The General Convention of the Episcopal Church has passed a resolution on same-sex blessings. The House of Bishops approved the legislation by a margin of more than 3-1 yesterday. tin of more than 3-1 yesterday. The House of Deputies passed the legislation by a slightly smaller margin today.
A letter describing the steps taken by The Episcopal Church’s 76th General Convention and reaffirming the close relationship with the Anglican Communion was sent today to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson. Read the letter.
updated with fuller quotations throughout By Jim Naughton, Lauren Stanley and Rebecca Wilson The deputies are debating the resolution passed by the bishops that would
This points back to the brilliance of D025 and the now pending C056 that the House of Deputies takes up on Friday. They were wrought, particularly in the House of Bishops this General Convention, through bishops on opposite sides of these questions engaged in conscientious listening to one another – the Indaba process that a number of our bishops first experienced, ironically enough, at Lambeth.
“From my outsider’s perspective, your most urgent issue of institutional rigidity is related to the complex ways candidates are accepted and trained into ordained ministry. To put it bluntly: For all your system does well, it is perfectly designed to scare away from Episcopal leadership almost everyone with the spiritual gift of evangelism” – Brian McLaren
The statement represents the voices of many bishops who consistently find themselves in the minority at the 76th General Convention. “It is apparent that a substantial majority of this Convention believes that The Episcopal Church should move forward on matters of human sexuality,” says the preamble to the statement. “We recognize this reality and understand the clarity with which the majority has expressed itself.”
“My question that I pose today, because those hands haunt me: Is it time to fill those hands? Can we fill those hands together with the absolute love of God?”
The decision exposes the flaw at the heart of attempts to order the Communion on the basis of single issues. There is no less reason to join together at the eucharist, share theological ideas, engage in jointly funded enterprises, and so on, this week than last. A few Episcopalians have said more clearly what they have believed for some time; many still disagree with them. Nothing much has changed.
In the afternoon, the Houses came together in joint session to hear Program, Budget, and Finance (PB&F) present the proposed budget for The Episcopal Church in the next triennium. The Presiding Bishop warned us that it would be painful, as it calls for the substantial reduction for program and mission funding, cuts in staff across the board, and a massive restructuring of how The Episcopal Church goes about its ministry in the Gospel of Christ Jesus.
Resolution C056, the same-sex blessing resolution passed yesterday by the House of Bishops, will be heard on Friday at 9:30 am Pacific in the House