THE MAIN PAGE as is was
Here are the most recent 20 posts before we lost the server. Obviously we can't recreate comments here. Sorry about that.
Episcopal divisions over gays deepen
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 1:28 pm
In fall 2004, an 18-member panel of Anglican leaders advised the 2.2-million-member Episcopal Church and its Canadian counterpart in a document known as the Windsor Report to cease ordaining homosexual bishops and blessing same-sex unions until a “greater consensus” arises in the Anglican Communion.
Another 18-member committee, co-chaired by Frank Wade of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, has spent the past seven days coming up with several resolutions that would satisfy other provinces yet not alienate the U.S. denomination’s mostly liberal membership.
Deputies also wrangled over Resolution A161, which urges dioceses to “refrain from the nomination, election, consent to, and consecration of bishops whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.”
It did not mention the word “homosexual.”
An earlier version of the resolution, proposed by Virginia Bishop Peter Lee, asked for a “moratorium” on such future consecrations. It was voted down in subcommittee.
“The language of the resolution is totally unclear,” protested the Rev. Kendall Harmon, a South Carolina deputy. “We’re piling three verbs atop of each other: ‘obliged’ … ‘to urge,’ ‘to refrain.’ The water in this resolution is murky, mucky, turbid, and I can’t see.”
Members of Integrity, the church’s homosexual caucus, said the Episcopal Church will not back down from its advocacy of same-sex unions and homosexual bishops.
“I see no energy in this house to turn back the clock,” said the Rev. Susan Russell, Integrity president. “The vote [for Bishop Schori] yesterday is a sign the House wants to move forward.
“Offering a challenge to the Anglican Communion is not a negative thing. Hopefully, 30 years from now, I’ll be back here in my wheelchair to see them elect a gay and lesbian presiding bishop.”
Read it all.
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Wikipedia entry on Bishop Katharine Schori
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 1:27 pm
Chieck it out.
Posted in ECUSA GC06, ECUSA Bishops, Presiding Bishop Election Edit 10 Comments »
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Several commenters recommend Mohler radio broadcast
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 1:23 pm
Below we posted a link to Albert Mohler’s Radio broadcast yesterday about the ECUSA/Anglican crisis. Two commenters STRONGLY recommend listening to this audio.
Here’s what one wrote:
I also recommend listening to this program. If you desire you can even mentally tune out Mohler, but the statements of the PB elect need to be heard at 31:02 and 32:25 into the program.
+Schori’s statement about the afterlife (32:25) must be heard to be believed (or rather disbelieved - I am incredulous that this person was elected).
Here’s the link. Note, the section about ECUSA begins at 11:10 into the broadcast.
Further update: Schori’s first audio clip from her CNN interview is just after 24:00. Hmmm. Do we detect the Shellfish argument by implication?
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 13 Comments »
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Episcopal leaders deadlocked over N.H.’s gay bishop
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 1:02 pm
he Episcopal General Convention tried again today to break an impasse on whether to meet Anglican demands that the U.S. church stop electing gay bishops for now.
If delegates meeting in Ohio fail to approve some restriction on electing gays to the high-level office before the meeting ends tomorrow, it could hasten a split in the family of Anglican churches, which is divided over the Bible and homosexuality.
Episcopal delegates are considering measures aimed at appeasing Anglicans who are irate about the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire.
The Episcopal House of Deputies, comprised of more than 800 lay people and clergy, reconvened today after failing to vote on the measure the day before.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has been trying to broker a truce at the convention, but some church leaders believe he can only keep those efforts alive if the Americans send a signal that they are willing to compromise.
Legislation must pass both the House of Deputies and House of Bishops. If delegates don’t send the legislation to the House of Bishops by the end of business today, there is almost no chance the idea of a moratorium could be resurrected, church officials said.
“That would be the end of the matter,” said Northern Indiana Bishop Edward Little, a member of the committee that drafted the resolution.
The Rev. Tobias Haller, who is a deputy and priest at St. James Fordham in New York City, agreed. “That means it dies,” he said.
Read it all.
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Fresh News up on GenCon06
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 12:49 pm
Phew! Binky is NOT missing in action. We were getting a little worried at the news silence this morning! Get ‘em while they’re hot. Lots of fresh news & links over on GenCon06
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 2 Comments »
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Substitute Resolution now on floor of Deputies
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 12:09 pm
BabyBlue is also liveblogging the debate on the floor of the HoD. She reports this:
BREAKING NEWS — Substitue Resolution now on the floor of the HouseResolved, the House of ________ concurring, That the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, “effect a moratorium on the election and consent to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is loving in a same gender union until (and unless) some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges (Windsor Report 134), and be it further
Resolved, That the 75th General Convention effect a moratorium on the authorizing of all public rites of blessing of same sex unions (Windsor Report 144), and be it further
Resolved, That the 75th Genera Convention call on those bishops who have authorized public rites for blessing same-sex unions, “because of the serious repercussions in the Communion … to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorisation” (Windsor Report 144″
Note: UNLIKE Stand Firm, Baby Blue posts several separate posts as she is liveblogging. Go to her main blog page to see the most current news: http://babybluecafe.blogspot.com/
====It appears the deputies have now recessed for lunch until 2 p.m.
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 15 Comments »
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Daily Encompass on Resolution A161
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 10:37 am
Resolution A161: Dead on Arrival
Resolution A161 promises to be one of the key responses to the Windsor Report . . . if the General Convention can agree on how to word the resolution. After hours of debating and word-smithing and six days into the convention, the Special Committee tasked a subcommittee to combine resolutions A161 and A162 to streamline the approval process.If responses to the resolution so far are any indication, it may be extremely difficult to come up with a resolution that can gain approval in the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. Speaking of the resolution as it stands, the Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon, Canon Theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina, said, “It has all the earmarks of a resolution that was driven by consensus. It’s an attempt to solve a huge crisis by committee which is a very difficult if not a losing proposition.”The resolution begins with a shaky start when it states “we are obliged to urge . . . to refrain. . .” As direct as the American branch of Anglicanism has shown itself to be in its unilateral actions, it is disturbing to see the lack of conviction, accountability, and enforcement implied by this statement. The Windsor Report asked for a moratorium, and the phrase “we won’t” would suffice for compliance.The “manner of life” that presents a challenge to the communion should also be explicitly stated. The Windsor Report specifically asked for a moratorium on the consecration of bishops living in same-gender unions. This General Convention has had no problem inserting language relating to individuals’ sexual identity and behavior into numerous resolutions, and it could certainly do so in its response to the Windsor Report.The second and third resolves, taken together, read almost like the Department of Defense’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The resolution addresses the development and authorization of rites of same-sex blessings, although the issue has always been the practice of same-sex blessings. The third resolve provides a clever loophole by allowing for a breadth of pastoral responses, public or private – a clause that will undoubtedly be used to justify blessing of same-sex unions in parishes and dioceses. The inclusion of the phrase “at this time” might cause one to ask the same question posed by the Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton, Bishop of Dallas: “How about an hour after this resolution passes?”The fourth resolve is interesting for its very direct apology to the gay and lesbian community and their supporters. ECUSA would do well to express the same level of heartfelt regret to its brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion.Without an appropriate expression of regret to the Anglican Communion for the actions taken and enforceable moratoria on consecrations and the practice of same-sex blessings, the Episcopal Church will have rejected Windsor and chosen to walk apart.
