TLC: Executive Council Officers Address Bishops’ Concerns
November 29, 2007

Civil litigation is the only recourse available when the canons of The Episcopal Church are not honored, according to two officers of Executive Council who recently wrote to a group of retired bishops.

Last summer four retired bishops—C. Fitzsimons Allison of South Carolina, Maurice M. Benitez of Texas, Alex D. Dickson of West Tennessee, and William Wantland of Eau Claire—wrote a series of letters to Executive Council requesting publication of the amount of money spent to date on legal and court fees in church property disputes and pleading with council to stop suing congregations that have left. The bishops also took issue with a resolution approved by the council which declares “null and void” canonical amendments approved by dioceses to qualify or remove language which subordinates the diocesan canons to those of the national church. A fifth retired bishop, Milton L. Wood, suffragan of Atlanta, subsequently asked to have his name added to the second letter. the rest