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Resolution D025 was passed on July 14 by the 76th General Convention meeting in Anaheim, California. In addition to underscoring the Episcopal Church’s support of and participation in the Anglican Communion, the resolution affirms “that God has called and may call” gay and lesbian people “to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church.”

The presiding officers emphasized that D025 has “not repealed” Resolution B033 that was passed by the 75th General Convention in 2006. B033 urged restraint in consenting to the consecration of bishops whose “manner of life” might present challenges for the rest of the Anglican Communion. That challenge was widely understood to refer to gay bishops in partnered unions. The full text of the letter to Williams is available here.

In a separate letter, Jefferts Schori wrote to the primates of the Anglican Communion — including a copy of the letter to Williams — acknowledging that “with so much misinformation circulating through the press and other sources, it is crucial to me that I provide the Archbishop and all of you with accurate information.” Thirteen primates were present in Anaheim, the largest number ever to attend a General Convention.

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Steve Wood was waiting to say this but was not called on by the chair:

South Carolina stands before you with broken hearts. By passing Resolution D025 and C056 this General Convention has overturned the clear and consistent teaching of Holy Scripture and the Christian Church. We will have repudiated the teaching and practice of the Anglican Communion. The Communion’s patience and generosity toward the Episcopal Church makes our persistent refusal to heed their requests to us to honor the two called for moratoria all the more devastating.

Many of us us here this morning, and in Dioceses, parishes, and pews throughout the Episcopal Church, disavow this General Convention’s actions. We will now prayerfully seek ways to be faithful to the Anglican Communion and to the mutual responsibility and interdependence to which we are called, no matter what the cost.

Mary Ailes has coverage here.

Sarah Hey is covering it here.

Jim Naughton and Rebecca Wilson are covering it there.

Twenty-nine bishops have endorsed affirming their desire to remain part of the Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church while being faithful to the calls for restraint made by the wider church.

Styled as the “Anaheim Statement,” the letter of dissent to the actions of the 76th General Convention pledged the bishops’ fealty to the requests made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the primates’ meetings and ACC-14 to observe a moratoria on same-gender blessings, cross-border interventions and the ordination of gay and lesbian people to the episcopate.

In the hours after its release, the statement drew support from 23 diocesan bishops, four suffragan and assistant bishops, and two retired bishops and included bishops who voted on both sides of D025 and C056 — resolutions that rescinded the ban on two of the three Windsor Report moratoria.

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Bishop Edward J. Konieczny of Oklahoma told a convention news briefing that “when the statement was read, it was clear to everyone in the house that this was not a statement of division.”

Rather, “it was a statement of unity and acknowledging and recognizing that we have listened to one another intently and we’ve done that with open hearts and mind, and that there was a thankfulness for that on the part of all. That particular statement was not intended to be anything other than them sharing with the wider communion that we are working together on this difficult issue,” he added.

Bishop James Mathes of San Diego agreed, adding that Lillibridge’s statement “was offered in a loving and appreciative way of the conversation we had.”

It included “clarity of where they are, but also in appreciation for the listening [that went on] in earlier conversations in the last few days.”

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We are coming into the home stretch of this General Convention. We finish late Friday afternoon. Today a balanced budget for The Episcopal Church was passed in both the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. There were no amendments to the budget, although some were proposed in the House of Deputies. There was virtually no discussion on the budget in the House of Bishops. It was a moment of legislative whiplash which, I suppose, reflected the feeling of futility that nothing could be changed. The lack of debate also honored the extraordinary work of the Program, Budget and Finance Committee that had the onerous task of balancing the budget that at one point was $24 million dollars in deficit. Many cuts were made, which means that lots of departments across the church have been reduced; and many staff jobs have been eliminated. There is a lot of hurt and loss to all of this — and I don’t think any of us really know the implication and impact of this yet.

“Mission” is our Presiding Bishop’s echoing metaphor. She describes mission as the heartbeat of the church. She invited — no, she challenged, us to hear the mission heartbeat in our bodies and souls. It will be more imperative than ever to respond to this challenge with deeper commitment — given that there are fewer financial resources to carry it out. Thus the Episcopal Church mirrors the experience of the dioceses — which is, to be sure, also the experience of congregations.
Yesterday, the House of Bishops passed a resolution that said a whole array of things — but mainly was focused on same-gender blessings and offering generous pastoral sensitivity for dioceses which perform them. The original amendment was almost brought to a vote the day before, but several bishops who were in the minority of the two-to-one vote the day before that (on affirming GLBT people for all levels of ministry) stood up to say that they felt marginalized and vulnerable. The legislative process was abandoned for the rest of the day — and a group of self organized bishops agreed to meet informally in order to try and move things forward.

