Schofield, the conservative bishop from Fresno, who strongly opposes the national church's consecration of V. Eugene Robinson, an openly gay priest, as bishop of the New Hampshire Diocese in 2003. Schofield also opposes abortion and the ordination of women as priests.

Meanwhile, Father Rick Matters from St. John's, a voting delegate, supported Robinson becoming a bishop.

"It's not really about (social issues)," Schofield said. "It's about the authority of scripture. That's where the battle is."

While Matters accuses Schofield of wanting to split off from the national church, Schofield said he wants no change.

"I want to stay exactly where the church has always been," Schofield said. "I will not drag anybody into court. The Bible tells us we're not to take a brother into court. Father Rick is a brother."

Matters, who hosted Saturday's event at St. John's, and several clergy and church members maintained that they want the diocese to remain intact while embracing differences of opinion on social and theological issues.

"Just because we have differences of opinion, that's not a bad thing," said Pam Johnston, one of more than 30 members from Holy Family Episcopal Church in Fresno.

"Pam and I get a lot out of being with people we don't always agree with," said her husband, Marshall Johnston, the Fresno church's senior warden. "There's creative tension to have people who don't think like you."

Pam Johnston said her views are reflected in a poster she saw recently in Phoenix that said, "Jesus came to take away our sins, not our brains."

Parishioners throughout the diocese expressed their concern about whether their church buildings and land would remain in the Episcopal Church's, or if ownership would revert to the conservative splinter group.

"The property will not leave the Episcopal Church," said Michael Glass, an attorney from San Rafael who specializes in real estate and church law and sits on a task force for the national House of Bishops, a group of bishops that serves alongside with the House of Deputies, on which Anderson serves.

"You can't pick up property and take it without — not any more than the city of Lodi can decide to leave the state of California," Glass said.

Schofield quietly sat in the audience during the five-hour proceedings and didn't participate in any public discussion.

At the diocese's convention in December, delegates took an initial vote to secede, but it has no chance of happening unless a second vote is taken in October. A two-thirds vote of delegates is required for passage.

Schofield said that any movement to leave the American Episcopal Church may be a moot point because the Primates, which will begin meeting for five days beginning Wednesday in the African nation of Tanzania, may boot the Episcopal Church USA out of the Anglican Communion altogether.

Schofield said he enjoyed Saturday's event to welcome Anderson to the diocese, even though he was in a decided minority.

"There was a lot of spin going on, but it could have been worse," he said.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

First published: Monday, February 12, 2007