Resolution AXXX The Windsor Process, the Lambeth I.10 Process, and the Common Life of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion
Resolved , the House of __________________ concurring, That the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church reaffirms the abiding commitment of the Episcopal Church to remain a constituent member of the Anglican Communion to the highest degree possible and to bear much fruit in communion with the true vines grafted from the British Isles and planted by Christ throughout the whole Earth.
Resolved , the Episcopal Church over the last forty years has become convicted of her long participation in the oppression of the least in American society and the human race and thus has sought to convert her life to accomodate the marginalized in accordance with the commandments of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Resolved , that the Episcopal Church has recognized for thirty years that gay and lesbian persons are by Baptism full members of the Body of Christ and of the Episcopal Church as “children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church” (GC 1976-A069). The Episcopal Church, however, continues to struggle with the issue of how much intimate same-sex relationships are consistent with a healthy Christian life. On one hand, General Convention has affirmed that it is the teaching of this Church that sexual intimacy should be restricted within Christian marriage as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer (GC 1991-A104). On the other hand, General Convention has urged the civil authorities to provide civil status to such relationships that are equivalent to those enjoyed by married couples (GC 1994-D006); apologized for mistreating gays and lesbians (GC 1997-D011); and stated most recently that homosexual persons are children of God, and that differences exist in how best to express that in the pastoral care of those who intend to live in monogamous noncelibate unions; that the Church expects such relationships to be characterized by fidelity and monogamy; and recognizes "that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions." (2003-C051). These and other resolutions of General Convention have commended a process of theological reflection at many levels on human sexuality and pastoral care for gay and lesbian persons but the Church admits and regrets that these efforts have been insufficient.
Resolved , that individual Dioceses of the Episcopal Church have varied greatly in their approach to abiding by this and similar resolutions. In some Dioceses, there are strong theological objections to admitting sexually active gay and lesbian persons to Holy Communion, even though many of these are in relationships characterized by "mutual fidelity" and the general cultivation of the Christian virtues. Yet in other Dioceses, sexually active gay and lesbian persons in such relationships are considered worthy for ordination and the exercise of Christian ministry and their relationships are recognized by public or private rites of blessing.
Resolved , that the other Provinces of the Anglican Communion likewise vary in their pastoral care and theological approach to gay and lesbian persons and in some cases have promoted actions by the civil magistrates against gay and lesbian persons, injuring their freedom to assemble and self-identify as gay and lesbian persons.
Resolved , that this Church disagrees with the view of the Anglican Communion on human sexuality expressed in Lambeth Resolution I.10 of 1998. In particular, this Church believes that the condemnations of homosexual activity in the Holy Scriptures are not sufficiently general to warrant the continued condemnation of homosexual activity in faithful relationships today; that the Holy Scriptures may hold a positive view of homosexual covenantual relationships and orientation (as far as it was understood by the Biblical authors); and that insights from the natural sciences require us to look carefully at our understanding of the Biblical teaching explicated in Lambeth I.10 and historic Christian teaching in general (but not in toto ). We would like to remind the entire Anglican Communion that classical Anglican theology takes a positive view of the revelation of the created order, as the "liber creaturam" and that the Apostle Paul teaches that those who disdain such revelation are "without excuse" (Romans 2) (J. Donne, Essay on Divinity ) for the created order is an icon of Our Lord Jesus Christ, "through whom all things were made." Thus, this Church seeks honestly to discern in communion with gay and lesbian persons what God has ordered them to be and what their place is in the communion of saints.
Resolved , that we concur with Lambeth I.10 in that "We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ... ...call on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex."
Resolved , that many provinces of the Anglican Communion have taken actions inconsistent with Lambeth I.10, either by the legitimization and benediction of same-sex unions or the ordination of those united in the same (as in the case of this Church) or by refusing to listen to the experience of homosexual persons (especially those among the baptized) and by providing defective pastoral care to them and their relationships or by promoting the irrational fear of homosexuals (as also in the case of this Church).
