Church Report Concludes Reconciliation Unlikely in Pennsylvania
03/14/2006

A report prepared by the Presiding Bishop’s Office for Pastoral Development finds little likelihood that mediation will resolve the dispute that has led the diocesan standing committee to call for the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., to step down as Bishop of Pennsylvania.

The Rt. Rev. F. Clayton Matthews, executive director of the Office of Pastoral Development and Ms. Woodriff Sprinkel reported on March 7 that “given the depth of divisions that have been created over many years, the repeated leadership style preference of the bishop, and the unanimous opinion that the bishop is incapable of entering into any process without being in control of it; we cannot recommend any process of conciliation or any ‘rigorous long-term process for addressing problems’.”

Bishop Matthews and Ms Sprinkel recommended that “if the standing committee and the bishop still insist that some process be devised for them to address the issues that have been raised and/or to work on terms of separation through formal mediation, then the Presiding Bishop’s office will assist as long as the ground rules are defined by outside persons to insure that neither party tries to control the process.” The rest