Several Episcopal bishops who have read the draft said they are not entirely happy with it.<\/p>\n
“There are several things in there that will be hard to swallow,” said Bishop Stacy Sauls of Lexington. “The references to Gene (Robinson), the moratoria and the pastoral forum.”<\/p>\n
Bishop James Mathes of San Diego said the proposal for a pastoral forum would confuse rather than clarify disputes within provinces and dioceses.<\/p>\n
Bishop Hector Monterroso of the Diocese of Costa Rica, Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America, said the reflections have missed “a good opportunity for gay people to feel better in God’s mission in the church.”<\/p>\n
Monterroso disputed a paragraph (104) in the document that says that in some places in the United States, Canada and England the inclusion of gays and lesbians had been good for the church. “Not only there, but in Latin America,” he said.<\/p>\n
“In our province we need to focus on other kinds of important issues like evangelism, work with poor people and the immigrants,” he added “That kind of thing here is not the emphasis.<\/p>\n
Like Monterroso, Bishop Bruce Caldwell of Wyoming took comfort in the “unofficial” status of the reflections.<\/p>\n
“It is just a record of conversations,” Caldwell said. “If it were a definitive document, we would have done it in a different way.”<\/p>\n