NEW YORK – The Episcopal Bishop of Albany, New York, agreed to resign after a disciplinary panel found that he violated church rules by ordering diocesan clergy not to perform same-sex marriages.
The Rev. William H. “Bill” Love will step down on February 1 after beginning a sabbatical a month earlier, according to a disciplinary agreement announced Saturday by leaders of The Episcopal Church.
“I think staying longer would be more of a detriment to the diocese than a help,” Love said Saturday in an address to the diocese’s annual convention. His last day coincides with the anniversary of his beginning as Bishop of Albany.
Love, a bishop since 2007, issued a pastoral direction two years ago that prohibited diocesan clergy from performing marriage rites for same-sex couples, contradicting the position of the Episcopal Church.
The Episcopal Church began allowing these types of marriages in 2015 and passed a resolution in 2018 that extends same-sex marriage to all dioceses.
In response, the church’s presiding bishop, Michael Curry, restricted Love’s ministry and the church filed internal disciplinary charges against him. Love was charged with violating a church canon that requires ordained people to “abide by the promises and vows made when ordained.”
In June, a virtual hearing was held on the matter due to the coronavirus pandemic. Love agreed to resign last Wednesday in lieu of the church deciding her punishment after a hearing panel concluded her actions violated church canons.
With Love’s resignation, his pastoral direction prohibiting same-sex marriages will no longer be in effect, the Episcopal Church said.
In her speech, Love said she still cares deeply for the diocese and its members and that serving them for the past 14 years “has been one of the greatest privileges and blessings of my life.”
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