The resolution affirmed the status quo of the Episcopal Church, both theological conservatives and liberals said.
It states, for example, that it “reconfirms” a call to bishops “to exercise restraint” by not consenting to the consecration of a partnered gay bishop. It also says the bishops promise not to authorize “any public rites of blessing of same-sex unions.” Still, some bishops allow such blessings to occur in their dioceses. Both positions have been stated in past meetings of the governing body of the church, the General Convention.
The resolution also calls for an “immediate end” to the practice of foreign bishops’ consecrating conservative Americans to minister to breakaway congregations in the United States, a trend that church leaders believe undermines their authority.
The Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a prominent conservative group supported by the Archbishop of Nigeria, responded to the bishops’ resolution: “They’re offering business as usual. The communion asked them to make a change, to embrace the teaching of the communion about homosexuality, and there’s no change at all.”
“Bishops of the Episcopal Church on Tuesday rejected demands by leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion to roll back the church’s [b] liberal [/b] stance on homosexuality…”
They could have said “… [i] wide [/i] stance…”. Like Senator Craig.
Hey if the NYT gets it (and they GET it), why don’t the Windsor/CA bishops get it? Howe, Wimberly, Salmon, MacPherson, Lillibridge, Herlong, Adams – we need to hear from you.
Kendall commented:
“We’ll have the chaos here increase as more individuals, parishes and dioceses begin moving,†Mr. Harmon said. “What will happen is that we will see more of the disunity here spread to the rest of the communion.â€
Did the bishops in New Orleans pay sufficient heed in this debate to the worldwide ramifications of their decisions? Wouldn’t a clear vote–such as was offered by Bishop Howe’s resolution–have been better for the AC as a whole? The prospect of continued jockeying, wrangling, fracturing, and guessing seems likely to continue to turn people off in droves. I am as bothered by the way these decisions were made as I am by the final result–which I think Laurie Goodstein has about right. If nothing else, we may be seeing a turning point in Episcopalians’ traditionally high view of the historic episcopate.
Well, for Bishop Epting’s sake – along with all the 815 staff, too, I suppose – at least the NYT gets it so they won’t be pilloried in Times Square or wherever it is they keep the pillories he blogged about.
Is that a redeeming feature of this debacle?