This was the hardest moment of Convention for me. It turned out that it was the hardest moment of Convention for the 26 bishops who met that night and early the next morning — and for 26 different reasons. I felt that there was a movement afoot to scrub the decision of full inclusion; others said that the church was moving too fast for them. We expressed our thoughts and feelings in an Indaba-like atmosphere (which we had learned at the Lambeth Conference a year before). As the discussion progressed, we decided to move beyond creating a process of winners and losers, and instead to intentionally come up with a statement that included the ideas and feelings of as many as possible. We wanted to build a tent that was high and wide enough for as many as possible to gather underneath.

The resulting resolution (which five of us wrote) reflected the diversity of perspectives. When presented on the floor of the House of Bishops, there were more amendments — and amendments to the amendments; but they were, for the most part, attempts to better articulate what we were about rather than efforts to discredit or distort.

The final resolution passed by a three to one margin. It recognized our diversity. Instead of trying to restrict dioceses — the intent of the resolution was to trust the integrity and practice of bishops in their respective jurisdictions.

I think it was an important step forward.

Your deputation will be coming home tomorrow — and over the weekend. Many of us from General Convention will be present next Thursday, July 23 — from 10am-12 noon, and 7pm to 9pm, at St. Agnes Church, 65 Union Avenue, Little Falls, to tell our stories of Convention and to entertain your questions and hear your concerns. Each session will essentially be the same — and anyone who wishes to is invited to come.

Peace,

–(The Rt. Rev.) Mark M. Beckwith is Bishop of Newark

A: The most significant thing that happened was on Tuesday, after the House of Bishops stopped the debate on same-sex blessings and decided to have a smaller group of bishops meet to discuss it further. They said anyone could come, and it turned out it wasn’t a small group at all. There were 25 to 30 of us, and it turned out to be the most significant interaction I’ve had with the bishops since I’ve been elected.

It was profound and it was inspiring. People stood up and spoke their own truth, both the pain and the joy. Everyone spoke honestly about what they needed to go home with, what they could live with and what they couldn’t.

Q: So how do you explain the vote counts? The bishops passed both of these measures resoundingly, and we are starting to hear of many moderate-to-conservative bishops who voted “yes” on both ordinations and gay blessings.

A: Everyone acknowledges they know where this is going, that gay marriage is becoming a reality. But we’re trying to bring our people along. One bishop said to me he voted “no” so he could go home and do this work, as he explained it, “so I can bring my people along.” He used the Nixon in China analogy. This was a bishop who voted “no” on my consent in 2003.

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The House of Bishops has rejected the second reading of a constitutional amendment that would have stripped retired bishops of their vote in meetings of the house.

During Thursday morning’s business session of the House of Bishops at General Convention in Anaheim, Calif., the bishops voted 72-39 to refer resolution A052: Amending Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution, to committee. Moves to strip retired bishops of their vote in the House of Bishops began in the 1940s, and failed at the 1979, 1988 and 1997 General Conventions.

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The letter from the English Bishops, dated 26 June, notes that Swedish approval of such blessings is already “problematic” for the Church of England, and reiterates the position expressed by the 1998 Lambeth Conference that same-sex sexual relationships should not be blessed, and those in such a relationship should not be ordained.

Describing the new Swedish proposal, as currently understood, to be apparently “a fundamental redefinition of the Christian doctrine of marriage”, FOAG says it is “acutely conscious of the immediate and negative consequences of moves within any of the Porvoo churches to revise Christian teaching and practice in matters of sexuality”. Such changes would have “particular implications for the limitation of the interchangeability of ordained ministry”, and could even “further undermine the fragility of the Anglican Communion”.

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Dr. Kendall Harmon, Canon Theologian for The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, calls the vote a “unilateral departure from the Christian faith and practice.”

“It’s a continued intransigent insistence on their own way in the face of repeated requests by all the Anglican instruments of communion, most recently the Archbishop of Canterbury [Rowan Williams], who in the midst of the debate said after the House of Deputies voted and before the bishops voted, that he thought it was an unfortunate vote because it was going to further hurt the unity of the Communion,” he notes. “And nevertheless, the bishops went ahead and clearly overturned any kind of meaningful moratorium.”

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“The majority voice has spoken at this General Convention,” said Lillibridge later. “But I think it is important to also hear from the significant minority that represents about one-third both in the House of Bishops and House of Deputies.”

He said that in the Diocese of West Texas, the focus will remain on being a part of The Episcopal Church and continuing as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion.

“Out of all of this,” said Lillibridge, “what I want to bring home to the diocese is the deepening of our conversation regarding the issue of human sexuality as well as the relationship between minorities and majorities as we all seek to work together.”

