Panel asks Episcopal bishop to resign

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The bishop of the Pennsylvania Diocese of the Episcopal Church has refused to submit his resignation, saying he is trying to determine if it is God's will.

The Standing Committee, a lay and clerical group, voted Wednesday night to ask Bishop Charles Bennison to resign or retire by March 31. Bennison has been under fire for some time because of his financial management.

"I said in my address at the Diocesan Convention last November that if you felt that I were not leading the diocese effectively and asked me to resign, I would pray about it, and, if I felt it were God's will, I would do so," the bishop said in a letter to clergy. "I am seriously praying about the Standing Committee's request, and I ask that you pray for me, for our colleagues throughout the diocese, and above all for the unity and health of our diocese."

In November, the convention rejected both Bennison's proposal that all parishes pay into his proposed budget.

The diocese has 160 congregations in Philadelphia and the surrounding area.