OKLAHOMA: Retired Bishop May Face Trial For Crossing Diocesan Boundaries

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
3/22/2007

An 86-year old retired orthodox Bishop of The Episcopal Church could face a trial for violating the Constitutions and Canons of the TEC for ministering in a geographic area without permission of the local diocesan bishop.

Bishop William J. Cox has served as Bishop Suffragan of Maryland (1972 to 1980), Assistant Bishop of Oklahoma, (1980-1988). He also served as assistant bishop to Bishop Ben Benitez (Texas) and later with Bishop Claude E. Payne when he became diocesan bishop. He also served as a parish priest at St. Matthew's in Austin, Texas.

Two revisionist bishops, Dean Wolfe of Kansas and Robert Moody of Oklahoma, who felt threatened by the bishops actions, sent presentment charges in the summer of 2005 to the then Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold with documents alleging Cox had committed canonical violations. He ordained two priests who were part of an Episcopal congregation, Christ Church, in the Diocese of Kansas which left the diocese and ECUSA after agreeing to pay the bishop and diocese $1 million over the next ten years as part of a separation agreement.

The charges against Bishop Cox were forwarded to the Title IV Review Committee, for disciplinary action. Now, two years later, having completed its investigation, the committee has determined that there were sufficient grounds to go to trial.

"It's amazing," observed Anglo-Catholic editor Auburn Traycik, "that Bishop Griswold has time to ask for an investigation of the Cox case, but has no time, evidently, to move forward the presentment filed against Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith, filed A YEAR AGO. Griswold is in blatant violation of the canons on that case, on which there should have been initial action last fall."

"I have not been notified, I have not received a presentment, but I gather from friends that the HOB meeting in Camp Allen, Texas has said I will face an ecclesiastical trial court because I confirmed and ordained two faithful priests in 2005," Bishop Cox told VOL by phone.

The bishop mused that it was ironic that the Episcopal Church never saw fit to bring to trial Newark Bishop John Spong for his heresies, "but they want to go after an old bishop who wants only to remain faithful to the faith once delivered."

Asked where they would hold his trial, Bishop Cox said he didn't know. "I haven't been notified but I am sure it has happened. The Pony Express has not arrived."

Asked why it has taken several years for this to come to a head, Cox replied, "the process does move slowly. My attorney said it could take several months."

Cox is not denying the charges. "We admitted that I had confirmed and ordained two priests and a deacon at Christ Church in Overland Park, Kansas in June 2005, after I was asked too by the Primate of Uganda, the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi. I returned a month later and led a service of confirmation at Christ Church."

"There is no point in arguing whether I did it intentionally, I did. This was not a matter of geographical boundaries but a matter of jurisdiction. The Archbishops of Uganda and the Southern Cone (Most Rev. Gregory Venables) both had jurisdiction over the congregations I visited."

"Doesn't it seem strange to you to be bound up in court legalisms for people outside the Episcopal pale. It has become uncharitable...we are supposed to be Christians. If I wanted to minister at a Methodist church why should I have to go to the bishop and ask his/her permission. They never came after Spong for his heresies. The truth is this is not a a question of the violation of the faith but a question of geographic jurisdictions and pure legalism. It is about process not the faith."

"I am 86, and they are trying to hound me into the grave, but I am going to outlive them," he said with a chuckle.

"If I am found guilty they can't put me in jail, they can't strip me of my bishopric; orders are for life. All they can do is prohibit me from ministering in The Episcopal Church. The real and deeper question is, who is going to be left to minister to faithful orthodox believing Episcopalians in the coming months and years?"

The bishop said that retired bishops can no longer minister to people without the permission of the sitting diocesan bishop. "That is too much. The House of Bishops needs to look at that. We should be able to minister to the needs of orthodox folk with the authority of the Primates."

He lives with his wife, Betty, in Tulsa. She is 85.

Bishop Cox can be reached at: bpcox@aol.com

END