Virginia Theological Seminary announces publication of the first issue of the Journal of Episcopal Church Canon Law an online peer-reviewed journal.
Some teasers from the first issue.
The Power to Appoint Committee Membership
The membership of these working bodies is therefore crucial in determining not just the direction such deliberations pursue but also in defining which recommendations make it to a vote and which are never considered by the convention at large. Yet the determination of this membership is not something that is widely shared; indeed, by canon and rules of order, this determination rests solely in the hands of two people: the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies.
Standing Commissions in the Twenty-First Century
Presently, each standing commission is composed of twelve members, an Executive Council liaison, and a representative from the Presiding Bishop’s staff. Also, the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies both have the option of appointing a personal representative to each standing commission, if they wish.24 With fourteen standing commissions, there are between 196 and 224 people traveling to between three and six commission meetings every three years, exclusive of any subcommittee work that may be required.
The Sixteenth-Century Background to the Current “Oath” of Conformity of the Episcopal Church
Can someone who opposes the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian persons still make this declaration ? What exactly do “the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church” comprehend? In response to these questions, the Right Reverend Mark Lawrence and the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina have adopted the practice of reading aloud a letter in the ordination service before the aforementioned declaration is made. …
Francis Lister Hawks (1798-1866) on the Constitution
Hawks’s commentary is of interest to some modern canonist because of his opinions on the relationship between the individual dioceses and the General Convention. Hawks concluded that once a diocese joins the General Convention it forfeits a degree of autonomy, including the ability to ever withdraw from participation. On the other hand, he argued strenuously that the General Convention had no right to alter the Episcopal Church’s Constitution without the consent of the individual dioceses. His conclusions were not universally shared. His contemporary Thomas Vail (1812-89) reached a different conclusion, for example, on the right of an individual diocese to withdraw from General Convention.