Episcopal Press and News
Court Deposes Montana Bishop
Episcopal News Service. February 15, 2001 [2001-35]
Jan Nunley
(ENS) The Court for the Trial of a Bishop of the Episcopal Church issued a sentence of deposition for Bishop Charles I. "Ci" Jones III of Montana on February 14. The vote on the sentence was seven to two.
According to the canons of the Episcopal Church, deposition, the heaviest penalty applied to a member of the clergy, would strip Jones of his ordained status entirely.
Contacted by email, Bishop Jones told ENS he plans to appeal and to ask for a modification of the sentence.
The case concerns sexual misconduct with a woman parishioner and employee of the parish in Russellville, Kentucky, where Jones was rector prior to his election as bishop of Montana in 1986. The misconduct took place from 1981-83.
Jones was declared guilty of immorality and conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy in an earlier summary judgment and was judged subject to discipline by the court in a December 8 ruling. The court heard testimony regarding possible sentences on January 30.
In a press release, the court "noted the serious nature of the sexual exploitation and abuse of power and trust that underlie the Offenses Bishop Jones committed. The Court found that Bishop Jones has not demonstrated an understanding of or a genuine repentance for the Offenses committed."
In the release, the Court said it "also found a continuing pattern of abusive and exploitive behavior and a risk of future exploitation. For those reasons, the Court was unpersuaded that the passage of time since Bishop Jones' relationship with the Complainant mitigated the serious circumstances of the Offenses committed."
The court's decision was sent first to the woman bringing the charges, to Jones, to the presiding bishop, and to the standing committee of the Diocese of Montana, as church canons require.
Dissents called for admonition, suspension with conditions
One member of the court, retired bishop Robert Johnson of the Diocese of North Carolina, called instead for a sentence of admonition. Admonition is the lightest possible sentence under the canons, and would have consisted of a "public and formal reprimand" but would not have deprived Jones of his episcopal office.
New Hampshire Bishop Douglas Theuner issued a second dissent calling for Jones to be suspended, but only if he met certain conditions. Theuner argued that Jones has apparently not engaged in sexual misconduct in the 15 years since leaving Russellville, and that deposition places him out of reach of the disciplinary canons of the church.
The conditions proposed in Theuner's dissent would have suspended Jones from ordained ministry for at least five years, with the presiding bishop to determine when Jones could resume his ministry, as long as he resigned as Bishop of Montana within 30 days.
Within 60 days, he would have had to present the presiding bishop with "a plan and letter of intent to pay restitution" to his accuser, including $40,000 for medical and therapeutic expenses and all of her "reasonable costs" associated with the trial. He would also have had to "apologize fully and completely to the Complainant" in person or in writing--her choice--and to arrange for therapy at his own expense. Failure to comply within 60 days would automatically have resulted in Jones' deposition.
The court noted that some members would have agreed with Theuner's dissent, but "felt limited" by Title IV, Canon 12.13, which states that a sentence of suspension does not terminate a bishop's administration of the temporal affairs of a diocese. "Because these Members of the Court agree with the majority of the Court that the Sentence imposed should terminate the Respondent's authority altogether," the judgment said, "these members join in the majority decision to issue a Sentence of Deposition."
Appeal or modification possible
Jones may now file a motion with the court seeking to have the sentence modified. He will also have 30 days in which to appeal the sentence, which will be "stayed" while that appeal is pending. An appeal would be sent to the Court of Review of the Trial of a Bishop, composed of nine bishops, who could uphold the trial court's sentence or could modify it in some way.
The court's members are Bishops James Coleman (West Tennessee); Clifton Daniel III (East Carolina); John Lipscomb (Southwest Florida); Bruce MacPherson (Dallas); Larry Maze (Arkansas); Richard Shimpfky (El Camino Real); Chester Talton (Los Angeles); Franklin Turner (Pennsylvania); and O'Kelley Whitaker (Southern Virginia).
The only other deposition of a bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church was in 1924, when William Montgomery Brown, retired bishop of Arkansas, was deposed for heresy for contending that communism had made the Christian faith outmoded. No previous bishop has ever been deposed for sexual misconduct.