A conciliation meeting concerning complaints involving the Episcopal Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy will be held on January 8 and 9 in Richmond, VA (Canon IV.10).

The proceedings are private and the content will be confidential.

The meeting concerns complaints from the Diocese of Quincy Standing Committee against Bishops Peter Beckwith (Springfield), Bruce MacPherson (Western Louisiana) and Edward Salmon (South Carolina), and from the Diocese of Fort Worth Standing Committee and an individual complainant against Bishops Maurice Benitez (Dallas), John Howe (Central Florida), Paul Lambert (Dallas), William Love (Albany), Daniel Martins (Springfield), Edward Salmon (South Carolina), and James Stanton (Dallas).

John G. Douglass will serve as Conciliator for the meeting. He is a law professor and former dean of the T.C Williams Law School of the University of Richmond.

According to Canon IV.10, conciliation is not a trial but a form of mediation.

Participants will be one person from each of the Standing Committees of the Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy; the individual complainant; four representatives of the respondent bishops; three bishops appointed by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori; advisors to the complainants and respondents; and legal advisors.

Appointed by the Presiding Bishop to represent the House of Bishops are Bishops Mary Gray-Reeves of El Camino Real, Edward Little of Northern Indiana, and Michael Milliken of Western Kansas. (Canon IV.10.Sec 2).

No date has been established for the release of any information following the meeting.

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