The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee



The Rt. Rev. John C. Bauerschmidt: Statement on Resignation of The Rev. F.J. Richardson and The Rev. William Midgett

On Monday, January 7th, I received letters of resignation from the Rev’d Frederick Richardson, Jr as Vicar of Holy Cross Church, Murfreesboro, and from the Rev’d William Midgett, as Rector of Trinity Church, Winchester. At this same time I received letters of resignation from the Wardens and various members of the Mission Council of Holy Cross Church and of Trinity Church. Frs Richardson and Midgett have also resigned from other positions that they held in the Diocese of Tennessee.

These actions were taken without any prior consultation with me. I was not offered an opportunity to confer with parish leadership at either Holy Cross or Trinity Church about these weighty matters.

Both Frs Richardson and Midgett have announced their affiliation with (different) foreign Anglican jurisdictions. The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his Advent Letter to the Primates of the Anglican Communion, has recently reminded us that the intervention of foreign jurisdictions in dioceses of the Episcopal Church has not been sanctioned by the Communion as a whole; in fact, making provision for this interference has been strongly discouraged. “It creates a seriously anomalous position. It does not appeal to a clear or universal principle by which it may be decided that a local church’s ministry is completely defective. On the ground, it creates rivalry and confusion.” (Rowan Williams, “Advent Letter, 2007”). The Anglican Communion expresses a common mind through the Instruments of Unity, among them the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Meeting of the Primates, and none of these Instruments have called upon members of the Diocese of Tennessee to disaffiliate from it and to transfer their allegiance. The Archbishop reminds us that the bishops ordained as affiliates with these different foreign jurisdictions have not been legitimized by the Communion as a whole.

The Diocese of Tennessee has on several occasions committed itself to the recommendations of the Windsor Report. At its most recent Convention, in 2007, clergy and delegates resolved that “the findings and recommendations of the Windsor Report represent the best way forward for the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Communion”. In addition, the Diocese remains committed to being a “full and active part of the Anglican Communion, in unity with the See of Canterbury, and the Episcopal Church USA; forgoing our own local desires for the sake of the greater Anglican Communion; and a conciliar approach to decision-making in the life of the Church and the Anglican Communion by working with and heeding the collective wishes of the Communion before making unilateral decisions”. As Bishop of Tennessee, I am committed to the Camp Allen principles of compliance with the recommendations of the Windsor Report that the Archbishop identifies in his “Letter” as making obvious “that such dioceses and bishops cannot be regarded as deficient in recognizable faithfulness to the common deposit and the common language and practice of the Communion”. I reaffirm these commitments in regard to the Windsor Report that I have made on a number of occasions before.

I hope members of the Diocese of Tennessee, including members of Holy Cross Church and Trinity Church, will take heart by recalling these affirmations. The Diocese of Tennessee is committed to the common life of the Church, and to the common faith of the Church.

We will insure that pastoral care continues at both churches. Services will continue next Sunday, January 13th, at both parishes: 10am at Holy Cross Church, Murfreesboro, and at 8 &10:30am at Trinity Church, Winchester. All are welcome. God will raise up new leadership in these churches, and in the Diocese of Tennessee, for the future.

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