News for Week Ending 5/28/2012

Anderson not running for re-election as HoD president

In a surprise move, President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson announced in a May 23, 2012, letter that she will not stand for re-election at the upcoming General Convention. She was first elected in 2006, replacing the Rev. Canon George Werner. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued a statement the same day expressing gratitude for “the service Bonnie Anderson has given to The Episcopal Church over many, many years.” Anderson has set out the schedule for filling the offices of president and vice-president of the House of Deputies. (The latter office is now vacant.)

Anderson has maintained a high profile as President of the House of Deputies and has often clashed with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. In an article from The Living Church, Derek Olsen suggests that conflict between the leaders of the two houses of the General Convention is inherent in the polity of The Episcopal Church.

Trial date set for Quincy property case

Of the four Episcopal Church dioceses that split more than three years ago—San Joaquin, Pittsburgh, Fort Worth, and Quincy—the legal battle over property in the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy seems to have moved slowest. According to Episcopal News Service, however, a trial date of April 22, 2013, has now been set. The date was announced by the Rt. Rev. John C. Buchanan, Provisional Bishop of Quincy, in a May 22, 2012, letter.

Falls Church returns property; will appeal to Supreme Court

According to the Falls Church News-Press, Virginia Episcopalians returned to The Falls Church Sunday, May 20, 2012, and the former Anglican congregation held services in Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Virginia. As explained in a letter from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia’s Secretary and Chief of Staff Henry D.W. Burt, however, Falls Church Anglican plans to appeal the court decision awarding the parish property to the Episcopal diocese by the end of the month. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.)