THE Bishop of Albany, in the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Rt Revd William Love, announced at the weekend that he would be resigning from his position — a move, he said, that was “very difficult, but necessary”.

In an address to his diocesan convention, Bishop Love said that he could not accept the outcome of a disciplinary hearing that was scheduled for the following Monday (News, 9 October).

“After much thought and prayer, recognising that whatever disciplinary action would be offered would not be anything I could in good conscience agree to, I have made the very difficult, but necessary decision to resign as Bishop of Albany, effective 1 February 2021: the 14th anniversary of my becoming the Bishop Diocesan. Given all that has happened, and that which was still to come, I believe that to stay any longer would be more of a detriment to the diocese than a help,” he said.

Restrictions were placed on Bishop Love’s ministry after he banned clergy in his diocese from using the marriage rites for same-sex couples which were approved in the 2018 General Convention. A panel hearing on 2 October ruled that his actions had been a violation of his ordination vows to conform to the worship and discipline of the church.

His resignation was agreed with the Presiding Bishop, the Most Revd Michael Curry, and comes instead of further disciplinary action.