Bishop Jack Iker of Forth Worth says that Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is wrong. He has not renounced his orders, and therefore should not have been removed as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. He writes:
The Presiding Bishop is misleading the Church and misrepresenting the facts in her recent allegation that I have renounced the ordained ministry of The Episcopal Church.
According to Canon III.12.7, any Bishop desiring to renounce his orders “shall declare, in writing, to the Presiding Bishop a renunciation of the ordained Ministry of this Church, and a desire to be removed therefrom…” and that the PB shall then “record the declaration and request so made.”
I have not written to the Presiding Bishop making any such declaration or request. I hope the House of Bishops will hold her accountable for her continued abuse of the canons.
It appears to be true, that Iker did not write to the PB, however he did write to the diocese, and here is what he said:
Katharine Jefferts Schori has no authority over me or my ministry as a Bishop in the Church of God. She never has, and she never will.
Since November 15, 2008, both the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and I as the Diocesan Bishop have been members of the Anglican Province of the Southern
Cone. As a result, canonical declarations of the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church pertaining to us are irrelevant and of no consequence.
Like the deposition of Bishops Schofield and Duncan, the removal of Bishop Iker from his office occurred after it was infinitely clear that he no longer considered himself a member of the Episcopal Church but wanted to continue asserting authority within the Church to make it more difficult to reconstitute the diocese he had departed.
These bishops and many of their priests cast their depositions as the ecclesial equivalent of a deportation. But the Church is simply taking away the passports of those who have made it known that they are no longer our citizens. Their invocation of the canons is especially ironic as they claim now to be members of a province that is canonically forbidden from operating outside of designated countries in South America.