PITTSBURGH BISHOP CROSSES JURISDICTIONAL LINES IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY

By David W. Virtue

Rosemont, PA — June 20, 2004

Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan crossed jurisdictional boundaries over the weekend to visit the Dioceses of Pennsylvania and New Jersey—once to perform an ordination, and once to baptize his grandson.

In one case, a local bishop cordially invited him; in the other, the diocesan bishop attempted to block his visit.

Bishop George E. Councell of New Jersey welcomed Bishop Duncan to Christ Church, an Anglo-Catholic parish in Bordentown, NJ, where Duncan ordained the Rev. Simon Barnes to the priesthood. The British-born Barnes marked the occasion with a wry grin, saying it had been “10 years, four months, and six days in the making.”

Barnes began his spiritual journey toward ordination in the Diocese of Massachusetts under the late Bishop David Johnson, who later died by suicide, and then under Bishop Tom Shaw. He completed his clinical pastoral education at NYU’s Tisch Hospital and served a parish placement at St. John’s in Sandwich, Cape Cod.

He fulfilled all requirements set by the Diocese’s Commission on Ministry and received their approval to move forward as a candidate—the final step before ordination. However, the Diocese’s Standing Committee rejected the commission’s recommendation and halted his progress. As one administrator bluntly told him, “After a number of years, you are now dropped from the process.”

Despite appeals led by the rector of Barnes’s home parish, St. Andrew’s in Edgartown, MA, and the rector of St. John’s in Sandwich, the Standing Committee refused to reconsider. At that point, encouraged by orthodox senior clergy and bishops, Barnes entered the American Anglican Council (AAC) process.

He was deemed “too orthodox” on matters of faith and morals. The newly ordained priest rejects same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly homosexual priests. “He is very opinionated… he’s an evangelical—what do you expect?” said his parish priest at the time. Traditional liberals, horrified by his views, opposed his candidacy. By then, the process had stretched into its fifth year.

While serving as Executive Director for FOCUS and attending a January term at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry (TESM), Barnes sought help from Canon Mary Hayes, Canon to the Ordinary in Pittsburgh, and began the AAC ordination track.

He later moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania, becoming Senior Vice President of Geneva Global, a foundation funding international development. He and his wife joined the Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA—the largest parish in the Diocese of Pennsylvania—where Rector David Moyer agreed to sponsor him for the diaconate.

Barnes was eventually ordained a deacon in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and completed his diaconal service under Fr. Moyer’s supervision through the AAC program in partnership with Pittsburgh.

When it came time for his priestly ordination six months later, Bishop Duncan wrote to Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison, requesting permission to ordain Barnes either in a parish or even in a tent on church property. Fr. Moyer offered his church in Rosemont. Bennison refused.

Duncan then turned to New Jersey Bishop George Councell, who granted permission to use Christ Church in Bordentown—a parish near Philadelphia where Duncan himself was baptized, confirmed, married, and ordained.

“I told Bishop Councell this was not a political act,” Duncan told Virtuosity. “I was simply seeking to ordain a godly man to the priesthood.” Councell agreed.

The Anglo-Catholic rector of Christ Church, Rev. Richard A.D. Benedict, noted that while he disagrees with his bishop on many issues, Councell has treated him with respect and affirmed his place in the diocese.

At the ordination service, Duncan publicly thanked Bishop Councell for his hospitality.

On Sunday, Bishop Duncan baptized his grandson, Patrick Robert Jakubik, at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. Bishop Bennison consented to Duncan’s participation in the baptism. Duncan did not preside at the Mass but sat with his family. Fr. David Moyer preached and celebrated, and Duncan received communion from him.

In a post-service interview, Duncan said he and his delegation were well received at Kanuga, where the Lambeth Commission was meeting. “We were treated with great respect,” he said, “and our views on the current state of the Episcopal Church were clearly heard and recorded.”

Duncan also delivered greetings from the Anglican Communion Network to the Anglo-Catholic congregation.