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Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 21 Comments »
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Back to the Floor
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 10:35 am
We are hoping to introduce a substitute resolution today which adheres closely to the key language of the Windsor Report.
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 7 Comments »
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Alternate links in case of site problems
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 8:51 am
Should CaNN or Stand Firm servers crash again (WE HOPE NOT!) here are two alternate sites you should bookmark:
For Stand Firm:http://www.standfirminfaith.blogspot.com/
For the CaNN elveshttp://elfbunker.blogspot.com/
Greg Griffith passes along this message:
Stand Firm is back online, and Matt’s full transcript, spellchecked and in one piece, is now here:
Thanks for everybody’s support while we were down!
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 6 Comments »
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Don’t miss this: Kendall: “What do Conservative Episcopalians Want?”
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 8:48 am
It was posted last night, but has already scrolled off the main page. We repost it here given the server access problems of yesterday. Many may not have seen it. Comments on the original thread, please.
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Episcopal church unravels as Forth Worth appeals for ‘alternative oversight’
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 8:44 am
Bishop Jack Iker of Forth Worth diocese has appealed to Rowan Williams for “alternative primatial oversight” in the wake of “Hurrican Katharine” Schori’s election as Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. I am indebted to a commentator, below, for this wonderful title given to the new PB on a BBC blog. This picture shows Iker addressing the American Anglican Council at a meeting on Monday. One reason Fort Worth has gone it alone on this, without the two other traditionalist dioceses of Quincy and San Joaquin, could be that Fort Worth was the only one to have the full quota of standing committee members at the Convention. Kendall Harmon has also written an interesting commentary on what conservatives are really after, while a commentator below has drawn attention to David Virtue’s behind-the-scenes analysis of the election of Bishop Schori. My own commentary in the main paper (tues) appeals to Rowan Williams to offer the oversight that has been requested, while we are also running a leader today analysing his dilemma, along with a news story by myself and James Bone, who is in Columbus….
Read it all.
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Pine Belt Episcopal leaders surprised by bishop’s election
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 8:37 am
Married with one daughter, she is a licensed pilot who is known for her outreach to the Hispanic community.
“She sounds very competent,” Hines said. “I trust the bishops not to do something really stupid. The Episcopal Church is known as a church where people can disagree and still get along. We disagree on things, but we still come to the communion table and worship together.”
Jefferts Schori will be installed for a nine-year term Nov. 4.
“I think she will be facing some significant challenges,” Bear said. “We will be prayerful, and we will wait and see what happens. But she does not have an easy path ahead of her.”
Read it all.
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Richard Neuhaus on the General Convention Thus far
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 8:32 am
The election of Bishop Schori is on a trajectory of continuity with earlier Episcopal actions. In the mid-seventies, ECUSA unilaterally decided to ordain women to the priesthood, and the Church of England followed suit. Rome, which believes the Church is bound by Scripture and authoritative tradition, teaches that the Church is not authorized to ordain women to the priesthood and therefore cannot do it. Following what it believes to be the logic of ordination to the priesthood, ECUSA then ordained women to the episcopate. The Church of England is currently considering the ordination of women bishops. If the ordination of women priests is invalid, the ordination of women bishops casts a broader pall of invalidity, since bishops ordain other priests, both male and female.
Of course, the great and more recent commotion in ECUSA was sparked by the ordination of Gene Robinson, a practicing gay priest, as bishop of New Hampshire. A number of provinces of the Anglican Communion, notably in Africa and Asia, where the great majority of Anglicans are, have declared that they are no longer in communion with the American province. Thus the breakup of the Anglican Communion seems almost inevitable.
Facing that prospect, a commission of ECUSA some months ago issued the Windsor Report, which proposed that the ECUSA apologize to the Anglican Communion for difficulties caused by the election of Robinson and that a moratorium be declared on ordaining gay bishops and blessing same-sex unions. Bishop Schori was sharply critical of the Windsor Report, and her election is a decisive repudiation of its recommendations. Schori is an unequivocal supporter of Gene Robinson and of the blessing of same-sex unions. She is reported to be a friend and strong supporter of the retired Bishop John Spong, perhaps the most leftist of ECUSA bishops, who has long agitated against core doctrines of historic Christianity such as the inspiration of Scripture and the divinity of Christ.
At each step of the way, Rome pleaded with Anglicans to reject such grave departures from the orthodox Christian tradition. It may be that there will emerge from the breakup a new configuration of the Anglican Communion with which serious dialogue can be resumed.
Read it all.
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Episcopal deputies debate divisive issues on sexuality
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 8:30 am
“The future of the Episcopal Church as well as our place at the table in the Anglican Communion is at stake,” [Dean Phil] Linder said. “The stakes are very high.”
In the unfinished debate over gay bishops and same-sex blessings, delegate Becky Snow acknowledged that the proposal “had things hard to swallow. It feels like gays and lesbians are being singled out.”
However, Snow, a lesbian and a member of the committee that wrote the resolution, still asked delegates to support it. The proposal includes an apology to gays and lesbians in the Episcopal Church who will be hurt by the decisions.
Peter Cook, a delegate from Louisiana, criticized the resolution as a “nonresponse response” to the Anglican Communion. He said the apology given to gays and lesbians was more sincere than the resolution that expressed regret to the Anglican Communion.
