Charles Ellsworth Bennison Jr. (born November 30, 1943) is an American bishop. He was the 15th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.
Education and family
Bennison was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 30, 1943, and was baptized at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Hastings, Minnesota, on December 24, 1943. His father, Charles E. Bennison Sr., was also a priest who went on to become the Bishop of Western Michigan.
Bennison received a B.A. degree summa cum laude from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1965. In 1965–66, he studied at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, and then attended Harvard Divinity School, where he received a B.D. degree in 1968 and a Th.M. degree in 1970. He earned his M.A. degree from the Claremont Graduate School in 1977, and a S.T.M. degree from Union Theological Seminary in 1992. He was honored with a Doctor of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1997.
Bennison married Joan Kathryn Reahard; they have two daughters, Sarah and Kathryn.
Ministerial and academic career
Ordained a deacon in 1968 and a priest in 1969, Bennison began his full-time ministry in 1971 as rector of St. Mark's Church in Upland, California, where he was founder of St. Mark's Episcopal School, St. Mark's Homeless Shelter, and new congregations in Rancho Cucamonga and Chino, California.
In the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, he chaired the Program Group on Social Relations and the Standing Committee, served as president of the Corporation of the Diocese, taught at the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont Graduate School, and was a frequent reader of the General Ordination Examinations. He served as a member of Venture in Mission Board, the Los Angeles Jewish-Christian-Muslim Trialogue, the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission, and numerous other bodies. In 1987, he was recognized by the Pomona Valley Council of Churches for outstanding leadership in ecumenical affairs. That year he was also among the nominees considered to replace Robert Rusack as bishop of the diocese, a position that ultimately went to Frederick Borsch."Upland Rector Joins List of Episcopal Bishop Nominees". Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1987, p. 7.
From 1988 to 1991, he was rector of St. Luke's Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he substantially raised stewardship giving, broadened the participation of laity in the governance of the parish, and initiated a process leading to the acquisition of significant real estate holdings.
Bennison has been a fellow of the College of Preachers and a Masland fellow at Union Theological Seminary. In 1992, he was elected to the faculty of Episcopal Divinity School, where he served as associate professor of Pastoral theology and founded the program in Congregational Studies.
Bishop of Pennsylvania
Bennison was elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania at a special convention held on October 19, 1996, at the Cathedral Church of the Savior in Philadelphia and was consecrated as a bishop on February 27, 1997 at the Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Philadelphia. He was made the diocesan bishop on May 16, 1998.
Controversies Bennison's tenure as Bishop of Pennsylvania was marked by controversies. Early in his episcopacy, Bennison became an important figure in the ongoing tension between liberal and conservative factions in the Episcopal Church. Theological disagreements with conservative Anglo-Catholic parishes led to extended legal battles over control of church property. In the latter years of his episcopacy, Bennison faced opposition from liberals and conservatives alike regarding diocesan finances and the purchase of a multimillion-dollar 434 acre waterfront site on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland that was developed as "Wapiti", a summer camp for youth and a diocesan conference center.
Disputes with traditionalist Anglo-Catholic parishes
In 1994–1995, seven Anglo-Catholic priestsFr. Vernon Austin, St John's, Norristown; Fr. Robert Haskell, Redemption, Southampton; Fr. Harry Krauss, All Saints', Wynnewood; Fr. Philip Lyman, St. John, Huntingdon Valley; Fr. David Moyer, Good Shepherd, Rosemont; Fr. David Ousley, St. James the Less, Philadelphia; Fr. Larry Snyder, St. Luke, Newtown. These parishes are sometimes referred to as the "seven sisters." They were later joined by Fr. Warren Shaw, St Paul, Chester. These eight parishes were associated with the Episcopal Synod of America, the predecessor of Forward in Faith North America. opposed to the ordination of women made an agreement with the 14th bishop of Pennsylvania, Allen Bartlett, known as the "Parsons Plan."Virtue, David. "The Parsons' Plan Revisited." Virtue Online, November 1, 2006. Under the terms of this plan, Donald Parsons, the retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy, would make episcopal visitations to several traditionalist parishes until the next General Convention. This arrangement was similar to the role of a provincial episcopal visitor in the Church of England.
In 1997, the General Convention adopted a resolution stating that "no member of this Church shall be denied a place in the life and governance of this Church on account of their sex or their theological views on the ordination of women,"Resolution Number 1997-A053. Acts of Convention, 1976-2003. Archives of the Episcopal Church. after which Bishop Bartlett decided not to renew the Parsons Plan. He retired later that year. Despite differences in churchmanship, traditionalist leaders in the diocese supported Charles Bennison's election under the impression that he would continue the provisions of the Parsons Plan.Virtue, David. "Broken Promises. " Virtuosity, March 11, 2002. These leaders assert that they cast their votes for him after he gave them solemn assurance that he would continue the "Parsons Plan." After his installation as Bishop, he announced that he had "changed his mind" and would no longer consider the Parsons Plan. When Bennison elected not to reinstitute the arrangement, several crises arose in the diocese, compounded by theological differences between Bennison and several conservative parishes.