Resolved , that whereas priests and deacons are ordained for the service of particular Dioceses, bishops are consecrated for the entire Church of God, and so the consecrations of bishops deeply affect the life of the Communion but the ordination of priests and deacons do not. Yet at the same time, the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral recognizes that the Historic Episcopate must be "locally adapted" to the needs of particular local Churches.
Resolved , that the Book of Common Prayer teaches that marriage is to be honored by all people, and so the benediction by the church of a state of life other than marriage in which sexual expression is thought pleasing to God or the benediction of marriages that do not adhere to the teaching of Holy Scriptures and Tradition affects the entire life of the Communion.
Resolved , that the ecclesiology and theology of matrimony and human sexuality in this Church has been in great disarray for many years.
Resolved , that the consent of General Convention to the consecration of V. Eugene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire was problematic for the rest of the Communion, in that he would not be an acceptable candidate for Holy Orders in many Provinces, both on account of being divorced and also on account of his being in a faithful same-sex relationship and that General Convention unwisely prioritized the authority of the call of the Holy Spirit they discerned in his election by the representatives of the clergy and laity of New Hampshire over the need to allow Bishop Robinson to be a Bishop for the whole Church and take his place in her councils.
Resolved , that the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church repents on behalf of the Episcopal Church for taking this action and straining the bonds of catholic unity and affection between the Provinces of the Communion and urges the repentance of all her bishops, clergy, and laity for their participation in the same. Moreover, we ask the forgiveness of Bishop Robinson for giving insufficient reflection to the catholicity of his ministry but affirm that we still discern his call to the episcopate of this Church and support his ministry generally.
Resolved , that at the same time, various members of this Church have used the actions of recent General Conventions as an excuse to reject the authority of their bishops in favor of the supervision of bishops both in and out of the Communion with this Church, who likewise have acted precipitously against catholic unity and order in the Communion by crossing diocesan boundaries. We ask all involved to repent of this.
Resolved , that the Windsor Report promotes a process whereby the ecclesiology of the Communion will be better clarified, which could be called, "the Windsor Process."
Resolved , that Lambeth I.10 promotes a process whereby the theology of human sexuality will be better clarified, which could be called, "the Lambeth I.10 Process."
Resolved , that while such Processes have the earnest participation of the Provinces of the Communion, it would be uncharitable for this Church to take further decisive actions that might appear to reject our communion and accountability to the other Provinces.
Resolved , that the mind of the Communion as expressed in the Windsor Report suggests that the consecration of bishops in same-sex unions or the authorization of public rites for same-sex blessings constitute decisive actions on matters of ecclesiology and human sexuality.
Resolved , that the Windsor Report recommends moratoria on such consecrations and authorizations.
Resolved , that the Apostle Paul commands us to share the sufferings of fellow persons created in the image of God and our fellow brethren in Christ when he says, "But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." (I Corinthians 12:24-26).
Resolved , that moratoria on the consecrations of gay and lesbian persons and the benediction of their unions would cause them and those who love them and appreciate their membership and leadership in the Church to continue to suffer and be alienated from the sanctifying grace that is present in the sacraments and the sacramental common life of the Church.
Resolved , that present theological doubts about ecclesiology, matrimony, and human sexuality make it increasingly difficult to justify the consecration of bishops or blessings of intimate unions in general, when there is insufficient consensus about the relation of these matters to the divine economy.
Resolved , that while earnest discernment of ecclesiology and human sexuality continues in the Communion, there should be moratoria on the consecrations of bishops in general and the benedictions of marriages and same-sex unions.
Resolved,
that Canon I.18 of be amended to read:
For the time being, no Member of the Clergy of this Church shall solemnize any marriage.
