A Registered Charity: SC037428
For immediate release
6 December 2011
It has come to the attention of this church that Archbishop Jonathan Blake of the Open Episcopal Church in England, speaking on behalf of and with the authority of his Archbishop's Council, has announced that he has elected a new bishop for the Diocese of Scotland
Legal title to the names of The Open Episcopal Church Diocese of Scotland and The Open Episcopal Church in Scotland belong to this church and charity, an organisation that is distinct from and independent of Archbishop Blake's church. We have been registered under these names since August 2006, as can be seen when inspecting the charity register at the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. We would remind Archbishop Blake and his "bishop-elect" that it is a criminal offence in Scotland to impersonate a charity
Consequently we must vigorously refute the public statement by Archbishop Blake that Ms Helen Hamilton, a former cleric of this church, is bishop-elect of The Open Episcopal Church Diocese of Scotland or of The Open Episcopal Church in Scotland
Further information can be obtained by contacting our press office at: press.office@openepiscopalchurch.org.uk
End
The Open Episcopal Church in Scotland is a small, independent, Old Catholic jurisdiction in membership with the International Council of Community Churches. It has two clergy, two ordinands, three congregations and around 2,000 individuals across numerous chaplaincies who consider it to be their church. It is run on synodical lines and managed day to day by a Board of Trustees
For immediate release
7 December 2011
It has come to our attention that Archbishop Jonathan Clive Blake of The Open Episcopal Church in England is issuing press releases and emailing numerous individuals and organisations with whom we are associated claiming to have authority over The Open Episcopal Church in Scotland and further claiming he has disciplined and/or removed licences from members of our senior clergy. He also maliciously claims that he has received numerous complaints over many years in respect of our Scottish Bishop without substantiating what those complaints are and concludes by saying that our bishop has a mental health problem. It is the defamatory and vindictive nature of Mr Blake's attacks specifically on our bishop personally and on our church in general that has necessitated this response which is made on the advisement of Lothian & Borders Police
The Open Episcopal Church in Scotland, also known and registered as The Open Episcopal Church Diocese of Scotland, is an entirely separate and independent organisation to Mr Blake's church. Our status can be confirmed by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) where we have been registered as a Scottish charity since August 2006. OSCR can also confirm that we have our own founding and governing documents along with our own management structure. Mr Blake has never, either legally, constitutionally, or canonically, been a part of that management structure and has no authority to either speak for our organisation, handle complaints, or remove licences from anyone here in Scotland
Mr Blake is archbishop and spokesman for a group of bishops who came together in a communion arrangement several years ago and which is known as the Communion of the Open Episcopal Church. Whilst our church in Scotland voted to join that communion it was an umbrella organisation constituted similarly to other Catholic or Episcopal church communions, never having any administrative function or other authority within the management structure here in Scotland. In recent years Mr Blake has sought to use his honorary title to manipulate our Trustees into acting outside of the laws of Scotland, a legal system he appears not to understand or appreciate
Matters came to a head some months ago when Mr Blake forcibly usurped the role of our Trustees and encouraged a cleric in Luing, Argyll & Bute, to advertise a Retreat Centre and to take bookings prior to having ensured all Scottish statutory requirements had been met and about whom we were notified the local Planning Department intended to issue an enforcement notice. In supporting this Retreat Centre Mr Blake attempted to lock our Trustees out of their own website and falsified web pages inappropriately, publishing alongside his endorsement of this centre our registered charity details as his "authority" to state that our organisation was supporting this illicit centre. That put our Trustees into direct conflict with Mr Blake as it is they, not Mr Blake, who are the responsible management authority in Scotland
At the height of the argument with our Trustees Mr Blake suddenly and without warning announced that he had received "numerous complaints" over "many years" about our bishop. He demanded that our bishop immediately wind up the Scottish organisation and stand aside. As an independent organisation with its own statutes that is something our bishop could not legitimately do. Mr Blake was asked to provide details of these "complaints" so that they could be considered under our official complaints procedure but Mr Blake declined to provide any substance whatsoever to support his claims
At this point our Trustees decided to take the matter to the full church in Council. The Council voted not only that they had no wish to wind up but that they had no wish to have any further association with Mr Blake. He was removed as honorary archbishop and it was officially recorded that our organisation had voted unanimously to withdraw from his communion. Whilst it was hoped that would be the end of the matter and that we would be able to continue our valuable charity work here in Scotland it was, sadly, not to be the case
Within a matter of weeks Mr Blake started to publish what can only be described as lies about our bishop, especially in relation to the incident at Luing, where he now appears to imply that the minuted decision of our Trustees was a personal attack by our bishop on a vulnerable adult! As well as direct lies about disciplinary action against our bishop, which Mr Blake did not take and which he was not in a position of authority to take, he is providing misinformation about our Scottish church. He is clearly so obsessed about the matter that he is now further implying that he has "elected" a new bishop for us. He has not and can not do any such thing. He further states publicly that our bishop and chief executive is acting on his own authority when he is acting on the authority of this charity and has the full backing of our Trustees and the entire church membership in Scotland
Our assessment of the current situation is really rather simple. Over the years our Scottish church has concentrated on attracting real people in real congregations and has developed along the lines of a traditional Christian church. Mr Blake's church, on the other hand, has developed along the lines of a collection of itinerant ministers who provide occasional offices and his claim to have 20,000 members raises more questions than it provides answers. It is clear that in demanding our own organisation wind up and stand aside for him Mr Blake cares nothing for the real people in this situation who are distressed at his treatment of their bishop and themselves
For anyone who has a legitimate interest in getting to the truth in this matter our Trustees have agreed to open their archives for scrutiny. All documents, including correspondence from Mr Blake and relevant minutes of Trustee and Council meetings, are available for inspection by accredited members of the media
Further information can be obtained by contacting our press office at: press.office@openepiscopalchurch.org.uk
End
The Open Episcopal Church in Scotland is a small, independent, Old Catholic jurisdiction in membership with the International Council of Community Churches. It has two clergy, two ordinands, three congregations and around 2,000 individuals across numerous chaplaincies who consider it to be their church. It is run on synodical lines and managed day to day by a Board of Trustees