Bishop G. Mdimi Mhogolo of the Diocese of Central Tanganyika in the Anglican Church of Tanzania attended our General Convention, and offers the observations hiding beneath the “deep eading” button.
One interesting little excerpt:
So one can see a Church which is more Episcopalian than Anglican. In order of priority, one is Episcopalian then Christian and then Anglican. People see themselves as Episcopalian Christians first and second as Christian Anglican Episcopalians. People love to be Episcopalian more than they love their Anglican heritage. I talked to one woman who was not an Episcopalian who came to the Convention to see how Episcopalians fight and abuse each other. But when she saw how Episcopalians loved each other with hugs and kisses during and after the meetings, she decided upon returning home to become an Episcopalian!!!
And another:
It was very amusing for me to hear each polarized group and individual appealing to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Whether a person was conservative – evangelical, charistimatic or catholic, or liberal, progressive and politically correct, or left or right, every one used to claim to have been led by the Spirit of God. I felt as though I were in a Pentecostal Church!!! The Spirit was made to take the center stage of all debates.
And, finally, this:
When one allows democratic governance of the Church to function in the Church, one has to expect surprises. Where there is less democracy in the church and the house of Bishops or an individual Bishop can muzzle other voices, then those Bishops or the individual Bishop becomes THE DEFENDER OF THE FAITH. But in democratic church governance, ALL CHRISTIANS ARE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH and Bishops are only spokespersons of the faith and not the sole interpreters of the Faith ‘once received and delivered to the saints’ Bishops do not have veto votes in the ECUSA, unlike many of Bishops outside the US.
Click to read it all.
It was a great privilege and honor to be invited by the Bishops of the Episcopal Dioceses of Atlanta and New York to attend the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the US. It is an experience that I will treasure for many years.
It was very helpful to study and reflect on how the Episcopal Church makes its decisions. It was also an eye opener to see how interested groups from within and outside the US try to influence the decisions of the Church and how the two powerful houses try to work towards a common mind and vision of the Church.
Because of its history, the Church had opted to govern itself democratically. I was told that the people who created the US constitution were the same that carved the Church constitution as well. One can truly see the similarity and appreciate or disagree with such church governance.
It seems to me that when one allows pure democracy to be exercised by clergy and laity as it is in the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops in the Episcopal Church, one must then expect many surprises. The two Houses, namely the House of Bishops with more than 200 Bishops and the House of Deputies with over 800 members, work independently with equal powers and privileges. In order for a resolution to pass, it must be agreed upon by the two Houses independently. So resolutions go to and fro between the houses for concurrence.
Given the dynamics of the Houses:-
– all Bishops are graduates and all members of the House of Deputies are graduates of different disciplines;
– the differing persuasion of the members of the Houses – some politically extreme right or left and others are either center right or left;
– the history of the USA, of slavery, discriminations against blacks, women, Hispanic and indigenous peoples.
– how political and social change occurred through bitter struggles and the shedding of blood;
one has a governing body that is both highly political and socially theological.
Listening to the Houses debate, it seemed to me that the House of Bishops argued from theological and less political contexts; whereas the House of Deputies seemed to be very political standing for human rights, justice, and dignity for all – abhorring any forms of discriminations and injustices.
The House of Bishops took the local context very seriously and never forgot the global concerns within the Anglican Communion and Ecumenical partners, whereas the House of Deputies cared more of their internal concerns and less of outside interests. This was particularly so when the two houses debated on the Windsor Report.
So one can see a Church which is more Episcopalian than Anglican. In order of priority, one is Episcopalian then Christian and then Anglican. People see themselves as Episcopalian Christians first and second as Christian Anglican Episcopalians. People love to be Episcopalian more than they love their Anglican heritage. I talked to one woman who was not an Episcopalian who came to the Convention to see how Episcopalians fight and abuse each other. But when she saw how Episcopalians loved each other with hugs and kisses during and after the meetings, she decided upon returning home to become an Episcopalian!!!
However, one has to grieve at the division of the Church over worship. Whereas the majority of members and visitors enjoyed the Eucharistic celebrations and the round table Bible Studies that followed the reading and preaching of the Word, some delegates of ten Episcopal Dioceses with their clergy and Bishop visitors held parallel Eucharistic services. The delegates met at committee and plenary sessions of the Convention, but could not worship together. The delegates tried to see the mind of Christ in the Convention meetings but could not break bread together!!
The General Convention style of governance was dominated by the presentations of resolutions to the Houses to be discussed and voted on. The Standing and Special Commissions of the General Convention had prepared reports and put proposed resolutions to the General Convention Committees for their discussion before the resolutions were sent to the two Houses. It was great to see how a vision for the Church was rising from the proposed resolutions. The resolutions covered most of the mission of the Church for internal and external concerns of the Church, touching all areas of Church life, witness and mission as well as world politics, economy and social life. Had all the resolutions been passed by the Houses, one could have seen a vision of God’s mission to the world and the church emerging for the Episcopal Church for the next three years. But because there were too many proposed resolutions, the House of Deputies did not have enough time to go through them all. In the end, a small number of resolutions were concurred by the House of Deputies.
The major contentious issue that dominated the debates and hearings was the Windsor Report. Tempers were high.
