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.

Read it all.

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.

Read it all.

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.”

Read it all.

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.

Read it all.

Read it all.

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

Read it all.

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.

Read it all.

This is good news. While the media is likely to position this story in such a way to be sensational, the resolution includes some compelling components that are important to note:

1. In accordance with the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, the resolution recognizes that discrimination of individuals based on race, age, gender or sexual orientation does not have a place in the discernment process of our ministry.
2. The resolution recognizes that God’s call to the ordained ministry in the church is a mystery.
3. The resolution recognizes that we are not all of one mind on the issue of sexuality.
4. The resolution was written in a way that would allow dioceses to consider anyone as a candidate to the episcopacy regardless of sexual orientation, but does not mandate that all dioceses do so.
5. The resolution does not rescind Resolution B033 (General Convention 2006) “to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on the communion.”

It does not suggest that the Episcopal Church will close its moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops.

Resolution DO25 passed in the HOD clergy order by a 2 to 1 margin, in the HOD lay order by a 2 to 1 margin, and in the HOB by a 2 to 1 margin. This demonstrates some consistency among lay and clergy that is important to respect.

Read it all.

Forward in Faith UK profoundly regrets the decision of the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church to repudiate the moratorium on the consecration of bishops in same-sex relationships. It is clear from this decision, and the general stance of The Episcopal Church, that the Instruments of Unity of the Communion no longer have any moral authority in that Church.

We strongly encourage the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates’ Meeting to enter into the fullest co-operation with the Anglican Church in North America and other bodies eager fully to participate in the common life of Anglicanism world-wide.

Geoffrey Kirk
Secretary

The first sign that all was not well arose when Bishop Dean Wolfe of Kansas rose at the start of the C056 debate and cautioned the house against offering aggressive amendments. “Sometimes it takes very little” to “move us from agreement to division,” he observed. He asked the bishops to practice a “generous orthodoxy” to the conservative minority who might be troubled by same-sex blessings.

After twenty five minutes of debate, with only the acting Bishop of the Rio Grande, the Rt. Rev. William Frey, rising to speak in opposition, Bishop Clifton Daniel of East Carolina told the house the lack of input from the conservative side made him uneasy. The “silence is ominous,” he observed, adding “I need your voice to inform my conversation.” Bishop Peter Beckwith of Springfield responded by asking “Why waste time? Why waste my time? Why waste your time?”

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori prologued debate to the afternoon, and the afternoon’s debate was then postponed to Wednesday. Suggestions that delay could be postponed such that the convention would not be able to take up the resolution sparked outrage from Bishop Marc Andrus of California.

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/7/15/news-analysis-pushback-in-hob-on-gay-blessings

So the Anglican Communion has finally split.

Having written countless times that the Church was “teetering on the brink of schism last night”, the American Church has gone over the edge.

No more hanging around, it’s jumped.

When I saw Rowan Williams on Saturday, he said that he was hopeful that they would continue to hold the line agreed by the Communion that practising homosexuals should not be consecrated as bishops.

He had been out to the General Convention, which is being held in Anaheim, California, and had come back reasonably optimistic.

In deciding to ignore the pleas for this policy to be upheld, the Americans have clearly shaken him warmly by the hand before stabbing him in the front.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jonathanwynne-jones/100003401/anglican-schism-means-archbishop-rowan-must-act/

Now, as the Episcopal Church met for its General Convention in Anaheim, California, the American denomination has, in effect, told the Anglican Communion that it will go its own way, whatever the cost. Adding insult to injury, the General Convention also expressed its “abiding commitment” to the worldwide body. Apparently, this commitment does not extend to keeping its promises.

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=4122

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=603676

The Rev. Ian Douglas, a member of the Anglican Consultative Council, and clergy deputy from Massachusetts, told The Living Church that there had been communications between the highest levels of the Episcopal Church and the Church of England over D025 over the past few days, noting that claims that the Episcopal Church was walking away from the Anglican Communion were untrue, as D025 was not crafted as a repeal of B033.

