DAILY BULLETIN: The Right to Have Rites

Written end of Tuesday, June 20, 2006

This afternoon the House of Deputies continued yesterday’s discussion on a resolution (A161) oddly entitled ‘Election of Bishops’ which was presented as part of the Church’s response to the Windsor Report. A substitute motion was immediately presented by conservatives that drew more extensively on the actual language of the Windsor Report. This resolution resolved that the ‘General Convention… effect a moratorium on the election and consent to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is living in a same gender union’, and that it also ‘effect a moratorium on the authorizing on all public rites of blessing of same-sex unions’.

This resolution was challenged on constitutional grounds, and was ultimately declared unconstitutional since the actions listed would exceed the current authority of the General Convention and therefore would require a change in either the constitution or the canons of the Church.

The House then moved back to the original resolution, which called for dioceses to refrain from ordaining as a bishop anyone whose ‘manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church,’ and for the General Convention to refrain from developing or authorizing Rites for the blessing of same-sex unions at this time’. Both conservatives and liberals voted against the resolution which failed to win an adequate majority in either the lay or the clerical order. Attempts to have the motion reconsidered also failed.

Conservative leaders immediately said that the Episcopal Church was clearly continuing its trajectory to walk apart from the Anglican Communion. Once again, they accused, America was going it alone. Some deputies who voted for the motion claimed that conservatives had deliberately sabotaged it in order to provoke schism. Both David Anderson of the AAC and Kendall Harmon of the ACN declared that the motion as it stood had not adequately met the concerns of the Windsor Report. Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone weighed in to the debate with a statement on Bishop Schori’s election, ‘The election of the new Presiding Bishop has provided us with abundant clarity of the commitments and direction of ECUSA.’

By the end of this afternoon’s business in the House of Deputies it appeared that the Episcopal Church had voted to continue with its former policy in regard to both issues. Integrity is delighted that the deputies chose not to sacrifice the sacramental rights of faithful LGBT Episcopalians for the demands of some members of the Anglican Communion.

The House of Deputies has been operating very slowly in this Convention. One of the victims has been the Rev. Barry Beisner, bishop-elect of North California, who spent several days in limbo waiting for the final confirmation of his call. A group in the Consecration of Bishops Committee presented a minority resolution which argued that his two divorces and three marriages failed to show the holiness of life which is required of a bishop. Some deputies argued for the forgiveness of Christ to be recognized in the life of a man who has wonderful gifts and a special calling. We are delighted that our good friend Barry Beisner will soon be consecrated Bishop of North California.

This evening, the House of Deputies once again considered A159 (Commitment to Interdependence) and then A166 (Anglican Covenant). Both resolutions passed with relative ease. However there is still some unease about whether the Convention has adequately responded to the Windsor Report. The House of Bishops has been discussing the issue. We believe that the Bishops have assigned a committee to come up with a resolution that honestly states that we are a church of two minds.

A joint session has been called for tomorrow morning, and we will be interested to see what will be presented then. Whatever happens, the Convention will end tomorrow with a considerable amount of unfinished business. We are excited to have a new Presiding Bishop who has a history of supporting GLBT inclusion, and to have defeated the efforts to restrict the ordination of openly gay people and to prevent blessings for our relationships.