Today the General Convention was called to a special joint session at which the Presiding Bishop reminded both Houses that at the beginning of his term he had called the church ot the ‘costly discipline of conversation’

DAILY BULLETIN: The Great Reversal–We Were Right to be Cautious

Written end of Wednesday, June 21, 2006

It’s being called a sell-out; it’s being described as sacrificing LGBT people to the Anglican Communion. It’s being called dishonest, lacking in integrity and even schizophrenic. The Great Reversal was achieved and enacted in good faith. At the end someone said, ‘I hope it was worth it’. But within a couple of hours the Anglican Communion Network bishops were dissociating themselves from the actions of the General Convention, while liberal bishops declared that they were ‘prayerfully dissented’. But to start at the beginning;

Wednesday morning, the General Convention was called to a special joint session at which the Presiding Bishop reminded both Houses that at the beginning of his term he had called the church to the ‘costly discipline of conversation’. Unless our brothers and sisters in other parts of the Anglican Communion know that they have been heard, he said, the mission we have been called to share will be undermined. He therefore requested both Houses to pass a resolution ‘to receive and embrace’ the Windsor Report’s invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation, and to refrain from consenting to the consecration of any candidate for the episcopate ‘whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church’.

The resolution passed in the House of Bishops. To introduce it in the House of Deputies required suspension of normal rules of procedure. In an unprecedented move the Presiding Bishop elect was invited to address the House of Deputies as they commenced their debate of the resolution. She talked of the Episcopal Church being like ‘conjoint twins’ – ‘this body of Christ is neither wholly one nor wholly two’. Speaking of the resolution on the floor, she said, ‘Personally, I find the language exceedingly challenging but my sense it is the best we are going to do today or at this Convention.’ ‘I am fully committed to the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in this Church.’

During the debate, several conservatives argued against the resolution which they said would fail to send an adequate message to the Anglican Communion. Deputy Spencer of Quincy declared, ‘It is as though we think they are not intelligent enough to see through it.’ An amendment to limit the moratorium to three years was defeated. Many others argued that this was the time to act with humility in line with the calls the Convention has heard for reconciliation. The vote was taken in orders and the electronic system showed that of the 104 dioceses, in the lay order 72 voted yes, 21 voted no, and 11 delegations were divided. In the clerical order 75 voted yes, 24 voted no, and 10 were divided. B033 carried. The mood of the house was restrained and somber. One of the press said, “I hope it was worth it.’

The House of Deputies broke for lunch. At a lunchtime press conference the Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, said that he had spoken informally with the Archbishop of Canterbury who had praised the seriousness with which the Convention was taking the situation. The report from the Episcopal News Service says that Griswold also told the House of Bishops, "If we don't have something substantial, it will be very difficult for the Archbishop of Canterbury to invite the Presiding Bishop to the Lambeth Conference.
I do know the complexity of what the Archbishop dealing with, in communion terms, and he needs for something clear to come from the Episcopal Church."

But the new resolution was not enough for the Anglican Communion Network bishops who handed out a prepared (but unsigned) statement and later talked to reporters. They described the resolution as dishonest, and the House of Deputies as schizophrenic – it was clear to them that the Episcopal Church had failed to turn and the final resolution was inadequate. +Duncan of Pittsburgh said that he was not in communion with the Presiding Bishop elect and +Schofield announced that San Joaquin will this weekend follow the lead of Fort Worth in requesting alternative primatial oversight. ‘The American church has walked apart’ they proclaimed.

A group of liberal bishops also ‘prayerfully dissented’ from B033. Their statement is available here. They questioned the integrity of the decision making process and the flawed paradigm that weighed the inclusion of LGBT people against the Episcopal Church’s inclusion in the Anglican Communion.

The two main reasons put forward by deputies for supporting B033 were that it would enable us to stay in conversation with our sisters and brothers in the Communion, and that it would support the new Presiding Bishop as she begins to build relationships with other Primates. It was understood as a sacrifice that the deputies reluctantly made to honor the ‘Windsor Process’. When the House of Deputies voted, they thought they were supporting the decision and recommendation of the House of Bishops, but in fact there was little unanimity among the bishops. Had the House adjourned for lunch before voting perhaps deputies would have realized the lack of consensus among the bishops and we might have seen a different outcome.

The decision not to ordain openly gay bishops (or others with any questionable manner of life) is the first step back that the Church has taken in the quest for full inclusion of all the baptized. If the view of the CAN bishops prevails, a probably pointless gesture has been made on the backs of gay and lesbian people. There is tremendous disappointment here.

Bishop Gene Robinson said that he was disappointed ‘but in strange way’ encouraged by the serious way that Convention has grappled with the issues. ‘We are on a journey and there will be bumps on that journey,’ he said. ‘We love the God that we worship’, he said, pointing out that Jesus’ path was very hard. ‘Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s not right’.