Theological disagreements
Disagreements between traditionalist priests and Bishop Bennison centered on Bennison's writings on homosexuality and Christology. Bennison was a signatory to the "Koinonia Statement", a 1994 letter authored by John Shelby Spong, retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. The statement affirmed the 1976 ordination of women and said that gay or lesbian relationships "that are faithful, monogamous, committed, life giving and holy are to be honored" and promised "support and protection" for gay and lesbian clergy.Spong, John Shelby. “A Statement in Koinonia.” August 25, 1994. In 1997, while still coadjutor, Bennison published an article arguing that, "Because the legitimized paradigm institutionalized in the church's present marriage liturgy is a heterosexist one directed against gay men and lesbian women, a change in the rite is required to delegitimize that paradigm." He proposed 24 changes to the sacrament of marriage, some based on a "Visigothic rite," and wrote,
"In their relationships and families, lesbian and gay couples, in fact, often display a more enviable and ideal model of the church than do heterosexual couples. ... Anyone who has seen The Birdcage, Mike Nichols's rendition of the gay comedy classic "La Cage Aux Folles" with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane playing a gay couple ... knows that it looks like a mini-church. Throughout history gay and lesbian couples have established in their committed relationships such minichurches, and, if such is the nature of marriage, then the church ought to open to gay and lesbian couples the sacrament of marriage."
Bennison's statements on salvation and the doctrine of the Resurrection have been cited as a source of controversy.Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. "Deposed Philadelphia Priest celebrated Mass at Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh." Anglican Communion News Service, September 10, 2002. In a 2003 Easter Message, Bennison also wrote that Jesus "acknowledges his own sin. He knows himself to be forgiven."Bennison, Charles E. "The Challenge of Easter" The Pennsylvania Episcopalian, Vol. 14, No. 4, April 2003. Many Christians interpreted this remark to be a denial of the sinlessness of Jesus.Olsen, Ted. "Jesus' Sins?" Christianity Today, June 1, 2003.
Dispute with the Church of St. James the Less, Philadelphia The Church of St. James the Less had, for many years, withheld its payments to the diocese in protest about the ordination of women. Bennison's decision to not renew the license of Fr. Willis, an assistant priest of St. James, further strained diocesan relations with the parish.In re: Church of St. James the Less. 953 N.P. 2001. Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Orphans Court Division. March 10, 2003. p. 14.
In 1999, the vestry of St. James the Less voted to transfer the property and assets of the parish to a nonprofit corporation called the "CSJL Foundation," in order to disassociate from the diocese and the Episcopal Church.In re: Church of St James the Less. 953 N.P. 2001. Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Orphans Court Division. March 10, 2003. pp. 13–16. In response to St James' attempt to secede from the diocese, Bishop Bennison declared the parish "inactive or extinct" and initiated litigation to seize its property. In 2003, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas ruled that the attempted merger of St. James the Less with the CSJL Foundation was ultra vires and invalid, that the vestry was "ineligible to continue in their offices," and that the diocese could appoint or elect a new vestry.In re: Church of St. James the Less. 953 N.P. 2001. Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Orphans Court Division. March 10, 2003. p. 43. St. James lost two subsequent appeals, first to Commonwealth Court and then to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.Appeal of the Church of St. James the Less . 47 E.D. Appeal Docket 2004. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District. December 29, 2005. Pursuant to the Supreme Court's decision, the diocese assumed control of the St. James property, and the congregation left to form an independent church."East Falls Church Forced from Property. " The Fallser, February 2006.
Dispute with the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont
Fr. David Moyer, Rector (1989–2011) of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, was alleged to have refused to allow Bennison to make canonically-required episcopal visitations to Good Shepherd, saying the bishop "was too liberal and could not be trusted in the pulpit."Donovan, Gill. "Anglican leader offers job to ousted U.S. priest". National Catholic Reporter, September 20, 2002, Vol. 38, Iss. 40, p. 17. The charge, however, was disputed by Moyer and by the Vestry of the Church of the Good Shepherd, who insisted that they only advised Bishop Bennison that a visit would not be helpful. Bennison was specifically invited to visit with the Vestry and to inspect the books and records of the Parish, which would have fulfilled his canonical responsibility. Moyer was publicly critical of Bennison's public statements regarding the veracity of the Bible and sexual teachings, denouncing Bennison's teachings as "apostate and heretical"Nunley, Jan. "Deposed Philadelphia priest to join Pittsburgh diocese ". Episcopal News Service, September 5, 2002.