In other action Monday, the Diocese of Fort Worth made a public appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury asking him to put the diocese under the oversight of an Anglican leader from another country because of Jefferts Schori’s election. The diocese, along with those in Quincy, Ill., and San Joaquin, Calif., does not recognize the ordination of women.
“The fact that her ordination as a bishop is not recognized by a large portion of the communion introduces an additional element of division and impairment,” Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth said.
Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury sent a letter saying the new presiding bishop-elect had his prayers and good wishes. But he also said her election “will undoubtedly have an impact on the collegial life of the Anglican primates.”
Read it all.
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Bishop John Lipscomb writes his diocese
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 8:17 am
Statement from the Diocese of Southwest FloridaThe General Convention
Monday, June 19, 2006
Dear Friends in Christ,The Episcopal Church made history yesterday when our House of Bishops elected the Bishop of Nevada, The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, 26th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. I encourage the people of the Diocese of Southwest Florida to join me in congratulations to her and in prayer for her and her family.
In her response to the questions of the Nominating Committee concerning the most important priorities for the next Presiding Bishop, she named concerns that will resonate with the priorities of the Diocese of Southwest Florida. Embracing the growing cultural diversity within our Church and implementing the Millennium Development Goals are important to her as she assumes this new office. I applaud her desire to “move our sanctuaries into the streets to encounter and transform the bad news of this world…to realize the dream of God for all creation.” I believe she will find strong support across the Church for this work.
Bishop Jefferts Shori’s desire to be a bridge-builder will be more difficult. She enters her new role in a General Convention where the divisions within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion continue to deepen. Many of the provinces of the Communion are still uncertain about the ministry of women in Holy Orders, especially the episcopate. As recently as last week, the Church of England placed “on hold” a decision regarding the removal of obstacles for women to be consecrated bishop in that branch of the Anglican Communion.
Many of the provinces of the Communion and people of our diocese will find her support for the consecration of the current bishop of New Hampshire and the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the ministry of the Church problematical. A priority of full inclusion for this Church would include Bishop Jefferts Shori’s invitation to the conservative leadership regarding specific action to provide pastoral care and oversight for all the people.
The next three days at the General Convention will be critical. Our response to the Windsor Report must be neither weak, nor ambiguous. I ask your prayers for our deputation and for your Bishop as we continue to seek reconciliation and healing for our Church and our Communion.
God bless each of you.
The Rt. Rev. John B. LipscombFourth Bishop of Southwest Florida
The Rev. Dr. John S. AdlerPresident, Standing Committee
Source: Diocese of SW Florida website
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Susan Russell on Resolutions A160 and A161
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 7:58 am
Susan Russell admits A160 as amended is far from what was called for in terms of repentance, and shares why she plans to vote against A161 today:
A quick post at the end of a long day. The House of Deputies today amended Resolution A160 to express regret at “straining” the bonds of affection in the Anglican Communion … falling short of admitting to “breaching” those bonds and coming no where near the “repenting of the actions” demanded by the Conservative Cabal. A160 will now head to the House of Bishops for concurrance.
So far so good.
Onward to A161 — the really stupid resolution created by the “Special Committee” that manages in the same resolution to balance the unity of the Anglican Communion on the backs of gay and lesbian people by urging the church to refrain from allowing any of them to respond to the Holy Spirit’s call to the episcopate AND to apologize to them for the new one they were getting ripped by the church they’re trying to serve.
You’ve gotta love it.
And, you’ve got to vote it down.
You’ve got to vote it down not only because it violates the canons of the Episcopal Church but because it won’t do any good anyway. Gay and lesbian people will be told they are and will remain second class citizens in the Episcopal Church in order to keep at the table those who have already decided to leave.
Think not? Check out The London Times: The Anglican Church descended into “ecclesiastical anarchy” last night as American traditionalists refused to accept the authority of a woman and asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to lead them instead.
If nothing we can do is going to be good enough, I say we have the courage of our convictions to stay the course, embrace the decisions of General Convention 2003 and get on with the work of the church. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to vote it down today. After several hours of frankly rather disorganized leadership in the House of Deputies the debate was suspended and we go back tomorrow morning to take it back up. Ergo “resolution interruptus.”
Stay tuned … and pray for the church!
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 13 Comments »
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Episcopal Leader Calls for Move Past Gay Debate
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 7:58 am
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of Nevada, who was elected Sunday as the first woman to lead the U.S. Episcopal Church, says it’s time to put away the divisive issue of homosexuality and move on to the urgent mission of ministering to people in need.
“Our primary emphasis needs to be feeding people, educating children and looking for healthcare for everybody,” Jefferts Schori, 52, said in a telephone interview Monday from Columbus, Ohio, where representatives of the 2.3-million-member denomination are holding their annual convention.
But even as Jefferts Schori called on the church to move past the issue of gay priests and same-sex marriage, her election has put a new strain on a church wrestling with its identity and mission in recent years.
An oceanographer who studied squids and octopuses in the northeastern Pacific Ocean before going into the ministry in 1994, Jefferts Schori is considered a progressive. She supported the consecration three years ago of V. Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as bishop of New Hampshire. She also has endorsed same-sex union rites in Nevada.
Jefferts Schori succeeds the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold on Nov. 1 and will be invested at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., three days later.
The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion of which the Episcopal Church is a part, said in a statement Monday that the presiding bishop-elect had his “prayers and good wishes as she takes up a deeply demanding position at a critical time.”
But at the same time, he noted that “her election will undoubtedly have an impact on the collegial life of the Anglican Primates, and it also brings into focus some continuing issues in several of our ecumenical dialogues.”
Primates are archbishops of national Anglican churches or provinces.
In the U.S., Jefferts Schori’s elevation was criticized by conservatives but hailed by liberals.
Conservatives said her election is another example of the U.S. church’s departure from Scripture and from other provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Read it all.
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Episcopalians regret gay rift
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 7:54 am
The Rev. Kendall Harmon, the South Carolina Diocese Canon theologian and a delegate in the House of Deputies, described the resolution voicing regret as a step forward but only if followed by true repentance.
“The first step to reconciliation is before us, but let’s only take it if we mean it,” he said before the House of Deputies. “Expressing regret is only meaningful if there is something behind the intent.”
Liberal members of the House of Deputies called to reject the resolution altogether, with some likening the argument to those that countered the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. The Rev. Eugene McDowell spoke for the Diocese of Western North Carolina.
