“Radically new and different”
March 18, 2008

Episcopalians quickly name proposed replacement for ousted San Joaquin bishop, while deposed leader says his removal was invalid.

The leadership of the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, wasted no time in selecting a replacement for Diocese of San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield, whom the Episcopal House of Bishops deposed earlier this month. In December, Schofield and his diocese ceased affiliation with the Episcopal Church and joined a South American Anglican jurisdiction because of the Episcopal Church’s toleration and promotion of homosexuality and other issues, which, says the Fresno-based diocese, depart from biblical orthodoxy. Schofield, bishop of what is now the Fresno-based Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, insists that the Episcopal deposition is of no effect as he now belongs to the House of Bishops of the South American Anglican jurisdiction of the Southern Cone.

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori has recommended Bishop Jerry Lamb as Schofield’s successor in the reconstituted Episcopal Diocese of the San Joaquin. If approved by a diocesan convention in Lodi on March 29, Lamb, as provisional bishop, will oversee parishes that have refused to follow Schofield, as well as new missions. According to a March 15 Episcopal News Service report, the “continuing” Episcopal diocese has 18 congregations. the rest