The Bishop of San Joaquin, California is leading his diocese out of the Episcopal Church in protest at the Church’s increasing acceptance of gays and lesbians.
The Right Reverend John-David Schofield previously attributed his views on homosexuality to his experience of Fresno-based ex-gay group New Creation Ministries.
Although he has been candid about his support for ex-gay ministry, Schofield denies claims that he is or ever has been homosexual. A 1995 newsletter from Voice of Integrity, a pro-gay Episcopalian group, said the Bishop “told members of his clergy that he was a “cured homosexual”.” The publication carried the headline “Bishop outs himself in interview,” a reference to an interview Schofield gave earlier to Foundations Daily, a journal of the conservative Episcopal Synod of America.
On examination, it is not clear whether the Bishop outed himself: his claims are ambiguous. In the interview, he speaks of homosexuality as “a lifestyle which I have seen as destructive,” and apparently alludes to his own experience of ex-gay ministry – but the extent and nature of his involvement is not spelled out.
According to Reverend Bill Gandenberger, of the same diocese, Schofield responded to Voice of Integrity’s charge by saying that he “absolutely never” claimed to be a “cured homosexual.”
Last week, Schofield’s Diocese of San Joaquin voted by 173-22 to accept an invitation to join the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, based in South America.
Explaining the move, Schofield blamed the Episcopal Church’s “failure to heed the repeated calls for repentance issued by the Primates of the Anglican Communion and for the cessation of false teaching and sacramental actions explicitly contrary to Scripture.” The phrase “sacramental actions” alludes to the controversial ordination of Gene Robinson, the Anglican Communion’s first openly gay bishop.
Presiding US Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori says dissidents can leave, but insists the San Joaquin diocese will remain part of the Episcopal Church.
Update: Even conservative Episcopalian commentator David Virtue says as recently as yesterday that the Bishop was a practicing homosexual:
What happens is this. When a homosexual or lesbian renounces the lifestyle they get accused of being “self-loathing” and “homophobic”, much like the Bishop of San Joaquin, John-David Schofield who renounced the lifestyle many years ago.
Just to be clear:
Bishop Marc Andrus, a strong and effective friend to the LGBT community, is the Episcopal Bishop of the Bay Area.
John-David Schofield, who used to be the Episcopal Bishop of the San Joaquin diocese and will be defrocked in a few months, is not in or near the bay area.
Interesting! He is morbidly and grotesquely obese, so much so that I’ve always wondered what unresolved psychological issues he suffers with.
I wrongly assumed San Joaquin counted as the Bay Area, but have changed it now. Cheers.
OK, so he isn’t “A Homosexual”. We may all sleep comfortably tonight.
Perhaps he’s just a fat-headed twerp, self-determined to ignore the sin of gluttony?
And I should pay attention to his opinions because….???
(The opinions, and behaviour, of RR John-David Schofield, Bishop of San Joaquin, are already well known. This needs no debate. Google him, people.)
Don’t believe his denials. Read the comments on this blog:
https://www.haloscan.com/comments/terry137/4506019859965590723/#467959
Also, read this:
My Manner of Life
Bishop Andrus is indeed NOT in the Diocese of San Joaquin, which is based in Fresno. Andrus is Bishop of the Diocese of California, based in San Francisco. However, he has pledged support for the remaining faithful Episcopalians in San Joaquin as they reconstruct their diocese in the aftermath of the schism. The Diocese of San Joaquin is immediately adjacent to Dioceses of California and El Camino Real, to the east in Central Valley, and historically was a mission district of the Diocese of California. Hence the frequent references to San Joaquin being a “daughter diocese.”
Schofield has provided facilities in St. James Cathedral’s compound in Fresno for the “reparative therapy” organization New Creation Ministries, one of his pet causes, and has spoken frequently of his support and admiration for them. In fact, he has boasted publicly that the Diocese of San Joaquin is the only diocese of the Episcopal Church to provide such a “ministry.” It should be made clear, however, that New Creation Ministries is NOT an Episcopal Church-sanctioned organization. Schofield also has maintained close ties with Exodus International, speaking at their conventions and writing articles for them.
Schofield’s virulent homophobia, as evidenced by his many anti-LGBT rants, his misogyny as expressed by his absolute refusal to ordain women, and his boasting about his celibacy are all indicators of a deeply disturbed man who cannot deal with the Church (let alone himself!) as a sexual community.
Can discuss his views without the comments on his physical appearance?
Generally David I agree, but if a morbidly obese person is casting stones, I think it may be a point well raised to identify the house of glass wherein he dwells.
If it is a mere catty, physical judgement, then it is a personal attack and in bad taste and properly censured.
I understand your point, but then we don’t know why he is overweight. Not all obesity is the result of gluttony.
Wow.
This makes not one, but two, Christian ministers whose churches I attended as a boy before said ministers ran off the rails later in life.
For a brief time, my mother and I attended services at the Episcopal church in Inverness when David Schofield was a priest there. I was encouraged to go on one of their retreats when I got older, but I never did. Now, I’m glad I didn’t, based on some of the comments at the blog linked above. (At least the view of Tomales Bay from the sanctuary was nice.)