“When I grew up, men and women were not treated equally because of their color, and you know what our culture said: It was good,” he said. “I’d feel a little like Peter on the road to Jerusalem if I had to say, I regret, I repent.”
The resolution calling for the show of regret passed with 68 percent of the delegation’s vote.
Conservatives view it as a prelude to the resolution deputies will continue debating today. For Harmon, that resolution, which would call for an end to same-sex unions and a moratorium on ordination of openly gay clergy, is the more important of the two.
He said he still thinks it needs work, though.
“It has all the earmarks of a resolution that was driven by consensus,” he said. “The language of the resolution is totally unclear. … All this language does is move away from the clarity of the language of Windsor.”
Harmon has proposed that the language of the resolution be changed to better reflect that of the 2004 Windsor Report, which called for an apology over the consecration of Robinson, the end to same-sex blessings and the moratorium on consecrating openly gay bishops. He has maintained that if those measures are not taken, the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion will be placed at risk.
But not everyone agrees on exactly what that risk is. The Rev. Lauren Stanley writes for the Episcopal opinion journal Center Aisle and said that the only formal connection at stake for the denomination is the one with the archbishop of Canterbury. Connections, like the ones between the Episcopal Church and Anglican denominations in Africa, are not nearly as formal, she said.
“We are in communion historically and always with the archbishop of Canterbury,” she said. “The only person we have to satisfy is Rowan Williams.”
Williams is the current archbishop of Canterbury.
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 3 Comments »
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Liz Zivanov responds to Kendall
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 7:52 am
Kendall sent his BeliefNet piece posted below to the HOB/D listserv last night. Several deputies, including Liz Zivanov+ of Hawaii responded. Liz’s response is posted publicly on her blog.
[An aside: It’s odd to see the HOB/D list still active DURING Convention, one would think the deputies would have had enough of debating one another on the floor of the House! The passion and energy and commitment of many of the deputies is pretty impressive.]
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An Email in response to another Deputy
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 7:50 am
Posted on the House of Bishops/Deputies listserv
[ ] wrote:
“But it will get the job done. It will get our bishops to Lambeth.”
I do not believe this is correct. How can [ ] possibly know this–it is not up to him to decide. It is up to the leadership of the Anglican Communion. The language is very confusing and falls far short of the Windsor Report and what we have been asked to do.
This feels like an attempt at salvation by committee alone at the expense of honesty and clarity. Since when does the end justify the means? Is this only about getting the job done no matter what?
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 2 Comments »
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Bishop Little’s second report from General Convention — June 19
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 7:49 am
Bishop Little is a member of the Special Legislative Committee that has been drafting the Windsor Report resolutions.
Dear brothers and sisters,
As I write these words, General Convention is about two-thirds of the way through its business. On Sunday, the House of Bishops elected the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church; her election was quickly confirmed by the House of Deputies. Bishop Jefferts Schori is a person of Christian commitment, an intelligent and articulate leader, a bishop who cares deeply for the unity of the church. I have pledge to her my support and my prayers, and I ask that all of you hold her in prayer as she prepares to assume the burden of a most challenging office in a most challenging time.
My own life has been consumed – I hope that’s not too dramatic a word! – with work on the Episcopal Church’s response to the Windsor Report. Christopher Wells, lay deputy from Northern Indiana, and I both serve on the Special Legislative Committee on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, the body tasked with crafting resolutions sent to the floor of Convention dealing with Windsor response. The committee has been remarkably balanced, hard working, and focused; but the work has been slow and difficult. Last night we held our fifteenth meeting! Most of the effort is behind us. We have produced resolutions on our interdependence in the Anglican Communion; on our eagerness as a church to participate in the development of an Anglican Covenant and in a Communion-wide “listening process”; on our regret for breaching the bonds of affection in the Communion regarding the actions of the 2003 General Convention; and, just last evening, on the request in the Windsor Report for a moratorium on the consecration of further bishops living in same sex partnerships and a moratorium on liturgies for the blessing of same sex unions. The language we’ve come up with, I believe, makes a good faith effort to honor Windsor’s requests. Because the committee’s membership is so diverse, we have listened carefully to one another and been “stretched” in the give and take of significant conversation. Now these resolutions go to the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, where they may be amended further. I will report to you later on the finals texts that emerge from Convention debate.
I said in my first letter from Columbus that my deepest hope for General Convention was that the Episcopal Church makes a wholehearted response to the Windsor Report and its requests. These resolutions, I think, move us in that direction. Please continue to pray as General Convention wrestles with these important matters. May our Lord’s prayer for unity – “that they may all be one” (John 17:21) – be manifested in us.
Meanwhile, your General Convention deputation continues its hard work in the House of Deputies, a body with a membership of more than 900. (Imagine a meeting hall so huge that when deputies step up to the microphone, their image is projected on a huge screen, many times larger than life. It’s daunting indeed!) You are well represented in Columbus, and the Diocese of Northern Indiana can be rightly proud of the people who represent us in the House of Deputies. With all blessings I am
Yours in Christ,
+Ed
Source: Diocese of Northern Indiana website
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A Podcast of +Schori’s address to Deputies
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 7:45 am
From the Diocese of Minnesota General Convention page – just one of many podcasts available.
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Nick Knisely asks: Are we telling the truth
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 6:50 am
Nick Knisely (clergy deputy, Bethlehem) was taking notes during the floor discussion of A161 yesterday. Here are some of his observations and questions:
Truth: We’re not really telling the truth here. We’re apologizing for something even as we do it. If we’re not sorry enough to stop, then we shouldn’t apologize. If we have to apologize for something in advance, then we shouldn’t do it.
The young people from the official Youth presence on the floor are uniformly speaking against this resolution. They are saying that they as Christians can not accept the rejection of another person that God has made.
The system that tells us who is to speak, and in what order, has broken. We have no idea who should speak and when. We start to try to figure out a way to manage with the problem…
(The one thing that my gay and lesbian Christian friends have taught me is that living a lie can not lead to peace – nor to a real relationship with Jesus. It is only by being truthful that we come into the presence of God. Are we telling the truth in this resolution?)
A quote from Moltman is read. It says (in paraphrase): “Truth can only be discerned when we act in freedom. Truth and clarity will never be found if we are coerced.”
