Bishop Robert Duncan at a press conference following the compromise solution reached Wednesday afternoon.
‘Restraint’ urged in allowing gay bishops
Rita Price and Felix Hoover
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In a last-gasp effort to preserve its place in the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church called on leaders yesterday to show "restraint" when considering gay bishop candidates.
Supporters of the resolution, passed just hours before the nine-day General Convention ended in Columbus, say they want to keep doors open for the denomination’s many gay members.
At the same time, they’re trying to appease conservative Anglican leaders who have warned of a schism unless the U.S. church enacts a gay-bishop moratorium and apologizes for the 2003 consecration of V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay bishop from New Hampshire.
The not-so-delicate balance left many unhappy.
"We’re again in quite a muddle," said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, a leader of the conservative wing of the U.S. church.
Bishop Dorsey F. Henderson Jr. of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, head of the special committee that studied the church’s response to the Anglican demands, acknowledged that the action did not please either side.
But he said the Episcopal Church wanted to find a way to maintain discussions and membership with the larger, worldwide body.
"It’s a heartbreak for a lot of people," Henderson said. "For gays and lesbians, who think the response was too much. For conservatives, who thought it too little."
The compromise was introduced and first passed in the House of Bishops. It then passed in the House of Deputies, a body of more than 800 clergy and laypeople who had defeated a stronger version of the legislation a day earlier.
The Rev. Heather Buchanan Wiseman of Cincinnati, a deputy from the Diocese of Southern Ohio, voted against Tuesday’s resolution but supported the newer resolution after listening to pleas from outgoing Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and from Presiding Bishop-elect Katherine Jefferts Schori.
"They came to us and said we need to keep the conversation open. We needed to make that sacrifice," Wiseman said. "We voted with tears in our eyes."
Jefferts Schori, the first woman leader of the 2.2-million member denomination, likened the Episcopal Church in America and the Anglican Communion overseas to "conjoined twins."
Doctors don’t separate them unless "both can live full lives," she told deputies. "I think we are in a church much like that."
Jefferts Schori said she remains committed to the inclusion of gays, but she urged acceptance of the resolution asking Episcopal leaders to "exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration" of candidates whose "manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church."
Conservatives were upset that the nonbinding resolution did not mention homosexuality or same-sex union blessings. They said it leaves sufficient wiggle room for dioceses to choose more gay bishops.
Gay advocates saw it as plenty restrictive.
"Obviously I’m disappointed, and I think we disagree about the way in which we can best be able to continue the conversation," Robinson said.
He said he had doubts about whether the church really would split because of gay bishops. But Robinson said he wants to trust leaders who said the action had to be taken to salvage unity.
"I hope and pray that the personal sacrifice will be honored for what it was," he said. "And I ask: Are they (Anglican leaders) really going to be in conversation with us? "
In a statement released after the vote, Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury —leader of the Anglican Communion — hedged his answer.
Williams had urged the General Convention to respond to the demands set forth in the Windsor Report. That 2004 document called on Episcopal leaders to place a moratorium on gay bishops, to stop blessing same-sex union ceremonies and to apologize for the turmoil caused by Robinson’s consecration.
The church took no action during the convention on same-sex blessings. It expressed regret for the pain caused, but not for the consecration of Robinson.
"It is not yet clear how far the resolutions passed this week and today represent the adoption by the Episcopal Church of all the proposals set out in the Windsor Report," Williams said.
"The wider communion will therefore need to reflect carefully on the significance of what has been decided before we respond more fully."
Some conservative leaders said additional defections from the moderate-to-liberal U.S. church are certain. "Many laity will now leave. Clergy will now leave. Parishes that have been waiting will now leave," said the Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, of the American Anglican Council.
Bishop Kenneth Price of the Diocese of Southern Ohio said he also expects liberal dioceses to look for the broadest interpretation of the resolution. Dioceses elect their own bishops.
"We may over the next three years see some tests of this," Price said.
Robinson said nine days of wrangling and politicking took a toll on both the convention and its participants.
"I feel sorriest for those who voted ‘yes’ on that resolution and did so knowing it wasn’t what is in their hearts," he said.
"I’d rather be me than them tonight. I can go to bed with a clear conscience."
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