In a Fresno courtroom Monday, Anglican Bishop John-David Schofield's presence loomed large in the long, legal battle between the U.S. Episcopal Church and the breakaway Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin.
Schofield, who died in October, is a key witness in a Fresno County Superior Court civil trial that will determine who owns dozens of pieces of property -- the Anglican diocese or the national Episcopal Church?
The bishop gave his videotaped deposition in late 2011, long after he led 40 of 47 parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin away from the national Episcopal Church to form the Anglican Diocese of the San Joaquin.
The video was played Monday on a big- creen to a packed courtroom, with many of the onlookers supporters of Schofield. Among them was the Rev. Gordon Kamai, pastor of Anglican Christ Church in Oakhurst, who said he feared the national Episcopal Church will just sell the property for non-Christian purposes. "It belongs to the congregations," he said.
In December 2007, an overwhelming number of the diocese's members voted to split from the national church because of disagreements over such issues as same-sex marriage and the ordination of gay bishops. The Anglican diocese holds to a more conservative theology.
Read more here:
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/01/13/3712231/anglican-vs-episicopalian-legal.html#storylink=cpy
No comments:
Post a Comment