From ELO-
The rector of historic Christ Church in Philadelphia is urging Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison to "prayerfully consider making the sacrifice of not returning" to the diocese as bishop.
In a posting on the church's website, the Rev. Timothy Safford wrote that he does not expect Bennison to follow the advice he gave him in an Aug. 8 letter.
"Notwithstanding, he is my bishop, our bishop, and the bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania," Safford wrote.
The Episcopal Church's Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop announced Aug. 5 that it had overturned a lower court's finding that Bennison had committed serious disciplinary offenses warranting his removal ("deposition") from the ordained ministry. The court of review concluded that Bennison had engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy; but found that the charge was barred by the church's statute of limitations.
The decision by the Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop is here.
The lower court, Court for the Trial of a Bishop, had called for Bennison's deposition after it found that 35 years ago when he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, he failed to respond properly after learning that his brother, John Bennison, was "engaged in a sexually abusive and sexually exploitive relationship" with a minor parishioner. At the time, John Bennison was a 24-year-old newly ordained deacon (later priest) whom Charles Bennison had hired as youth minister. The abuse allegedly lasted for more than three years from the time the minor was 14 years old.
More here-
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_124004_ENG_HTM.htm
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