There are more developments than just one that raise questions about the future of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. The one singled out for discussion here relates to the 161st annual Council of the Diocese, to be held on February 12 and 13 in Killeen, Texas. According to the material presented in The Texas Episcopalian and in the Journal (Volume I) and other material published on the Diocese’s website, one of the items on the agenda is a resolution that, among other things, accords honor to gay and lesbian relationships and states that God is made known in and through such relationships.
It is not so surprising that such a resolution would be proposed, but it is seems quite irregular that the resolution would originate from, and be recommended by, a majority of the Diocese’s committee on resolutions. Under the canons, the resolutions committee, appointed for each year by the bishop at the preceding Council meeting, has the duties of receiving and processing resolutions, conforming them to proper usage, ranking them by importance, and making recommendations if they so determine. The canons do not assign to the resolutions committee any role of drafting and presenting resolutions on behalf of itself.
In this case, the action taken by the committee was apparently in response to two resolutions received from a group of five individuals, including the Very Rev. Joe Reynolds, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral and the Rev. David Boyd, Rector of St. David’s, Austin. One of the resolutions put forward by this group upholds same-gender couples living in committed relationships, saying the relationships are characterized by “the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God.” The commentary accompanying the resolution affirms the integrity of such relationships and that some persons in these relationships are “in all ways faithfully participating in Diocesan life.” In putting forth its own resolution, the resolutions committee stated (as published in Volume I of the Journal) that it intended to preserve the spirit of the two resolutions that had been submitted by the group, while doing so in “a true and complete statement of unity and inclusion.” According to material on the Diocese’s website, in response to the committee’s resolution, Dean Reynolds, Fr. Boyd and the other proposers have withdrawn their original resolutions.
Moving in the direction of Don Wimberly and the Blowing in the Winds(or) Bishops and the Camp(y) Allen Bishops, is, in the perception of a number of us , a slow, steady, behind-the-scenes accommodation to the national organization of the GCc/EO-PAC formerly known as the EcUSA whilst behind the scenes implementation of the agenda from 815.
Slightly edited-ed..
Re: the image of God
An excerpt from the book Teach Us To Pray by Charles Frances Whiston, The Pilgrim Press, 1949
“Widespread and common is the belief that man is made in the “image of God.†By this is usually meant that there is in man an inner core which is by nature akin to God. When we consider the biblical usage of this term “image of God†the facts are most interesting and revealing, and they in no way support the popular belief concerning man. In the Old Testament the word is used for man as intended by God in creation. Its use is limited to the early chapters of the book of Genesis. In the New Testament it is never used as a description of man as he now is. Jesus, and not man, is called “the image of God.†Man’s claim that he already is in part divine rather than that he is to become, by the action of God, remade into the likeness of Jesus Christ, is in fact a sign of man’s radical conceit and pride – which is sin.â€
…. Father Whiston was an Episcopal Clergyman. He received his BA from Trinity College, 1926 Hartford, Conn; in 1927 his M.A. from Harvard University, and in 1930 his B.D. from the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge. He was a professor of moral theology.
I tend to treasure more and more my old books.