What's a Principle Between Bishops?

The Rt. Rev. John C. Bauerschmidt, Bishop of Tennessee, walks a fine line. He is a co-plaintiff, with his Diocese, in a lawsuit he brought against St. Andrew’s parish in Nashville, which in 2006 voted to leave the Diocese of Tennessee and join the Diocese of Quincy. And in that capacity, he recently received a favorable decision from the Court of Appeals, holding that because ECUSA is “hierarchical” at all three levels, the General Convention’s Dennis Canon, enacted in 1979, overrode the parish’s attempt a year before, in 1978, to remove from its Articles all references to the national Church and its canons. Read more

Bishop John Bauerschmidt is a member of the Communion Partners and sits on its Bishops Advisory Board. The Communion Partners issued the 2009 Bishops' Statement suggesting, among other things, that The Episcopal Church is a voluntary association of equal dioceses.