Standing Committee Communication
Posted Monday, March 24, 2008
Moratorium on the Ordination Process
A Letter from The Standing Committee And the Commission on Ministry
The canons of The Episcopal Church require bishops to oversee the entire ordination process. Our diocesan bishop, The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., has been inhibited by the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church and cannot function as a bishop pending outcome of his trial. Although the Standing Committee serves as the Ecclesiastical Authority during this time, it cannot assume a bishop’s role in the ordination process.
The Standing Committee, in consultation with the Commission on Ministry, has requested that The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Lee, Jr., Bishop of Western Michigan (retired) and currently an assisting bishop in the diocese, take on the episcopal responsibilities required by the canons for those currently in the ordination process in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. We are very grateful that he is willing to do this.
We continue, though, to be concerned with the ongoing discernment process of those experiencing a call to ordination who are not yet in the process. It would be unwise to begin the process in this transitional time in the life of our diocese and with no way of knowing how long we will be without a functioning Diocesan Bishop.
The Standing Committee and the Commission on Ministry believe that our best course of action is to place a moratorium on the ordination process for one year. We will visit this decision again in the early Spring of 2009. This means that there will be no Pre-Postulancy Conference in 2009.
This decision was not made without serious thought and prayerful consideration, nor without a realization that there are those in our diocese who would like to begin a discernment process now. Due to the required oversight of a bishop throughout the entire process we believe it will be best to wait for a clearer resolution of our episcopal situation before beginning such a journey.
We ask for your prayers for all in our diocese, and particularly for those who will be affected by this decision.
Faithfully,
The Standing Committee and The Commission on Ministry