About the same time, we were also original members of the Church of the Open Door when it first began in Mill Valley, CA, and had Robert L. Hymers as pastor. (Yes, the same Robert L. Hymers who became an ultra-fundamentalist, then later led the mock crucifixion in front of Lew Wasserman’s house when The Last Temptation of Christ was released.) When the church moved to San Rafael and took up residence in a rented union hall, Mike Riley was my Sunday school teacher.
I guess it’s amazing that I not only still have my faith, but I’m very gay and very happy.
Oh wow….
It’s not just teh gay thing that is making the ECUSA conservatives nuts. They also hate the fact that the US presiding bishop is female. They just HATE that.
But it’s more acceptable to hate teh gay publicly, than to hate the presiding bishop who happens to be a “dirty woman.”
Sorry David, for what we started — “fat headed” may not mean the same thing here and there. “Block head”??? “Twerp” — god knows how you lot read that. Umm, “twit”… as in, lots of birds fluttering around in their head? “Airhead”???
Apart from that, he does appear to be an OBESE man. And as the saying goes… if you are going to abuse another person, first ensure you are perfect.
Stone. Glass House. Etc. Yeah, whatever — nobody is PERFECT.
So, in context, again, we’re not about to be told how to live our lives by a “fat headed twerp” (c)AU.
As for…“Not all obesity is the result of gluttony.”…. oh please, but that is absolute rubbish David. Energy in = Energy Out + Accumulation… the first rule on engineering (it’s called the conservation of energy, if you must know)
Obesity has only ONE cause, always — eating more that you need. It’s that simple, really.
(I’m having visions of Alan Chambers’ next venture — an Ex-Fat movement. It will consist of him, not ever fat, and a small group of 800 lb people who claim they are are in fact slim. Unremarkably, but nobody believes them either.)
Uh, Grantdale . . . I know the basics of weight follow the laws of thermodynamics (sort of), but the more we find out about biochemistry, the more we realize that (extremely detailed complicated explanation edited out) it’s not nearly as simple as once believed. Hormone levels and medications are only two factors that influence weight. Not to totally discount gluttony as a sin, but remember things are rarely as simple as they appear.
I wasn’t talking about the mechanics of how weight is stored, but in the underlying causes. Not all obesity is the result of a moral failing, or even a simple love of food. To belabor the point, we don’t actually know why the man is overweight and discussing it makes us all look rather silly. Try to stick to the issues.
In any case, “fat headed twerp” is probably not the best term to use at XGW (no matter what it’s meaning in Australia). And as a side note, I’m certainly glad my sister’s physician didn’t study down under, or the cause of her weight issue might still be undiagnosed.
David:
I’m sure your sister would be more than capably handled by an Australian-trained physician.
We are not a developing country.
I cannot believe you made that comment, and meant it.
ps: we are not in a snippy or bad mood David 🙂
a bit hard to be, given we just had a great family xmas etc.
btw…. uncles (gay or otherwise) are well advised not to show display “bum then belly bounce” on a trampoline. You should see my elbows — red raw with mat burn they are. The kids loved it, although I apparently made rather a disconcerting “URGHH!!!” noise as my gut hit the mat.
What is worse, I repeated it 5 (five!) times.
I’m sure my body will tell me I did the wrong thing in about a sleep or two (my heart will say otherwise).
The most awful thing… apparently it was all caught on film. One fruity uncle doing a gut-buster several times… and 4 nieces and nephews laughing hysterically.
My family are really quite nasty, come to think of it….
It is unfortunate to see some of the members of the Episcopal Church leave. I am an Orthodox Catholic who attends an Episcopal Church in Long Beach and we hear about the exoduses every Sunday. I agree with the statement of someone who said that those leaving also hate the fact that there is a female bishop. They also hate the notion of female priests and gay priests for that matter. One thing I have learned from going to an Episcopal Church for the past 2 years is that the Episcopal Church is very flexible on many issues, but it is very unyielding on one: Love your neighbor as yourself. Apparantly Reverend John-David Schofield is unable to follow Christ’s commandment to love one another so it is fitting he leave the Episcopal Church.
Side issue: the weight thing … I don’t think it is fair to criticize his weight since most Americans are in some stage of obesity mainly because of poor diet and eating habits.
I want to weigh in on the “weight” issue. I think that comments about his size are irrelevant and tacky.
UNLESS…
Does anyone know if the Right Reverand refers to homosexuality as “an unhealthy lifestyle”? If so, his obesity is fair game.
Apparantly Reverend John-David Schofield is unable to follow Christ’s commandment to love one another so it is fitting he leave the Episcopal Church.
Homosexuality has always been deemed a sin in most religions. That the Rev. Schofield would take his flock to a church that maintains that position should not surprise anyone. It isn’t the Rev who is bringing in something new and radical–it’s the gay element who has soft-peddled their lifestyle so effectively that it is now sold as a virtue. But in the end, it is what it is: a sin. Just like my sins, just like the Rev’s, just like your’s.
AND as long as we know for a fact that his obesity is not caused by underlying issues outside of his direct control. This is why I think it’s best to avoid this entirely. Academically, yes I think we get it, don’t throw stones and all that. But in actual discussion, it really makes one sound rather small and it may backfire if the other person has a serious medical issue contributing to the weight gain.
Better to take the high road in cases such as this.