(Please read my retraction below.)
(RETRACTED: I don’t want to take away from those 39 bishops who had the courage to resist Schori’s lawless “deposition” of Bishop Duncan. But the action of one bishop shocks me. The Bishop of West Texas, Gary Lillibridge, a supposedly orthodox “Windsor bishop,” has publicly supported this despicable action:
“As difficult as this decision is for me and many others in our Church, it is important to realize that the decision in the House today was not based on the theological convictions of Bishop Duncan, but rather on the evidence presented regarding statements and actions concerning moves to take the Diocese of Pittsburgh out of the Episcopal Church.”
I’ve never had a particularly high opinion of this bishop’s courage. But I am shocked that he is supporting this outrage.)
UPDATE: Since I’ve posted, it’s come out that +Lillibridge voted against the “deposition.” I took that possibility into account when I made my post. But it makes his statement, which certainly seems to support the action, a puzzler. Hence, I’ve added a question mark to the title.
The Diocese of West Texas website says he will post a report on the HOB meeting. If it’s appropriate for me to say more then, I will do so.
RETRACTION: O. K. It’s mea culpa time. Bishops Lillibridge and Reed have posted a letter to the Diocese of West Texas explaining what happened. And I’m satisfied with their explanation.
This still leaves the aforementioned supportive statement a mystery. And this statement is still linked on the diocese’s website (under “House of Bishops”).
But nevertheless the votes and letter tell me it’s time for a hearty mea culpa. So I apologize to Bishop Lillibridge and to my readers. The Bishop did stand up against this “deposition” and deserves credit not attack for that. Mea culpa.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteyou might want to hold your fire.
It is reported by Bp.. Peter Beckwith of Springfield that +Lillibridge voted no. His words posted by TEC COULD be out of context some how.
I agree his words are troubling, but he IS reported as having voted no.
Let's wait for the dust to settle a bit. There was a roll call vote. We will know the details soon.
Thanks, Karen. But that would not much change my opinion of his statement unless it was taken WAY out of context.
ReplyDeleteStill, I'll be ready with a mea culpa if it turns out I jumped the gun.
wannabe
It turns out he did vote against the deposition, which makes his statement peculiar. The Dio of W Texas website says he will post a report from the meeting. I await that and will either update or post again if it seems appropriate.
ReplyDeletewannabe