Bishop Duncan Formally Responds to Presiding Bishop

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7930

[Virtue Online] 17 Mar 2008--Bishop Robert Duncan responded on March 14 to allegations that he had "abandoned the communion of this church." Bishop Robert Duncan responded on March 14 to allegations that he had "abandoned the communion of this church."

The allegations, made by a small group of priests and laity of the diocese and supported by the chancellor to the Presiding Bishop, were forwarded to Bishop Duncan on January 15 along with a cover letter from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

The Presiding Bishop's letter stated that the Title IV Review Committee had "certified" the allegation, and that despite the failure of The Episcopal Church's three senior bishops to agree to inhibit Bishop Duncan, she intended to forward the matter to the House of Bishops.

In his response, Bishop Duncan rejected the claim that he had abandoned communion. "I state that I consider myself 'fully subject to the doctrine, discipline and worship of this Church,'" he wrote. He went on to say. "I have striven to follow the Lord Jesus with all my heart and mind and soul and strength, all the while relying on God's grace to accomplish what my sinfulness and brokenness otherwise prevent."