September 18, 2008. Church historian Dr. Joan Gundersen has released an 8-page paper published by PEP titled “A Response to Mark McCall’s ‘Is The Episcopal Church Hierarchical?’” The paper is a reply to a legal and historical analysis by attorney Mark McCall that purports to show that dioceses in The Episcopal Church are independent entities free to leave the church at any time. Dr. Gundersen’ paper argues that McCall has misinterpreted and simply missed much of the historical evidence that shows conclusively that the church is hierarchical in polity, with dioceses subject to the acts of the General Convention. PEP issued a press release about the Gundersen report here.