The Committee on World Missions received 13 resolutions concerning B033: six that “called for a full repeal” of the 2006 resolution, six that called for “a strengthening of the non-discriminations canons” and one resolution that stated “where we are as a church.” Fr. Douglas said D025 was an “invitation to dialogue, not a rebuke of the Anglican Communion’s instruments of communion.”

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/7/14/convention-criticized-for-choosing-to-walk-apart

The passage of Resolution D025 by the General Convention of 2009 is a repudiation of Holy Scripture as the church has received and understood it ecumenically in the East and West. It is also a clear rejection of the mutual responsibility and interdependence to which we are called as Anglicans. That it is also a snub to the Archbishop of Canterbury this week while General Synod is occurring in York only adds insult to injury.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the BBC, the New York Times and Integrity all see what is being done here. There are now some participants in the 76th General Convention who are trying to pretend that a yes to D025 is NOT a no to B033. Jesus’ statement about letting your yes be yes and your no be no is apt here. These types of attempted obfuscations are utterly unconvincing. The Bishop of Arizona rightly noted in his blog that D025 was “a defacto repudiation of” B033.

The presuppositions of Resolution D025 are revealing. For a whole series of recent General Conventions resolutions have been passed which are thought to be descriptive by some, but understood to be prescriptive by others. The 2007 Primates Communique spoke to this tendency when they stated “they deeply regret a lack of clarity”on the part of the 75th General Convention.

What is particularly noteworthy, however, is that Episcopal Church Resolutions and claimed stances said to be descriptive at one time are more and more interpreted to be prescriptive thereafter. Now, in Resolution D025, the descriptive and the prescriptive have merged. You could hear this clearly in the floor debates in the two Houses where speakers insisted “This is who we are!”

Those involved in pastoral care know that when a relationship is deeply frayed when one or other party insists “this is who I am” the outcome will be disastrous. The same will be the case with D025, both inside the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

D025 is the proud assertion of a church of self-authentication and radical autonomy.

It is a particularly ugly sight.

–The Rev. Dr. Kendall S. Harmon is Canon Theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina

The Suffragan Bishop of Maryland, the Rt. Rev. John Rabb offered an amendment that was originally offered as a minority committee report by the Bishop of Alabama, the Rt. Rev. Henry Parsley. The Parsley amendment sought to alter language that offered blanket permission for a “generous pastoral response” to same-sex couples, to one confining it to states that had adopted same-sex marriage or civil union laws.

The Rt. Rev. Otis Charles, retired Bishop of Utah, objected to the amendment, saying it was an “attempt to narrow and limit” pastoral care along state boundaries. The Bishop of San Diego concurred, noting that the amendment would relate pastoral generosity to geography.

Bishop James Adams of Western Kansas asked Bishop Smith of Missouri if pastoral generosity included liturgical blessings. Bishop Smith replied that the committee had considered adding a specific provision for liturgies, but believed it best not to enumerate the forms pastoral generosity might take so that “liturgies could be included” without being named.

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/7/14/bishops-weigh-authorizing-local-same-sex-rites

Deputies defeated a resolution addressing the disclosure of the costs of Episcopal Church property litigation.

The House of Bishops had asked deputies to concur with their recommendation to refer the resolution to the Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development. The resolution had called for revealing the dollar amount the church spent “on litigation against dioceses, parishes, groups of churches and individuals since General Convention 2006” as well as information about where the funds came from, the money budgeted for litigation in the next triennium and “an estimate of the amount of property value retained and expected to be retained” by the church “because of pending and completed litigation as of General Convention 2009.”

“We all need to know about the litigation going on in our church,” said the Rev. Ellen Neufeld (Albany). “I speak very strongly in favor of this resolution so that information can be shared.”

Deputies debated various options, including referring it to the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance or substituting previous wording to direct the Presiding Bishop and Executive Council to release the litigation information.

