Source: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, and Episcopal Life
The bishop whose Fresno-based diocese voted in December to leave the Episcopal Church was formally banned Friday from carrying out any ecclesiastical duties for the church, officials said.

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori took the interim step after a review committee found that Bishop John-David Schofield had abandoned the communion of the church by leading his diocese to the recent secession vote, said the Rev. Charles Robertson, the presiding bishop's canon.

On Dec. 8, the Diocese of San Joaquin, with 47 parishes, became the first in the nation to secede from the Episcopal Church in a long-running dispute over homosexuality and biblical authority.

At the same diocesan convention, delegates also voted to place the diocese under the authority of a conservative Anglican archbishop in South America.

Schofield cannot give sermons, do confirmations, or perform any religious rites until the national denomination's leaders meet to determine a final judgment by March 13, the Reverend Canon Charles Robertson, canon to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, said Friday.

''He was aware of the consequences of his action, warned repeatedly, and there comes a time when it is important for the church to hold its own leadership accountable,'' Robertson said.

''This allows him time to recant and to steer off this course,'' he said.

Robertson said Friday's action, known as "inhibition," meant that Schofield was prohibited from performing any religious duties at least until early March, when the church's bishops are expected to render a final judgment in his case.

The bishop gave no signs of changing direction in a statement issued late Friday by the diocese.

''It is the primary duty of bishops to guard the faith, and Bishop Schofield has been continually discriminated against for having done so,'' the statement read. ''How is it that over 60 million Anglicans worldwide can be wrong and a few hundred thousand in the American Church can claim to be right?''

Despite the secession vote, the national church considers the diocese and its property to still be a part of the U.S. denomination, a claim Fresno leaders reject.

Members of the church that remain loyal to the Episcopal denomination have scheduled a January 26 meeting to focus on "reconciliation, inclusion, and celebration" according to event organizers.

"We are just so encouraged; we're looking forward to welcoming more people," said Cindy Smith, president of Remain Episcopal, a group which opposed the December vote to realign the Central California Valley diocese with the Argentina-based Province of the Southern Cone.

Organizers claim that momentum and enthusiasm have spiked as additional people and some congregations "have thought about what has happened, what it means to not be part of the Episcopal Church anymore" and sought out continuing communities of faith, said Smith.

"If they choose to come back our arms are open," she added. "Some of our concern is they wonder that if they're more conservative, if there'll be a place for them. By all means, they do have a place. It is the goal of Remain Episcopal (RE) that the continuing diocese will be one with an inclusive focus, as the national church has."

Full article: Fresno bishop barred from carrying out religious duties for ... | Los Angeles Times
 Episcopal Church Disciplines California Bishop for Secession Actions  | News | Advocate.com
San Joaquin's remaining Episcopalians to gather for reconciliation ... | Episcopal News Service