(I think this is a telling point. We are not coming to this point of our own freewill. The language in this resolution has been written so that it will pass muster. It is not our discernment of the truth…)
full post here
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Episcopal divisions over gays deepen
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 1:28 pm
In fall 2004, an 18-member panel of Anglican leaders advised the 2.2-million-member Episcopal Church and its Canadian counterpart in a document known as the Windsor Report to cease ordaining homosexual bishops and blessing same-sex unions until a “greater consensus” arises in the Anglican Communion.
Another 18-member committee, co-chaired by Frank Wade of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, has spent the past seven days coming up with several resolutions that would satisfy other provinces yet not alienate the U.S. denomination’s mostly liberal membership.
Deputies also wrangled over Resolution A161, which urges dioceses to “refrain from the nomination, election, consent to, and consecration of bishops whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.”
It did not mention the word “homosexual.”
An earlier version of the resolution, proposed by Virginia Bishop Peter Lee, asked for a “moratorium” on such future consecrations. It was voted down in subcommittee.
“The language of the resolution is totally unclear,” protested the Rev. Kendall Harmon, a South Carolina deputy. “We’re piling three verbs atop of each other: ‘obliged’ … ‘to urge,’ ‘to refrain.’ The water in this resolution is murky, mucky, turbid, and I can’t see.”
Members of Integrity, the church’s homosexual caucus, said the Episcopal Church will not back down from its advocacy of same-sex unions and homosexual bishops.
“I see no energy in this house to turn back the clock,” said the Rev. Susan Russell, Integrity president. “The vote [for Bishop Schori] yesterday is a sign the House wants to move forward.
“Offering a challenge to the Anglican Communion is not a negative thing. Hopefully, 30 years from now, I’ll be back here in my wheelchair to see them elect a gay and lesbian presiding bishop.”
Read it all.
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Wikipedia entry on Bishop Katharine Schori
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 1:27 pm
Chieck it out.
Posted in ECUSA GC06, ECUSA Bishops, Presiding Bishop Election Edit 10 Comments »
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Several commenters recommend Mohler radio broadcast
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 1:23 pm
Below we posted a link to Albert Mohler’s Radio broadcast yesterday about the ECUSA/Anglican crisis. Two commenters STRONGLY recommend listening to this audio.
Here’s what one wrote:
I also recommend listening to this program. If you desire you can even mentally tune out Mohler, but the statements of the PB elect need to be heard at 31:02 and 32:25 into the program.
+Schori’s statement about the afterlife (32:25) must be heard to be believed (or rather disbelieved - I am incredulous that this person was elected).
Here’s the link. Note, the section about ECUSA begins at 11:10 into the broadcast.
Further update: Schori’s first audio clip from her CNN interview is just after 24:00. Hmmm. Do we detect the Shellfish argument by implication?
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Episcopal leaders deadlocked over N.H.’s gay bishop
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 1:02 pm
he Episcopal General Convention tried again today to break an impasse on whether to meet Anglican demands that the U.S. church stop electing gay bishops for now.
If delegates meeting in Ohio fail to approve some restriction on electing gays to the high-level office before the meeting ends tomorrow, it could hasten a split in the family of Anglican churches, which is divided over the Bible and homosexuality.
Episcopal delegates are considering measures aimed at appeasing Anglicans who are irate about the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire.
The Episcopal House of Deputies, comprised of more than 800 lay people and clergy, reconvened today after failing to vote on the measure the day before.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has been trying to broker a truce at the convention, but some church leaders believe he can only keep those efforts alive if the Americans send a signal that they are willing to compromise.
Legislation must pass both the House of Deputies and House of Bishops. If delegates don’t send the legislation to the House of Bishops by the end of business today, there is almost no chance the idea of a moratorium could be resurrected, church officials said.
“That would be the end of the matter,” said Northern Indiana Bishop Edward Little, a member of the committee that drafted the resolution.
The Rev. Tobias Haller, who is a deputy and priest at St. James Fordham in New York City, agreed. “That means it dies,” he said.
Read it all.
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Fresh News up on GenCon06
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 12:49 pm
Phew! Binky is NOT missing in action. We were getting a little worried at the news silence this morning! Get ‘em while they’re hot. Lots of fresh news & links over on GenCon06
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 2 Comments »
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Substitute Resolution now on floor of Deputies
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 12:09 pm
BabyBlue is also liveblogging the debate on the floor of the HoD. She reports this:
BREAKING NEWS — Substitue Resolution now on the floor of the HouseResolved, the House of ________ concurring, That the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, “effect a moratorium on the election and consent to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is loving in a same gender union until (and unless) some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges (Windsor Report 134), and be it further
Resolved, That the 75th General Convention effect a moratorium on the authorizing of all public rites of blessing of same sex unions (Windsor Report 144), and be it further
Resolved, That the 75th Genera Convention call on those bishops who have authorized public rites for blessing same-sex unions, “because of the serious repercussions in the Communion … to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorisation” (Windsor Report 144″
Note: UNLIKE Stand Firm, Baby Blue posts several separate posts as she is liveblogging. Go to her main blog page to see the most current news: http://babybluecafe.blogspot.com/
====It appears the deputies have now recessed for lunch until 2 p.m.
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Daily Encompass on Resolution A161
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 10:37 am
Resolution A161: Dead on Arrival
Resolution A161 promises to be one of the key responses to the Windsor Report . . . if the General Convention can agree on how to word the resolution. After hours of debating and word-smithing and six days into the convention, the Special Committee tasked a subcommittee to combine resolutions A161 and A162 to streamline the approval process.If responses to the resolution so far are any indication, it may be extremely difficult to come up with a resolution that can gain approval in the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. Speaking of the resolution as it stands, the Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon, Canon Theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina, said, “It has all the earmarks of a resolution that was driven by consensus. It’s an attempt to solve a huge crisis by committee which is a very difficult if not a losing proposition.”The resolution begins with a shaky start when it states “we are obliged to urge . . . to refrain. . .” As direct as the American branch of Anglicanism has shown itself to be in its unilateral actions, it is disturbing to see the lack of conviction, accountability, and enforcement implied by this statement. The Windsor Report asked for a moratorium, and the phrase “we won’t” would suffice for compliance.The “manner of life” that presents a challenge to the communion should also be explicitly stated. The Windsor Report specifically asked for a moratorium on the consecration of bishops living in same-gender unions. This General Convention has had no problem inserting language relating to individuals’ sexual identity and behavior into numerous resolutions, and it could certainly do so in its response to the Windsor Report.The second and third resolves, taken together, read almost like the Department of Defense’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The resolution addresses the development and authorization of rites of same-sex blessings, although the issue has always been the practice of same-sex blessings. The third resolve provides a clever loophole by allowing for a breadth of pastoral responses, public or private – a clause that will undoubtedly be used to justify blessing of same-sex unions in parishes and dioceses. The inclusion of the phrase “at this time” might cause one to ask the same question posed by the Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton, Bishop of Dallas: “How about an hour after this resolution passes?”The fourth resolve is interesting for its very direct apology to the gay and lesbian community and their supporters. ECUSA would do well to express the same level of heartfelt regret to its brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion.Without an appropriate expression of regret to the Anglican Communion for the actions taken and enforceable moratoria on consecrations and the practice of same-sex blessings, the Episcopal Church will have rejected Windsor and chosen to walk apart.
