Ailing Presiding Bishop And Six Bishops Face Title Iv Violations

Translation: Curry is getting his butt kicked by the feisty Anglican Watch website https://www.anglicanwatch.com/ which has been doggedly detailing the sexual and other hijinks of bishops who thought they could get away with it.

Six investigations of alleged misconduct by the five bishops including the Presiding Bishop are now under way. According to the Episcopal News Service a new webpage on episcopalchurch.org includes chronologies for these six active cases involving bishops under the church’s Title IV disciplinary canons — including two newly revealed cases against retired Florida Bishop John Howard. The webpage also shares statistical information on all complaints against bishops received in the past six months, data that will be updated at least once a year. And a blue “report misconduct” button was added to the top-right corner of all pages on the church’s website linking to the new Title IV page.

In the category of ‘be sure your sin will find you out,’ the six cases listed on the website include two newly-revealed cases against the now retired Bishop of Florida, the Rt. Rev. John Howard; two against the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev. Prince Singh; one against Bishop Curry and Bishop Todd Ousley, lodged by the family of Prince Singh, who allege that the Bishops did not properly respond to their allegations; and a case against the Bishop of Wyoming, the Rt Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler, who has been placed on administrative leave.

The cases against Bishop Howard, who retired last autumn, involve allegations of discrimination against LGBTQ clergy and those who opposed his views on same-sex marriage. The second case, which has not previously been reported, involves an allegation of a “financial nature.”

Missing from the list is the Title IV complaint by the President of the House of Deputies, Ayala Harris. In July 2022, she alleged that the retired Bishop of Oklahoma, the Rt. Rev. Ed Konieczny, “physically overpowered her” in an incident at the 80th General Convention. Bishop Konieczny denied any misconduct, and the case was closed in July 2023 with a “pastoral response” and no further action. Harris and Bishop Curry urged canonical reform in the wake of this outcome.

In the past, the bishop in charge of the Office of Pastoral Development had been assigned by the presiding bishop to serve as intake officer for complaints involving bishops. Last year, Curry chose to reassign that function to a newly created position on his staff. On Aug. 1, the Rev. Barbara Kempf took over as “the primary contact for receiving allegations of misconduct by bishops,” according to a news release announcing her hire.

Since then, Kempf has received information on 34 potential Title IV matters, according to the newly released statistical information, which does not specify how many individual bishops were named. Of those matters, Kempf concluded that seven did not rise to the level of a canonical offense or were not of “clear or weighty importance” to pursue further.

Of the remaining 27 matters, 18 are in the initial inquiry stage, and Kempf has referred the other nine to the Reference Panel, the body that decides next steps on allegations of canonical offenses. Of those nine, the Reference Panel resolved one with a pastoral action, five were sent to an investigation and three are awaiting referral.

Until now, details about Title IV cases have mostly remained confidential unless they are referred to a hearing panel, the equivalent of a trial. Church canons require the release of information in hearing panel cases, though most cases are resolved without a hearing. Curry, as presiding bishop, has broad discretion under the canons to make some information public if he deems it “pastorally appropriate” to do so. Curry and, in some cases, bishops he has designated to act on his behalf are now exercising that discretion to release timelines and status updates in select cases when the “matter becomes public.” Church leaders are continuing to protect the identities of complainants and withhold other details about the allegations.

“Experience over the past several years with Title IV matters involving bishops has given rise to calls for more transparency in the process,” Curry said in a letter introducing the new online resources.

The deeper reality is that The Episcopal Church has no moral boundaries, and that scripture is no longer definitive for moral behavior. The lines are so blurred beyond human recognition and anything goes.

TEC has embraced a range of unbiblical sexualities (LGBTQI+) which have caused schism within the denomination and alienation from the wider Anglican Communion.

All the while TEC’snumbers decrease, its median age is 67 and fewer ordinands are turning up to fill pulpits as pews empty out.

By almost every reckoning TEC is a husk of its former self and destined for oblivion by 2040.

You can read more here: https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2024/02/22/presiding-bishop-announces-title-iv-transparency-webpage-detailing-cases-against-bishops/

AILING PRESIDING BISHOP AND SIX BISHOPS FACE TITLE IV VIOLATIONS

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
March 14, 2024

As if the Episcopal Church isn’t in enough trouble over massive declining average Sunday attendance, merging dioceses, unaffordable and controversial reparations; ailing Presiding Bishop Michael Curry must now contend with six bishops caught up in scandals which are rocking TEC to its core. Michael Curry plus five others.

Bishop Curry announced this week that six bishops face Title IV canons charges over their failure to deal with flagrant violations of abuse, some of them sexual, in their dioceses.

A letter from Curry announcing the publication of the details online says that “experience over the past several years with Title IV matters involving bishops has given rise to calls for more transparency in the process. Given the current atmosphere, I have chosen to exercise my canonical discretion to adopt a general protocol for transparency in Title IV matters involving bishops. The protocol will provide for greater transparency around Title IV processes while also appropriately protecting privacy.”