Two bishops have been directed to participate in separate mediated processes with their complainants in an attempt to resolve disciplinary charges against the bishops.
The process, known as conciliation, was disclosed on the Episcopal Church web page established in February to provide greater transparency in Title IV disciplinary complaints against bishops.
The two bishops are:
- Bishop of Massachusetts Alan Gates, who removed a female priest’s clerical collar while standing at the altar during an Easter Vigil service. He subsequently apologized in writing.
- Bishop of Easton Santosh Marray, who faces complaints of inappropriate public statements and behavior, and misrepresentation, reportedly stemming in part from remarks at the 2023 diocesan convention. The Diocese of Easton is in eastern Maryland.
The revelations come weeks before the 2024 General Convention, where Title IV will be a major issue. A legislative committee has been holding hearings on more than two dozen resolutions seeking changes to the labyrinthian Title IV process, which is widely considered to be broken.
Conciliation, according to the church’s massive Title IV website, is intended “to seek a resolution between the Complainant and Respondent which promotes healing, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, justice, amendment of life, and reconciliation among the Complainant, Respondent, the affected community, and the Church.”
An independent conciliator oversees the process. If conciliation efforts are unsuccessful, the complaints would be referred to a conference panel, which is one step closer to an ecclesiastical trial.
Gates, in what he later described as “misguided mischief,” snatched the clerical collar from the neck of the Rev. Tamra Tucker, who leads an LGBTQ-affirming congregation known as The Crossing. The incident, as captured on video, occurred after Tucker momentarily struggled to recall the liturgical rubrics for the Eucharist. When she joked about having just returned from sabbatical, Gates grabbed the collar and set it on the altar. He then promptly returned it, said “just kidding,” and hugged Tucker.
“It was a devastating and demeaning act, which I regret with all my heart,” Gates said in a statement posted on the diocesan website. “The Rev. Tamra Tucker is a valued colleague and fine priest whose leadership it has been my honor to affirm. It was not and would never be my intent to humiliate Rev. Tamra; however, that was precisely the impact of my action.”
There were multiple complaints against Marray. According to a source with knowledge of the matter, one was triggered by two incidents at the March 4, 2023, convention, which were captured on video on Facebook.
At about 1:13:05 of the seven-hour video, Marray is introducing newly ordained female clergy and says, “How about you two beautiful ladies come forward? We need to showcase how beautiful our people are.” He then invited forward other ordinands and candidates for Holy Orders, making similar comments about some of the women among them.
In a more hostile passage beginning about 6:30:40, Marray spent two minutes chastising four people who had voted against changes to the diocesan constitution earlier in the meeting. He demanded that they send him an email with a request to change their vote, or he would print their names in red when publishing an account of the vote.
“So I’m asking you, the four of you. You have a time to change your vote, because it’s all done. You lost,” he said. “Change your vote or send your name. No, this is serious. You have a right to do what you want. But, but: own up to it.”
Several high-profile cases against bishops in 2023 drew complaints that bishops may be getting “a free pass on behavioral issues.” The complaints led Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry to announce new protocols for Title IV complaints against bishops, notably a website section for tracking such complaints.
As a result, the church now discloses information about bishops that it would not disclose about other members of the clergy — such as the two conciliation orders. Title IV is designed to be a confidential process unless it progresses to the need for an ecclesiastical trial, which becomes a matter of public record.