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This is the statement (read by Bishop Gary Lillibridge on behalf of the group)

The Anaheim Statement, General Convention, 2009

At this convention, the House of Bishops has heard repeated calls for honesty and clarity. As the conversation has proceeded within the HOB, repeated attempts to modify wording which would have been preferable to the minority in the vote were respectfully heard and discussed, but in the end most of these amendments were found unacceptable to the majority in the House. Many in the majority believed the amendments would make the stated position of this House less honest about where they believe we are as The Episcopal Church.

It is apparent that a substantial majority of this Convention believes that The Episcopal Church should move forward on matters of human sexuality. We recognize this reality and understand the clarity with which the majority has expressed itself. We are grateful for those who have reached out to the minority, affirming our place in the Church.

We seek to provide the same honesty and clarity. We invite all bishops who share the following commitments to join us in this statement as we seek to find a place in the Church we continue to serve.

* We reaffirm our constituent membership in the Anglican Communion, our communion with the See of Canterbury and our commitment to preserving these relationships.

* We reaffirm our commitment to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them (BCP 526, 538)

* We reaffirm our commitment to the three moratoria requested of us by the instruments of Communion.

* We reaffirm our commitment to the Anglican Communion Covenant process currently underway, with the hope of working toward its implementation across the Communion once a Covenant is completed.

* We reaffirm our commitment to “continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship” which is foundational to our baptismal covenant, and to be one with the apostles in “interpreting the Gospel” which is essential to our work as bishops of the Church of God.

When I spoke to Bishop Lawrence midday, there were 12 bishops who had signed, and my understanding is that as of tonight that number is higher. I do not yet have all the names of those signing it–KSH

Update: Just got off the phone with Bishop Lawrence, and he said Bishop Lillibridge read the statement and it now has over 20 names

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Anglican leaders in the United States have paved the way for a schism in the church’s worldwide congregation by lifting a ban on the ordination of gay bishops.

Bishops, clergy and lay members voted overwhelmingly to open up ”˜any ordained ministry’ of the Episcopal Church ”“ the US branch of the 77-million member Anglican Communion ”“ to gays and lesbians.

The decision was made at the denomination’s General Convention in Anaheim, California.

By defying traditionalists, the move will deepen theological fissures that now make an eventual split with the wider Anglican Church almost inevitable.

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The resolution from the 1979 Episcopal General Convention in Denver inspired a small wave of headlines, even though it simply restated centuries of doctrine about marriage.

“We reaffirm the traditional teaching of the church on marriage, marital fidelity and sexual chastity as the standard of Christian sexual morality,” it said. “Candidates for ordination are expected to conform to this standard.”

However, 21 bishops disagreed, publicly stating that gay sexual relationships were “no less a sign to the world of God’s love” than traditional marriage. These bishops — including the Rt. Rev. Edmund Browning, who was chosen as America’s presiding bishop six years later — warned that since “we are answerable before almighty God … we cannot accept these recommendations or implement them in our dioceses.”

It was the start of an ecclesiastical war that has dominated the 70-million-member Anglican Communion for decades.

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U.S. Episcopal Church bishops authorized the church to draft a proposed blessing for same-sex couples Wednesday here at the Episcopal General Convention, although the measure still needs approval of the priest and lay delegates.

On Tuesday, the church decided to permit [non-celibate] gay bishops, which passed 99-45 among the bishops and by a 72 percent to 28 percent margin among the church’s deputies.

When the gay-blessings resolution was brought to the House of Bishops for consideration Tuesday, only supporters of the bill rose to speak. Gay blessings were raised during the 2003 General Convention, Bishop John B. Chane of Washington said, and then “the time was not right” to proceed.

However, “now is the time to proceed with these rites,” Bishop Chane said.

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Bishops in the US dealt a death blow to hopes for unity in the worldwide Anglican Church when they gave their blessing to services for same-sex partnerships.

After years of increasingly tense debate the decision will finally split the Anglican Communion, confirming the finality of the rift between Bible-based conservative evangelicals and liberal modernisers.

The bishops voted 104-30 at the Episcopal General Convention to “collect and develop theological resources and liturgies” for blessing same-gender relationships, to be considered at the next convention in 2012.

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The bishops of the Episcopal Church agreed Wednesday to a compromise measure that stops short of developing an official rite for same-sex unions, but gives latitude to bishops who wish to go ahead and bless such unions, particularly in states that have legalized such marriages.

Over two days of debate, some bishops said they felt compelled to act because of their pastoral responsibility to gay couples who were increasingly coming forward to ask the church to bless their unions. Many also said they saw it as a simple matter of granting equal rights to gay men and lesbians.

