[Magdalen] Bishop, please resign

[Roger Stokes]

On 29/01/2015 06:06, Lynn Ronkainen wrote:
> The gist of what was sent out from the diocesan standing committee was 
> that they asked her to resign from their diocese, that it is a 
> national church issue about her episcopacy.

Precisely, her episcopal orders and the salaried position she holds in 
Maryland are two distinct issues.  The Title IV disciplinary process is 
underway.  That process limits the powers of the Standing Committee as 
it may not interfere with the investigation.  If she does resign, or 
reaches an agreement with the Diocese that she vacate her office, then 
she would remain a bishop in TEC unless and until she is deposed from 
that state under the provisions of Title IV.

Until she is issued with an official presentment she could voluntarily 
renounce her orders.  After that stage she would be able to 
short-circuit the process that would lead to a Court for the Trial of a 
Bishop and the Review Court byt voluntarily submitting to discipline.  
In that case she would be informed of the sentence to be pronounced - 
admonition, suspension or deposition - before it is pronounced.  The 
latter two would automatically terminate her position as suffragan bishop.

For the sake of all concerned I would hope that the ecclesiastical 
situation can be resolved relatively speedily, which would mean by 
agreement of all parties.  That would leave Heather Cook free to 
concentrate on the proceedings in the civil courts.

Roger