Episcopalians take a step forward

While it all sounds like a bunch of legislative hoo-hah at a boring church synod, the actions yesterday by the Episcopal Church (TEC) are a big leap forward for it, and perhaps for Christianity as a whole if we serve as an example. The House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church’s General Convention (a triennial meeting, occurring this year in Anaheim, California) wrote and passed H025 earlier in the week, and now it’s been adopted, as amended by the House of Bishops, overturning the bill B033 passed in the waning hours of the previous GC.

So what does all that mumbo-jumbo mean?

Here’s the final text:

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 76th General Convention reaffirm the continued participation of The Episcopal Church as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion; give thanks for the work of the bishops at the Lambeth Conference of 2008; reaffirm the abiding commitment of The Episcopal Church to the fellowship of churches that constitute the Anglican Communion and seek to live into the highest degree of communion possible; and be it further

 

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention encourage dioceses, congregations, and members of The Episcopal Church to participate to the fullest extent possible in the many instruments, networks and relationships of the Anglican Communion; and be it further

 

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention reaffirm its financial commitment to the Anglican Communion and pledge to participate fully in the Inter-Anglican Budget; and be it further

 

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention affirm the value of “listening to the experience of homosexual persons,” as called for by the Lambeth Conferences of 1978, 1988, and 1998, and acknowledge that through our own listening the General Convention has come to recognize that the baptized membership of The Episcopal Church includes same-sex couples living in lifelong committed relationships “characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God” (2000-D039); and be it further

 

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention recognize that gay and lesbian persons who are part of such relationships have responded to God’s call and have exercised various ministries in and on behalf of God’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and are currently doing so in our midst; and be it further

 

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention affirm that God has called and may call such individuals, to any ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church,; and that God’s call to the ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church is a mystery which the Church attempts to discern for all people through our discernment processes acting in accordance with the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church; and be it further

 

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention acknowledge that members of The Episcopal Church as of the Anglican Communion, based on careful study of the Holy Scriptures, and in light of tradition and reason, are not of one mind, and Christians of good conscience disagree about some of these matters.

So what does all that mean?

Boiled down:

1. We like being Anglicans. We want to be remain part of the broader Anglican communion of churches. That relationship is important to us.
2. We’re not going to do it on the backs gays and lesbians. If they want to be ordained in our church, as deacons, priests, or bishops, we’re going to treat them the same as anyone else.
3. Yeah, we know some folks, inside and outside the Episcopal Church, will disagree with us. We don’t think they’re evil, just that we disagree.

In some ways, this recognizes the de facto situation on the ground: some bishops have been ordaining gay and lesbian priests as they’ve seen fit, as those individuals have come through the discernment process. But the ordination of Gene Robinson in 2003 as Bishop of New Hampshire, which brought all this fracas to the forefront, has been a one-off exception. Faced with pressure from Canterbury and the much of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church in 2006, through B033, agreed to not stir the waters on gay ordination, esp. of bishops, as part of the 2004 Windsor Report process.

Of course, the Windsor Report not only asked the Episcopal Church to exercise restraint, but also other Anglican Churches to keep their paws off of Episcopal territory. That part has been widely ignored by conservatives inside and outside TEC, and the passage of B033 was seen as a caving into conservative interests at the expense of faithful gays and lesbians. “Wait a bit longer.”

D025 changes that. It basically says that, all other considerations aside, gays and lesbians in committed lifelong relationships ought to be considered equally with heterosexual individuals in discernment processes for the diaconate, priesthood, or the episcopacy. And we’re really sorry if we ruffle feathers (no, really), but that’s where we believe God is calling us.

Good for the folks who moved this forward. I’m proud to be a part of this church.