One of the major players in the months leading up to General Convention, and during the actual meeting was a group that is called “The Chicago Consultation”. The decisions that were made at Convention were influenced by the work of the Consultation, in part through the words of members of the Anglican Global South that spoke to the bishops and deputies.
The Chicago Tribune has a story detailing the events of the past few weeks, the role of the Consultation and a bit of history about how the Consultation came to be:
“The Chicago Consultation emerged three years ago as a group of about a dozen concerned parishioners at All Saints Church, a progressive Episcopal parish on the city’s North Side. Calling itself Title III, the group aimed to remind the church of its own canon that said no person should be denied access to the church based on race, gender or sexual orientation.
Organizers believed that canon was ignored when the church adopted guidelines at its last convention in 2006 that discouraged the consecration of bishops whose ‘manner of life’ would strain relations with the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the American arm.
‘Some of the very strong leaders in the diocese are gay and lesbian,’ said All Saints member Ruth Frey, who eventually became coordinator of the consultation. ‘Because of that model for leadership, we can see easily that there should be room for them to be called as bishops if that’s where they’re so called.'”
Read the full article here.