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Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 21 Comments »
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Back to the Floor
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 10:35 am
We are hoping to introduce a substitute resolution today which adheres closely to the key language of the Windsor Report.
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 7 Comments »
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Alternate links in case of site problems
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 8:51 am
Should CaNN or Stand Firm servers crash again (WE HOPE NOT!) here are two alternate sites you should bookmark:
For Stand Firm:http://www.standfirminfaith.blogspot.com/
For the CaNN elveshttp://elfbunker.blogspot.com/
Greg Griffith passes along this message:
Stand Firm is back online, and Matt’s full transcript, spellchecked and in one piece, is now here:
Thanks for everybody’s support while we were down!
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 6 Comments »
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Don’t miss this: Kendall: “What do Conservative Episcopalians Want?”
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 8:48 am
It was posted last night, but has already scrolled off the main page. We repost it here given the server access problems of yesterday. Many may not have seen it. Comments on the original thread, please.
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Episcopal church unravels as Forth Worth appeals for ‘alternative oversight’
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 8:44 am
Bishop Jack Iker of Forth Worth diocese has appealed to Rowan Williams for “alternative primatial oversight” in the wake of “Hurrican Katharine” Schori’s election as Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. I am indebted to a commentator, below, for this wonderful title given to the new PB on a BBC blog. This picture shows Iker addressing the American Anglican Council at a meeting on Monday. One reason Fort Worth has gone it alone on this, without the two other traditionalist dioceses of Quincy and San Joaquin, could be that Fort Worth was the only one to have the full quota of standing committee members at the Convention. Kendall Harmon has also written an interesting commentary on what conservatives are really after, while a commentator below has drawn attention to David Virtue’s behind-the-scenes analysis of the election of Bishop Schori. My own commentary in the main paper (tues) appeals to Rowan Williams to offer the oversight that has been requested, while we are also running a leader today analysing his dilemma, along with a news story by myself and James Bone, who is in Columbus….
Read it all.
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Pine Belt Episcopal leaders surprised by bishop’s election
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 8:37 am
Married with one daughter, she is a licensed pilot who is known for her outreach to the Hispanic community.
“She sounds very competent,” Hines said. “I trust the bishops not to do something really stupid. The Episcopal Church is known as a church where people can disagree and still get along. We disagree on things, but we still come to the communion table and worship together.”
Jefferts Schori will be installed for a nine-year term Nov. 4.
“I think she will be facing some significant challenges,” Bear said. “We will be prayerful, and we will wait and see what happens. But she does not have an easy path ahead of her.”
Read it all.
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Richard Neuhaus on the General Convention Thus far
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 8:32 am
The election of Bishop Schori is on a trajectory of continuity with earlier Episcopal actions. In the mid-seventies, ECUSA unilaterally decided to ordain women to the priesthood, and the Church of England followed suit. Rome, which believes the Church is bound by Scripture and authoritative tradition, teaches that the Church is not authorized to ordain women to the priesthood and therefore cannot do it. Following what it believes to be the logic of ordination to the priesthood, ECUSA then ordained women to the episcopate. The Church of England is currently considering the ordination of women bishops. If the ordination of women priests is invalid, the ordination of women bishops casts a broader pall of invalidity, since bishops ordain other priests, both male and female.
Of course, the great and more recent commotion in ECUSA was sparked by the ordination of Gene Robinson, a practicing gay priest, as bishop of New Hampshire. A number of provinces of the Anglican Communion, notably in Africa and Asia, where the great majority of Anglicans are, have declared that they are no longer in communion with the American province. Thus the breakup of the Anglican Communion seems almost inevitable.
Facing that prospect, a commission of ECUSA some months ago issued the Windsor Report, which proposed that the ECUSA apologize to the Anglican Communion for difficulties caused by the election of Robinson and that a moratorium be declared on ordaining gay bishops and blessing same-sex unions. Bishop Schori was sharply critical of the Windsor Report, and her election is a decisive repudiation of its recommendations. Schori is an unequivocal supporter of Gene Robinson and of the blessing of same-sex unions. She is reported to be a friend and strong supporter of the retired Bishop John Spong, perhaps the most leftist of ECUSA bishops, who has long agitated against core doctrines of historic Christianity such as the inspiration of Scripture and the divinity of Christ.
At each step of the way, Rome pleaded with Anglicans to reject such grave departures from the orthodox Christian tradition. It may be that there will emerge from the breakup a new configuration of the Anglican Communion with which serious dialogue can be resumed.
Read it all.
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Episcopal deputies debate divisive issues on sexuality
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 8:30 am
“The future of the Episcopal Church as well as our place at the table in the Anglican Communion is at stake,” [Dean Phil] Linder said. “The stakes are very high.”
In the unfinished debate over gay bishops and same-sex blessings, delegate Becky Snow acknowledged that the proposal “had things hard to swallow. It feels like gays and lesbians are being singled out.”
However, Snow, a lesbian and a member of the committee that wrote the resolution, still asked delegates to support it. The proposal includes an apology to gays and lesbians in the Episcopal Church who will be hurt by the decisions.
Peter Cook, a delegate from Louisiana, criticized the resolution as a “nonresponse response” to the Anglican Communion. He said the apology given to gays and lesbians was more sincere than the resolution that expressed regret to the Anglican Communion.
In other action Monday, the Diocese of Fort Worth made a public appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury asking him to put the diocese under the oversight of an Anglican leader from another country because of Jefferts Schori’s election. The diocese, along with those in Quincy, Ill., and San Joaquin, Calif., does not recognize the ordination of women.
