August 2009 – Rector’s Ruminations
By now you have no doubt heard of the actions taken by General Convention to affirm that “any ordained ministry” (to include the office of bishop) is open to gay and lesbian persons. This action ends what many regarded as a moratorium on ordaining gay bishops, which the Church passed at its last General Convention three years ago.
This recent action was in the form of Resolution DO25 which was passed by over two thirds in both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. (See the attached DO25 resolution and explanation.) The House of Bishops also took up a measure that would create a liturgy to bless committed same sex couples.
Many attending Convention characterized the action, not as an overturning of the moratorium, but as simply an assertion of “who we are.” Others are concerned that this action will further impair The Episcopal Church’s relationship with other members of the Anglican Communion.
Although I did not attend General Convention, as your rector and a bishop of the Church, I support and concur with the actions taken at the Convention. In so noting, I think that the process, a period of listening and discernment and finally deciding is consistent with who we are as Anglicans and how we make decisions. This is not to say all Anglicans are of one mind on this or any other issue. It is to say that both historically and theologically we as Anglicans can live with diversity of opinion and respectfully honor different points of view. This characteristic will undoubtedly be tested in the days ahead given the fact that we as Episcopalians are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the second or third largest Christian body in the world. Given our global identity and the cultural and theological differences of the various thirty-nine provinces that make up our church, it is hardly surprising that there have been and will continue to be tensions and strains within and between various provinces of our communion. The question before us is, can we continue to affirm and allow appropriate diversity, respecting cultural differences and theological disagreement without succumbing to schism? I believe and pray that we can. DO25 does not end the discussion regarding homosexuality as stated in the resolution itself. It does call us to ongoing dialogue and theological discernment in the days ahead recognizing that orthodoxy (from the Greek, right belief) is grounded in orthopraxis (correct action and conduct especially ethical) and that the relationship between the two is inseparable. Justice is truth in action and there can be no unity of belief if it is not grounded in truth and justice.
We as Anglicans do not pretend to know the mind of God. Rather we seek the mind of God through prayer, the examination of scripture, the use of reason and being open to the revelation of God through the work of the Holy Spirit within the Church. Such seeking and discernment require patience, wisdom, humility and most of all charity.
I close with a note of positive irony. Given the potential for dissension within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion, two resolutions stand our as symbols of unity and shared ministry. The first is a proposal for full communion with the Moravian Church, the culmination of over 250 years of dialogue between Anglicans and Moravians. The second is a next step proposal for eventual full communion with Presbyterians that began with a resolution from the 2000 General Convention. Both proposals serve as a witness to Jesus’ Prayer in the Gospel of John, that we all should be one, so that world may believe. (John 17: 20-21)
In Christ,
+Craig
By Bishop Craig B. Anderson
* FINAL VERSION – Concurred
Resolution: D025
Title: Commitment and Witness to Anglican Communion
Topic: Anglican Communion
Committee: 08 – World Mission
House of Initial Action: Deputies
Proposer: Ms. D. Rebecca Snow
Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 76th General Convention reaffirm the continued participation of The Episcopal Church as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion; give thanks for the work of the bishops at the Lambeth Conference of 2008; reaffirm the abiding commitment of The Episcopal Church to the fellowship of churches that constitute the Anglican Communion and seek to live into the highest degree of communion possible; and be it further
Resolved, That the 76th General Convention encourage dioceses, congregations, and members of The Episcopal Church to participate to the fullest extent possible in the many instruments, networks and relationships of the Anglican Communion; and be it further
Resolved, That the 76th General Convention reaffirm its financial commitment to the Anglican Communion and pledge to participate fully in the Inter-Anglican Budget; and be it further
Resolved, That the 76th General Convention affirm the value of “listening to the experience of homosexual persons,” as called for by the Lambeth Conferences of 1978, 1988, and 1998, and acknowledge that through our own listening the General Convention has come to recognize that the baptized membership of The Episcopal Church includes same-sex couples living in lifelong committed relationships “characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God” (2000-D039); and be it further
Resolved, That the 76th General Convention recognize that gay and lesbian persons who are part of such relationships have responded to God’s call and have exercised various ministries in and on behalf of God’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and are currently doing so in our midst; and be it further
Resolved, That the 76th General Convention affirm that God has called and may call such individuals, to any ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church, and that God’s call to the ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church is a mystery which the Church attempts to discern for all people through our discernment processes acting in accordance with the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church; and be it further
Resolved, That the 76th General Convention acknowledge that members of The Episcopal Church as of the Anglican Communion, based on careful study of the Holy Scriptures, and in light of tradition and reason, are not of one mind, and Christians of good conscience disagree about some of these matters.
EXPLANATION
This resolution provides clarification in light of the Windsor Report (2004) and subsequent discussions in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
The first resolve reaffirms resolution A159 adopted at the 75th General Convention General Convention, in 2006. While much attention has been focused on official statements and resolutions from the primates meetings, Lambeth Conference 2008, and Anglican Consultative Council meetings in 2005 and 2009, our participation in the Anglican Communion consists of a much richer tapestry of ministries and networks as well as personal relationships. Hence the second resolve encourages Episcopalians, individually and in dioceses and parishes, to build relationships with our sisters and brothers around the Anglican Communion by participation in these networks and ministries.
Another sign of the Episcopal Church’s commitment to the Anglican Communion is financial. In 2007, The Episcopal Church budgeted $661,000 for the Inter-Anglican budget, which sustains the work of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Anglican Communion offices in London. The 2007 financial report of the Anglican Consultative Council (the latest available on the Anglican Communion website) reports a total income from Inter Anglican Budget contributions as £1,134,745 ($1,864,574.36, using 2009 currency rates). In other words, The Episcopal Church contributes a substantial portion of the Inter Anglican Budget. This resolution reaffirms our financial commitment.
Our relationships in the Anglican Communion have been tested by the question of the ordination to the episcopate of individuals living in a same-sex partnership. Resolution D-039 of the 73rd General Convention, in 2000, acknowledged that the membership of the Episcopal Church includes persons living in same-sex relationships; established an expectation that “such relationships will be characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God”; and further denounced “promiscuity, exploitation, and abusiveness in the relationships of any of our members.” Three years later, the 74th General Convention reaffirmed this expectation. These standards thus provide guidance for access to the discernment process for ordination to the episcopate.
The acceptance of the ministry of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons is not settled in The Episcopal Church or in the Anglican Communion. While the church continues to discern God’s will in these matters, it is important to remind ourselves that sacramental theology since the time of Augustine of Hippo has affirmed that the validity of sacraments does not depend on the character of the ordained person celebrating those sacraments.