The Episcopal Church and the family of a bishop suspended over credible abuse allegations have agreed to a resolution over concerns that the family had about the disciplinary process.
Bishop Prince Singh of the Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan was recently disciplined amid allegations of abuse toward his family and claims of a “volatile temper” and “vindictiveness” at the Diocese of Rochester. The bishop’s ex-wife and sons had taken issue with the process.
Presiding Bishop Scott Rowe issued a joint statement last Friday along with Singh’s ex-wife and two adult sons announcing that they had “reached a resolution to the concerns of the Singh family about the handling of the Title IV processes in which the family has recently been involved.”
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
“While the terms of our agreement are confidential, we want you to know that we have reached it with a deep mutual commitment to the goals of the Title IV canons, which include healing, restitution, and reconciliation,” explained the joint statement.
“We share the hope that this resolution will inspire our church to practice those values more fully. By virtue of our baptism, Episcopalians are called to be accountable to one another, and we pray that our reconciliation will be a witness to the church about the importance of that shared call.”
Singh served as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester from 2008 to 2022, then was elected bishop provisional of the Eastern and Western Michigan dioceses in October 2021.
In April 2022, Singh and his wife divorced, with her and their sons later communicating with then-Presiding Bishop Michael Curry about the alleged abuse they had endured from Singh.
The Singh family went public with the allegations in June 2023. An official Title IV investigation was launched, with Singh being restricted from ministry work in September 2023.
Singh’s family filed a complaint in December 2023 against Curry and Bishop Todd Ousley, the latter of whom was involved in the disciplinary process, accusing the bishops of failing to properly follow the Title IV disciplinary canons.
Last December, Rowe issued a statement announcing that he had reached “an accord” with Singh over the allegations. As a part of the agreement, Singh will be “suspended from ministry for at least three more years” and will undergo a “psychiatric and psychological assessment” and take part in “psychological work, education, and training” on the issues of anger management, domestic abuse, and “proper exercise of authority.”
Singh is also expected to reconcile with the people he has been accused of wronging and address any “reputational harm suffered by people in the Diocese of Rochester.”
“I will require Bishop Singh to participate in reconciliation work addressing his relationships with his ex-wife and sons when and if they are interested in doing so and consent to the process,” Rowe added at the time.
“I pray that by committing time, energy, and other resources toward the possibility of healing and reconciliation, we can demonstrate to them and to the entire church our belief in a God of hope and healing.”
For their part, Singh’s family expressed disappointment at the accord, with one of his sons telling Episcopal News Service at the time that he felt the accord was a “tragic conclusion to what has been a deeply painful and retraumatizing process for our family and other complainants.”
“We grieve for the opportunity lost here — not just for our family, but for the Episcopal Church as a whole,” he stated. “This accord falls short of addressing the systemic failures that allowed Singh’s abuse to persist unchecked for decades. It is a Band-Aid on a wound that will only fester without meaningful reform.”
