BISHOP LOVE ACCEPTS RESTRICTIONS
On yesterday, 11 January, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry announced partial restrictions on the Rt. Rev. William Love, bishop of Albany and referred him for possible discipline (see the blog posting here ).
Love responded to this and sent a letter yesterday to his diocese explaining his response. Find a link to the letter here . Love wrote, "I will abide by the restrictions placed on me by the Presiding Bishop during the appeal process."
Love also declared, "...I do plan to appeal the above disciplinary action taken against me by the Presiding Bishop and in so doing, I will also be challenging the authority and legality of Resolution B012 passed at the 79th General Convention. I have already verbally informed the Presiding Bishop's Office of my plans. This will soon be followed by an official written appeal as required by the Canons."
Thus, Love made two points: accept the partial restriction, and appeal of the restriction (the action and the Resolution). Love said he would challenge the "authority" and "legality" of Resolution B012. He did not explain what this meant. In fact, the Resolution was duly and legally enacted by the General Convention, the governing body of the Episcopal Church. It is legal. It has authority. Therefore, what Love means by his "challenge" to the resolution remains to be seen.
There is a crucial point here that must not be missed. It is that the diocese of Albany is showing no overt sign of moving to schism. Quite the opposite, the bishop is adhering to Church discipline. This is the opposite of what happened in South Carolina in 2012. Of course, this does not necessarily mean Albany might not move to schism in the future. However, in the first five cases, by the point of the discipline where Love is now, the schisms had already occurred for all practical purposes. The big question now is exactly where Love intends to go in his appeal of the disciplinary action and the "challenge" to a resolution that is legal and authoritative. Perhaps he will inform us of what he has in mind along this line.
