Fr Webb, can you confirm that Bishop Williams is no longer a suffragan in DONE, or clarify any other reason his name no longer appears on the diocesan roster?This is a perfectly reasonable request. The canon to the ordinary of a given diocese is the person who normally responds to any such request, and in my research on figures like Louis Falk and John Vaughan, I have typically received prompt and courteous replies from Episcopal canons to the ordinary regarding the status of those individuals. I've received equivalent replies from Roman Catholic authorities regarding the status of Terrance "Brother Christian" Tutor.Many thanks for any help you may be able to provide.
No reply as yet from Hendy. I might have added a query as to who is the episcopal visitor to the Diocese of the West if Williams is no longer the visitor, but since Hendy is only the canon to the ordinary of DONE, he probably wouldn't know, and he won't answer anyhow.
Let's see what we have. I assume Owen Williams continues as "Pastor" at the Bush St Mary's, although he is presumably no longer Pastor-Bishop, Bishop in Residence, or whatever else they called him. I would expect that for propriety's sake, the Bush parish would remove the photo of Williams in his purple shirt from the clergy page and remove the reference to Williams as episcopal visitor to DOW and suffragan at DONE. I suspect this will happen only when the elected vestry regains control of the property.
However, stripped of his episcopal titles, Williams is, strictly speaking, only a curate, since Frederick Rivers continues as putative rector. The important thing for the ACA, I would guess, is that Williams will continue to draw a salary, though this won't be for much longer, at which point the elected vestry will have a fiduciary responsibility to claw it back. If I were Williams, I'd be planning to leave the state. If I were Rivers, I'd stay in Arizona. If I were Marsh, I'd stay in Belchertown.
If I were Hendy, I'd be ashamed of myself.