“The fact that her ordination as a bishop is not recognized by a large portion of the communion introduces an additional element of division and impairment,” Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth said.
Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury sent a letter saying the new presiding bishop-elect had his prayers and good wishes. But he also said her election “will undoubtedly have an impact on the collegial life of the Anglican primates.”
Read it all.
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Bishop John Lipscomb writes his diocese
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 8:17 am
Statement from the Diocese of Southwest FloridaThe General Convention
Monday, June 19, 2006
Dear Friends in Christ,The Episcopal Church made history yesterday when our House of Bishops elected the Bishop of Nevada, The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, 26th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. I encourage the people of the Diocese of Southwest Florida to join me in congratulations to her and in prayer for her and her family.
In her response to the questions of the Nominating Committee concerning the most important priorities for the next Presiding Bishop, she named concerns that will resonate with the priorities of the Diocese of Southwest Florida. Embracing the growing cultural diversity within our Church and implementing the Millennium Development Goals are important to her as she assumes this new office. I applaud her desire to “move our sanctuaries into the streets to encounter and transform the bad news of this world…to realize the dream of God for all creation.” I believe she will find strong support across the Church for this work.
Bishop Jefferts Shori’s desire to be a bridge-builder will be more difficult. She enters her new role in a General Convention where the divisions within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion continue to deepen. Many of the provinces of the Communion are still uncertain about the ministry of women in Holy Orders, especially the episcopate. As recently as last week, the Church of England placed “on hold” a decision regarding the removal of obstacles for women to be consecrated bishop in that branch of the Anglican Communion.
Many of the provinces of the Communion and people of our diocese will find her support for the consecration of the current bishop of New Hampshire and the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the ministry of the Church problematical. A priority of full inclusion for this Church would include Bishop Jefferts Shori’s invitation to the conservative leadership regarding specific action to provide pastoral care and oversight for all the people.
The next three days at the General Convention will be critical. Our response to the Windsor Report must be neither weak, nor ambiguous. I ask your prayers for our deputation and for your Bishop as we continue to seek reconciliation and healing for our Church and our Communion.
God bless each of you.
The Rt. Rev. John B. LipscombFourth Bishop of Southwest Florida
The Rev. Dr. John S. AdlerPresident, Standing Committee
Source: Diocese of SW Florida website
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Susan Russell on Resolutions A160 and A161
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 7:58 am
Susan Russell admits A160 as amended is far from what was called for in terms of repentance, and shares why she plans to vote against A161 today:
A quick post at the end of a long day. The House of Deputies today amended Resolution A160 to express regret at “straining” the bonds of affection in the Anglican Communion … falling short of admitting to “breaching” those bonds and coming no where near the “repenting of the actions” demanded by the Conservative Cabal. A160 will now head to the House of Bishops for concurrance.
So far so good.
Onward to A161 — the really stupid resolution created by the “Special Committee” that manages in the same resolution to balance the unity of the Anglican Communion on the backs of gay and lesbian people by urging the church to refrain from allowing any of them to respond to the Holy Spirit’s call to the episcopate AND to apologize to them for the new one they were getting ripped by the church they’re trying to serve.
You’ve gotta love it.
And, you’ve got to vote it down.
You’ve got to vote it down not only because it violates the canons of the Episcopal Church but because it won’t do any good anyway. Gay and lesbian people will be told they are and will remain second class citizens in the Episcopal Church in order to keep at the table those who have already decided to leave.
Think not? Check out The London Times: The Anglican Church descended into “ecclesiastical anarchy” last night as American traditionalists refused to accept the authority of a woman and asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to lead them instead.
If nothing we can do is going to be good enough, I say we have the courage of our convictions to stay the course, embrace the decisions of General Convention 2003 and get on with the work of the church. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to vote it down today. After several hours of frankly rather disorganized leadership in the House of Deputies the debate was suspended and we go back tomorrow morning to take it back up. Ergo “resolution interruptus.”
Stay tuned … and pray for the church!
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Episcopal Leader Calls for Move Past Gay Debate
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 7:58 am
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of Nevada, who was elected Sunday as the first woman to lead the U.S. Episcopal Church, says it’s time to put away the divisive issue of homosexuality and move on to the urgent mission of ministering to people in need.
“Our primary emphasis needs to be feeding people, educating children and looking for healthcare for everybody,” Jefferts Schori, 52, said in a telephone interview Monday from Columbus, Ohio, where representatives of the 2.3-million-member denomination are holding their annual convention.
But even as Jefferts Schori called on the church to move past the issue of gay priests and same-sex marriage, her election has put a new strain on a church wrestling with its identity and mission in recent years.
An oceanographer who studied squids and octopuses in the northeastern Pacific Ocean before going into the ministry in 1994, Jefferts Schori is considered a progressive. She supported the consecration three years ago of V. Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as bishop of New Hampshire. She also has endorsed same-sex union rites in Nevada.
Jefferts Schori succeeds the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold on Nov. 1 and will be invested at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., three days later.
The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion of which the Episcopal Church is a part, said in a statement Monday that the presiding bishop-elect had his “prayers and good wishes as she takes up a deeply demanding position at a critical time.”
But at the same time, he noted that “her election will undoubtedly have an impact on the collegial life of the Anglican Primates, and it also brings into focus some continuing issues in several of our ecumenical dialogues.”
Primates are archbishops of national Anglican churches or provinces.
In the U.S., Jefferts Schori’s elevation was criticized by conservatives but hailed by liberals.
Conservatives said her election is another example of the U.S. church’s departure from Scripture and from other provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Read it all.
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Episcopalians regret gay rift
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 7:54 am
The Rev. Kendall Harmon, the South Carolina Diocese Canon theologian and a delegate in the House of Deputies, described the resolution voicing regret as a step forward but only if followed by true repentance.
“The first step to reconciliation is before us, but let’s only take it if we mean it,” he said before the House of Deputies. “Expressing regret is only meaningful if there is something behind the intent.”
Liberal members of the House of Deputies called to reject the resolution altogether, with some likening the argument to those that countered the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. The Rev. Eugene McDowell spoke for the Diocese of Western North Carolina.
“When I grew up, men and women were not treated equally because of their color, and you know what our culture said: It was good,” he said. “I’d feel a little like Peter on the road to Jerusalem if I had to say, I regret, I repent.”