[I'm not sure how the rest of it should work. Resolved, , that until the next Triennium, the clergy of this Church are forbidden from performing the services of Marriage, the Blessing of a Civil Marriage, or an Order for Marriage or acting as an agent of the civil power in solemnizing marriages or civil unions on pain of deposition or suspension. The clergy of the Church forbidden to perform benedictions of any other similar unions in any form whatsoever. Instead, the Bishop of the Diocese (or the Ecclesiastical Authority) may authorize a rite at the Peace of the principal Sunday Eucharist in each congregation, in which two members of the congregation (having notified the Minister beforehand) may make vows to one another of solemn covenant in accordance with Christian principles in a form provided by the Diocesan Bishop or the Ecclesiastical Authority. These covenants to be respected as marriage for all relevant purposes. Ministers forbidden to allow exchange of such vows for bigamous and incestuous unions. Bishops and other Ministers urged but not to required to permit exchange of vows between those of same or different sexes and offer premarital counseling. ]
Resolved,
that Canon III.16.5 be amended to read:
For the time being, upon receipt of the consents and assurance of the acceptance of the election by the Bishop-elect, the Presiding Bishop shall not take any order for the ordination of the Bishop-Elect.
Resolved,
that Canon III.16.8 be amended to read:
For the time being, no person shall be ordained Bishop.
Resolved,
that Canon III.17.2d be amended to read:
For the time being, when the Presiding Bishop shall have received a certificate signed by the President and Secretary of the House of Deputies (or certificates signed by the Presidents and Secretaries of a majority of the Standing Committees as the case may be), that the election has been approved, and shall have received notice of the acceptance by the Bishop-elect of his election, he shall not take order for the ordination of the Bishop-elect.
Resolved , that these provisions are to be reviewed next General Convention and maintained if the Processes continue in fidelity but not otherwise.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
2 comments:
These are good efforts.
I think Thorpus' comments suggest however that no matter what is done schism may result.
In reading this I still feel singled out as "the problem" because it is still coming from lgbtq people as included/not included in the Church which implies that heterosexuals are the includers, and they are not, God is. Heterosexuals too are strange fruit grafted in, and this has been forgotten. And the sodomy that results from such forgetting does terrible things in the name of Christ. Sodomy seems to be the spirit of the age, I don't mean male-male sex.
As I read this again, a problem I note with episcopal ecclesiology as we've inherited it is that the same could be said of female bishops, and we must ask ourselves then about this as well given that gender matters and sexuality are intricately intertwined.
And for that matter, if we're lgbtq, homophobic and heterosexist bishops are anything but shepherds of unity except at our expense and sometimes at the expense of our very lives--which aren't remembered anyway in the annuls of the Church. Who shows up tells us a lot about who has power to decide the calendar.
Bishops do not reflect catholic unity because we do not yet reflect catholic unity, and so we need to be honest about the fact that our unity to date is male, of more colour in the past (but for much of history has been white except for autocephelous Churches like the Ethiopic Church--hence, good reason why black folk broke away from TEC), but is not a unity that reflects at least 51% and likely more of the Church (as women usually are more likely to attend) so that unity=male and does not reflect unity of a small group who have given more to the Church and world in terms of art, literature, and caring service than our proportions would portend, so that unity=heterosexual male. We need to be honest, as I think you are at the end that given this reality, bishops cannot and do not present reflect unity except by the disappearance of large proportions of persons from the counsels of leadership in the Church. Such a unity is domination unity rather than service unity which seeks first to serve those one most despises. I would like to see bishops handed a bowl and towel rather than all of the golden trappings.
What I'm saying is that it is not just Bp. Robinson that represents a fracture in catholic unity, so does having a vast majority in leadership who are male and heterosexual (presumably). And it looks an awful lot like the things of this world.
It's a work in progress... But the feedback has been extremely useful. I'll work on brevity and stylistic issues next, and then come back to the deeper issues.
You're right. Women in the episcopate must be pointed out, since it's a difference with most provinces but somehow not communion-breaking.
As far as LGBTQ problematization, it will be difficult to avoid. I mostly can avoid it in everyday life, but it's hard to avoid doing so on the level of the national church, where LGBTBQ people have been problematized summarily by the reasserters. All I can do is try to emphasize that the solution come from a common discernment process, i.e., in communion.
Post a Comment