The measure was written to defer to bishops who oppose adopting a liturgy for same-sex blessings and to those who say their constituents are not ready for such a step. But it opens the door to doing so in the future, saying they will “collect and develop theological and liturgical resources” for same-sex blessings, and report to the next convention three years from now, which could then design an official rite.

Even with the nuance, the vote was a momentous step for a church that has been mired in intrafactional warfare over homosexuality for more than a decade.

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The House of Bishops on Wednesday adopted a substitute version of Resolution C056, calling for the church to collect and develop “theological resources and liturgies for the blessing of same gender relationships.”

The resolution permits bishops in states where same-sex marriage or civil unions are legal to “provide a generous pastoral response” to same-sex couples, which could include pastoral rites for the blessing of same-sex unions, effectively compounding the repudiation of the Windsor Report process and the proposed Anglican Covenant by repudiating Resolution B033 of the 76th General Convention.

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After the resolution passed, the Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity USA, an LGBT advocacy group within the Episcopal community, called the vote “a big step forward on same-sex blessings.

“I trust the process and most of all I trust the Holy Spirit present in the process,” she said. “I have seen us do hard things well many times, and I was convinced this would be one of them. I just could not believe that this church isn’t bigger and better and stronger than many were giving it credit for. I am delighted to be moving forward.”

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Progressives in the Episcopal Church were on the verge of claiming another victory Wednesday as leaders endorsed the creation of blessing liturgies for same-sex unions one day after they ended a de facto ban on the ordination of gay bishops.

The action by bishops at the church’s General Convention in Anaheim left conservatives with little to celebrate. They said the twin measures would further divide the 2.1-million member denomination and strain an already fragile relationship with the global Anglican Communion.

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The exhaustion is more than physical. It is spiritual and emotional. The Holy Spirit’s presence is tangible, and I tend to be a weeper when that happens.

The House of Bishops afternoon session offered no relief. Before us was the resolution D-025, which the House of Deputies had passed late on Sunday afternoon. Some saw this as a repudiation of the B-033 resolution of last minute infamy or fame at GC 2006. Rather it was an opportunity to state clearly but gently who we are as The Episcopal Church in our recognition that God may call any one of us baptized to ordained ministry and that for each of us it is indeed a mystery. By implication some will claim that we rolled back B033. I believe that resolution remains in our consciousness and present in our common life until we act otherwise. The impact on the wider Communion remains a relevant issue to most of us, and as one bishop said ”“ B033 remains in place until we consecrate another Bishop that would appear to repudiate it.

The conversation around D-025 lasted two and a half hours. The tenor was respectful and mindful that we are not of a common mind. The relationship with the Communion partners was always in our minds, but so was the importance of being able to be transparent as to who we believe God calls us to be in the context of our mission and baptized membership. The vote of 98 to 25 probably shocked some. I was left once again deeply moved. Twice in one day and at such a magnitude was too much. And there’s almost a whole week remaining.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/us/16episcopal.html?_r=1

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Follow along.

The current form of the Resolution is (Note: make sure to follow the link so you can see the changes):

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, that the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, in consultation with the House of Bishops Theology Committee, collect and develop theological resources and liturgies of blessing for same-gender holy unions, to be presented to the 77th General Convention for formal consideration, and be it further

Resolved, that the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, in consultation with the House of Bishops Theology Committee, devise an open process for the conduct of its work in this matter, inviting participation from dioceses, congregations, and individuals who are or have already engaged in the study or design of such rites throughout the Anglican Communion, and be it further

Resolved, that all bishops, noting particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church; and be it further

Resolved, that honoring the theological diversity of this Church, no bishop or other member of the clergy shall be compelled to authorize or officiate at such liturgies, and be it further

Resolved, that the Anglican Consultative Council be invited to conversation regarding this resolution and the work that proceeds from it, together with other churches in the Anglican Communion engaged in similar processes.

I am willing to meet her partway on the subject of her concern. Many of us in the evangelical world have devoted much effort toward remedying what we see as an unhealthy individualist focus in our ranks. If, for example, Bishop Jefferts Schori would take the time to browse through the pages of Christianity Today from the past half-century, she would find many calls for evangelicals to depart from the notion that all that matters is that individuals get saved and prepare for a heavenly reward. Much evangelical attention has been paid to systemic injustice, social structures, the central importance of “body life,” and so on.

In all of this, however, the presiding bishop would discover an important nuance. We evangelicals never downplay the importance of individuals””as individuals””coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. We never say that an individual’s very personal relationship to God is not important. What we do say is that individual salvation is not enough.

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