It was very amusing for me to hear each polarized group and individual appealing to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Whether a person was conservative – evangelical, charistimatic or catholic, or liberal, progressive and politically correct, or left or right, every one used to claim to have been led by the Spirit of God. I felt as though I were in a Pentecostal Church!!! The Spirit was made to take the center stage of all debates.
I just wondered. How can the Holy Spirit divide the Church or call for the Church to schism?
How can the Holy Spirit scatter that which Christ unites?
How can the Holy Spirit of God separate and break in the name of Truth?
How can the Holy Spirit become so angry and hating, so hurting and unloosening and so conceited; encouraging people to shout and scorn one another?
In this context of the debate, my understanding of the Holy Spirit was brutally tested.
I believe in the Holy Spirit who glues pieces of humanity together into the body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit brings together that which has been broken and scattered by human sin into wholeness and oneness in Christ.
I saw in the General Convention a spirit rending and tearing the Church into pieces and some people threatening to walk out!
The two minds of the Episcopal Church were all arguing from the Truth; one from the Truth of Historic Biblical Hermeneutics and the other from Scientific Biblical Hermeneutics. The debates were so destructive that some of these Christians were not prepared to walk together. They would rather part and never meet each other again in this world, and who cares if the people one rejects will live together in the afterlife? Some in fact seem to glory at the breaking up of the Anglican Communion!! Perhaps many people seem to be ignorant that the issue of same gender unions is a problem not only within the Anglican Communion but also with the Lutheran World Federation, the Presbyterian Church, the Uniting Churches, Reformed Churches, the Methodist Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Whereas these major denominations have gay and lesbian leaders, they have kept quiet about it, but the Anglican Church that loves to expose its problems for everybody to see is now not incapable of holding the Anglican Communion together. Is the Truth unable to tolerate and live alongside falsity and hypocrisy? Is it possible for the Truth of God to become gracious and understanding so that it can live with contradictions and yet continue to shine instead of finding itself a safe place, as it tried to do at the Reformation and failed? Pentecostal Churches have also tried to have churches that have pure and unblemished Christians but have also failed!!!!
With that spirit of mind, the first resolutions on the Windsor Report prepared by the Special Commission were utterly rejected by all Houses. The second resolutions prepared by the House of Bishops were also categorically rejected by the House of Deputies.
And then the Presiding Bishop took leadership and called for a joint meeting, presented a balanced and powerful statement, balancing internal concerns with Anglican Communion interests and proposed a resolution that would respond sincerely to the Windsor Report on the Moratorium issue, and then asked the houses to discuss the resolution independently.
As the Houses debated, one can feel the agonizing hope that grace and justice collided, hope and despair bumped into each other and power and weakness fought each other. There were many tears and frustrations, hurts and hopelessness as people from left and right, center left and right fought each other.
At last, the resolution was passed by both houses pleasing neither the left nor the right, but bringing hope for the center majority.
When one allows democratic governance of the Church to function in the Church, one has to expect surprises. Where there is less democracy in the church and the house of Bishops or an individual Bishop can muzzle other voices, then those Bishops or the individual Bishop becomes THE DEFENDER OF THE FAITH. But in democratic church governance, ALL CHRISTIANS ARE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH and Bishops are only spokespersons of the faith and not the sole interpreters of the Faith ‘once received and delivered to the saints’ Bishops do not have veto votes in the ECUSA, unlike many of Bishops outside the US.
Reading the Windsor Report in the paragraphs that asked the ECUSA to exercise a Moratorium until the Anglican Communion reaches a consensus on the same gender union issue, and the resolution of the General Convention to exercise restraint until there is a consensus within the Communion, I thought for the time being a space and true spirit of listening and debating the issue of gay and lesbian ministries has been negotiated. If for the ECUSA the language of being sorry does not satisfy the idea of repentance, a space has also been provided for debate and discussion until Anglicans reach a consensus. And since the Windsor Report calls for all provinces to make formal responses, a space has now been created for all concerns that try to rend the Anglican Communion apart to be debated and discussed openly until a consensus is reached.
But the developments that we see today from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s statements and the response of some of the Primates of the Anglican Communion do not seem to encourage discussion and debate within the Anglican family. It seems some Bishops and Primates have made up their minds and no further discussion is needed. For whose interests? Is it in God’s interests for the Church to continue to fragment itself further and further? Or in all this don’t we see any human greed, conceit, hypocrisy, manipulation, craftiness, power struggle and sin at work in the name of God and the Truth? Let the pure, the sinless, the perfect and the holy teach us to live and work with sinners and the rejected.
The Election of Katherine Jefferts Schone as Presiding Bishop
For those evangelical and charismatic, Anglo Catholic and ultra conservatives whose theology and practice compel them to spurn women for ordination, the election of a woman Bishop to preside, manage, coordinate and serve the Episcopal Church added more fuel to the burning fires of destruction. This alliance could not tolerate any more than the election of a woman Bishop to be the head of the Church. On the other side, women were celebrating 30 years of women’s ministries in the ordained arena and for them the election of a woman Presiding Bishop added to their joy and jubilation. It was good to see this joy a jubilation in the midst of debate, argument and possible schism. “God bless America” and God Bless the Anglican Communion.