“Anglicans from around the world met near Chicago December 5-7 to build international coalitions and develop a strategy for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the life of the church.” So begins the ENS report today.
More:
Meeting at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, the 50-member group known as the Chicago Consultation urged leaders of the Episcopal Church to permit the blessing of same-gender relationships and to remove barriers that keep gay candidates from being elected as bishops, according to a news release from the group.
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Participants from Africa, England and New Zealand joined Anglicans from Central, North and South America in “pledging to work against schismatic leaders who have sought to gain power in the Communion by turning marginalized groups against one another,” the release said.
“Homophobia is a sin whose end time is now,” said the Rev. Canon Marilyn McCord Adams, Regius Professor of Divinity at Christ Church, Oxford University, in a paper opening the Consultation.
Adams’ is running today on the Daily Episcopalian.
In addition to discussions the group made plans.
“There was tremendous energy in the plenary sessions, and even more in the breakout groups,” the Rev. Ruth Meyers, academic dean at Seabury-Western, and co-convener of the Consultation, said in the release. “It was such a talented and committed group that eventually we abandoned some of the formal presentations and started identifying our priorities and making plans.”
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Before adjourning, the release said, the group made plans to:
- publish several of the papers it received on the website Episcopal Café;
- establish its own website;
- hire a part-time coordinator; and
- support working groups on communications, fundraising and organizational strategy, as well as a group to identify and produce theological resources.
Read it all here.
More of papers from the Chicago Consultation will be appearing in the coming days on the Daily Episcopalian.