The resolution calling for the show of regret passed with 68 percent of the delegation’s vote.
Conservatives view it as a prelude to the resolution deputies will continue debating today. For Harmon, that resolution, which would call for an end to same-sex unions and a moratorium on ordination of openly gay clergy, is the more important of the two.
He said he still thinks it needs work, though.
“It has all the earmarks of a resolution that was driven by consensus,” he said. “The language of the resolution is totally unclear. … All this language does is move away from the clarity of the language of Windsor.”
Harmon has proposed that the language of the resolution be changed to better reflect that of the 2004 Windsor Report, which called for an apology over the consecration of Robinson, the end to same-sex blessings and the moratorium on consecrating openly gay bishops. He has maintained that if those measures are not taken, the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion will be placed at risk.
But not everyone agrees on exactly what that risk is. The Rev. Lauren Stanley writes for the Episcopal opinion journal Center Aisle and said that the only formal connection at stake for the denomination is the one with the archbishop of Canterbury. Connections, like the ones between the Episcopal Church and Anglican denominations in Africa, are not nearly as formal, she said.
“We are in communion historically and always with the archbishop of Canterbury,” she said. “The only person we have to satisfy is Rowan Williams.”
Williams is the current archbishop of Canterbury.
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 3 Comments »
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Liz Zivanov responds to Kendall
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 7:52 am
Kendall sent his BeliefNet piece posted below to the HOB/D listserv last night. Several deputies, including Liz Zivanov+ of Hawaii responded. Liz’s response is posted publicly on her blog.
[An aside: It’s odd to see the HOB/D list still active DURING Convention, one would think the deputies would have had enough of debating one another on the floor of the House! The passion and energy and commitment of many of the deputies is pretty impressive.]
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An Email in response to another Deputy
June 20th, 2006 posted by kendall at 7:50 am
Posted on the House of Bishops/Deputies listserv
[ ] wrote:
“But it will get the job done. It will get our bishops to Lambeth.”
I do not believe this is correct. How can [ ] possibly know this–it is not up to him to decide. It is up to the leadership of the Anglican Communion. The language is very confusing and falls far short of the Windsor Report and what we have been asked to do.
This feels like an attempt at salvation by committee alone at the expense of honesty and clarity. Since when does the end justify the means? Is this only about getting the job done no matter what?
Posted in ECUSA GC06 Edit 2 Comments »
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Bishop Little’s second report from General Convention — June 19
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 7:49 am
Bishop Little is a member of the Special Legislative Committee that has been drafting the Windsor Report resolutions.
Dear brothers and sisters,
As I write these words, General Convention is about two-thirds of the way through its business. On Sunday, the House of Bishops elected the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church; her election was quickly confirmed by the House of Deputies. Bishop Jefferts Schori is a person of Christian commitment, an intelligent and articulate leader, a bishop who cares deeply for the unity of the church. I have pledge to her my support and my prayers, and I ask that all of you hold her in prayer as she prepares to assume the burden of a most challenging office in a most challenging time.
My own life has been consumed – I hope that’s not too dramatic a word! – with work on the Episcopal Church’s response to the Windsor Report. Christopher Wells, lay deputy from Northern Indiana, and I both serve on the Special Legislative Committee on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, the body tasked with crafting resolutions sent to the floor of Convention dealing with Windsor response. The committee has been remarkably balanced, hard working, and focused; but the work has been slow and difficult. Last night we held our fifteenth meeting! Most of the effort is behind us. We have produced resolutions on our interdependence in the Anglican Communion; on our eagerness as a church to participate in the development of an Anglican Covenant and in a Communion-wide “listening process”; on our regret for breaching the bonds of affection in the Communion regarding the actions of the 2003 General Convention; and, just last evening, on the request in the Windsor Report for a moratorium on the consecration of further bishops living in same sex partnerships and a moratorium on liturgies for the blessing of same sex unions. The language we’ve come up with, I believe, makes a good faith effort to honor Windsor’s requests. Because the committee’s membership is so diverse, we have listened carefully to one another and been “stretched” in the give and take of significant conversation. Now these resolutions go to the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, where they may be amended further. I will report to you later on the finals texts that emerge from Convention debate.
I said in my first letter from Columbus that my deepest hope for General Convention was that the Episcopal Church makes a wholehearted response to the Windsor Report and its requests. These resolutions, I think, move us in that direction. Please continue to pray as General Convention wrestles with these important matters. May our Lord’s prayer for unity – “that they may all be one” (John 17:21) – be manifested in us.
Meanwhile, your General Convention deputation continues its hard work in the House of Deputies, a body with a membership of more than 900. (Imagine a meeting hall so huge that when deputies step up to the microphone, their image is projected on a huge screen, many times larger than life. It’s daunting indeed!) You are well represented in Columbus, and the Diocese of Northern Indiana can be rightly proud of the people who represent us in the House of Deputies. With all blessings I am
Yours in Christ,
+Ed
Source: Diocese of Northern Indiana website
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A Podcast of +Schori’s address to Deputies
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 7:45 am
From the Diocese of Minnesota General Convention page – just one of many podcasts available.
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Nick Knisely asks: Are we telling the truth
June 20th, 2006 posted by admin at 6:50 am
Nick Knisely (clergy deputy, Bethlehem) was taking notes during the floor discussion of A161 yesterday. Here are some of his observations and questions:
Truth: We’re not really telling the truth here. We’re apologizing for something even as we do it. If we’re not sorry enough to stop, then we shouldn’t apologize. If we have to apologize for something in advance, then we shouldn’t do it.
The young people from the official Youth presence on the floor are uniformly speaking against this resolution. They are saying that they as Christians can not accept the rejection of another person that God has made.
The system that tells us who is to speak, and in what order, has broken. We have no idea who should speak and when. We start to try to figure out a way to manage with the problem…
(The one thing that my gay and lesbian Christian friends have taught me is that living a lie can not lead to peace – nor to a real relationship with Jesus. It is only by being truthful that we come into the presence of God. Are we telling the truth in this resolution?)
A quote from Moltman is read. It says (in paraphrase): “Truth can only be discerned when we act in freedom. Truth and clarity will never be found if we are coerced.”
(I think this is a telling point. We are not coming to this point of our own freewill. The language in this resolution has been written so that it will pass muster. It is not our discernment of the truth…)
full post here
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