Thomas Fitzhugh III (Texas) said he was concerned that the resolution could put the Presiding Bishop and Executive Council “in a bad spot” because divulging information about ongoing litigation would reveal strategy to the other side. “Let’s just kill it. This is nothing but an effort by people who try to steal our property” to find out how much the church has spent. “If they didn’t try to walk off with it, we wouldn’t have this motion.”

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112576_ENG_HTM.htm

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112575_ENG_HTM.htm

In addition, the 1979 General Convention had adopted A053, a resolution which, in part, affirmed “the traditional teaching of the Church on marriage, marital fidelity, and sexual chastity as the standing of Christian sexual morality . . . Therefore, we believe it not appropriate for this Church to ordain a practicing homosexual, or any person who is engaged in heterosexual relations outside marriage.”

In response to Spong’s 1989 ordination of a practicing homosexual, the Presiding Bishop and his Council of Advice repudiated the action, maintaining that, “short of action by the General Convention, [A053] is the stated and authoritative position of the church at this time.” Read the Righter Presentment and the 1990 statement of Edmund Browning here.

How have we reached this point? In Fundamentals of the Faith, Peter Kreeft noted that “it is more convenient and comfortable to have a foggy faith because in a fog you can never be sure you have lost your way.”
Not to mix metaphors, but, at this point, I’m afraid the Episcopal Church couldn’t find her way out of a paper bag.

http://www.lydiaevans.net/Lydia/Anaheim_2009/Entries/2009/7/14_Where_Do_I_Begin.html

But that wasn’t all. The House of Deputies rejected a resolution affirming Christ in a multi-faith society. Are you really surprised? I’ve reprinted it below:

Resolved, the House of Bishops’ concurring, That this 76th General Convention of this church affirm the conclusion of the Church of England at its February General Synod and direct the House of Bishops’ Committee on Theology to report back to the 77th General Convention on “their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in the United States multi-faith society, and offer examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none.”

EXPLANATION
Indicative of our support and appreciation for the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury at this General Convention and his leadership of the Church of England in Christian witness within the multi-faith culture of the United Kingdom, this resolution affirms that the Episcopal Church is in substantial agreement with the Church of England General Synod which directed its House of Bishops at their February 2009 meeting to report back on “their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain’s multi-faith society, and offer examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none.”

Supporting document “General Synod 2/11/09”³ is posted and available in hard copy in the General Convention Secretariat until the end of the 76th General Convention.

Oh yeah, there was this too ”“ after a week and a half of listening to our Presiding Bishop speak about openness and transparency the House of Deputies defeated a simple resolution asking the National Church Office to both disclose the amount of money spent by their office suing orthodox/conservative parishes over property ownership (literally, tens of MILLIONS of dollars) and the source/account from where the money is drawn. So much for integrity.

http://treadinggrain.com/2009/general-convention-day-9/

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE56E0IO20090715

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106616693

On Tuesday, an elated [Gene] Robinson celebrated the lopsided vote in the church’s two legislative bodies — the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, composed of clergy and laity.

“I’m simply delighted at the possibility that another diocese will recognize the gifts of a gay or lesbian clergy person,” he said. “I long for the day when someone who shares my experience as an openly gay bishop joins me in the House of Bishops. It has been lonely.”

But a bishop who left the church last year predicted that the decisions made in Anaheim would increase strains with disaffected conservatives.

“Clearly the activists have done a good job promoting their agenda,” said the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, a founding bishop of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America, which hopes to gain recognition from the Anglican Communion as a rival province to the Episcopal Church.

“The generosity shown by the rest of the communion has been astonishing and has been thrown back in their face,” Minns said. “There will have to be a renegotiation of how the Episcopal Church fits into the family.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-episcopal15-2009jul15,0,7706842.story

Just the elves trying to see if we can post here. I think we’re almost back online.

Just in case, there is further down time due to additional tweaks needed, here’s the backup blog link – keep it bookmarked:
http://t19backup.blogspot.com/

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