Bishop Lee releases statement that he did not consent to inhibit Bishop Duncan

BB NOTE: Here is Bishop Lee's statement on the attempt by the Presiding Bishop to inhibit Bishop Duncan, Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership. Bishop Lee is one of three senior bishops with jurisdiction that the Presiding Bishop must consult before inhibiting a bishop. While Bishop Frade of the Diocese of Southeast Florida voted in favor of inhibition, the third senior bishop with jurisdiction, Bishop Wimberly of the Diocese of Texas voted with Bishop Lee to not inhibit the Bishop of Pittsburgh.

I along with the two other most senior active bishops in the House of Bishops were asked by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to review the evidence and give consent to moving forward with the inhibitions of the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of San Joaquin on the charge of abandonment of the communion of this Church. I gave my consent for the inhibition of Bishop Schofield. It is clear that by his actions and their result he has abandoned the communion of this Church.

I did not give my consent for the inhibition of Bishop Duncan at this time. The Diocese of Pittsburgh, which Bishop Duncan leads, has not formalized any change to their membership within the Episcopal Church. I do not take either of these actions lightly, the giving or withholding of consent to these inhibitions. I fear that Bishop Duncan’s course may be inevitable. But I also believe that it is most prudent to take every precaution and provide every opportunity for Bishop Duncan and the leadership of the Diocese of Pittsburgh to turn back from the course they seem to desire and instead to remain in the Episcopal Church.

The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee
Bishop of Virginia

LATER: As I was preparing to post this statement, I came across this essay by Scott Carson, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ohio University, called "A Tale of Two Bishops." Scott was a member of Chapel of the Cross at Chapel Hill, North Carolina where both men served, Peter Lee as rector and Bob Duncan as University Chaplain. Check it out here.