We have made our decision. The restraint called for in B033 of the 75th General Convention has been set aside. Bishops may authorize blessings (that\u2019s the clear implication of the \u201cgenerous pastoral response\u201d\u009d), and liturgies are on their way. Our course has been inexorably determined. The conversation about human sexuality is effectively over….<\/p>\n
Lord Carey of Clifton, the 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury, asked a difficult question in April at a conference sponsored by the Anglican Communion Institute: \u201cCan conservative believers be assured that they have a future place in TEC without censure or opposition?\u201d\u009d This question is both apt and pressing. We need a conscience clause with canonical and constitutional authority, a conscience clause that contains no sunset provision, that cannot be revoked. If the Episcopal Church is to be truly diverse \u201d\u201d if conservative Christians are to find a place in our life in the next decade or the one following\u201d\u201dthen the 77th General Convention must turn its attention to the inclusion of theological minorities. Without that assurance, the unraveling of our church, already a tragic reality, will continue apace. The inevitable pattern will re-emerge, as conservatives move from honored minority to tolerated dissidents to canonical outlaws. I (and others like me) will not be among those who leave; but we may well be among the last conservatives left. And so we must, I believe, bend heart, mind, and will to the protection and permanent place of traditional voices in our church.<\/p>\n