Surely by the grace of God, the Church has gently and mightily risen above a gathering squall, perhaps that it might now address the storm gathering in the world around it. General Convention rejected the petty bigotries that have driven efforts to redefine the Church. With active commitment to that truly Christian manner of life that was displayed there, the Episcopal Church can move further beyond the internal fanaticism that finds itself now in its death throes, and turn to concerns truly more meaningful and relevant to a Communion that claims the ministry of the reconciliation of humanity with God.
Perhaps the rumor is true that a number of so-called ‘orthodox’ bishops cynically cast their votes for Katharine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop only to drive schism. If so, we can thank God for this 21st century revision of the story of divine will made manifest by Balaam’s ass. We will soon have a presiding bishop who is unencumbered by participation in the good-ol’ boy network, and who, wondrously enough, is focused on the Church’s global witness and ministry.
The reaction of the self-proclaimed ‘orthodox’ to Schori’s election has exposed them as the backward misogynists they really are. When their argument that Schori’s election would be unacceptable to many overseas primates because she is ‘a she’ failed to find footing, they realized they’d revealed their bigotry, and began to claim that it was actually Schori’s record, not her biological plumbing, that fueled their ire. When Schori joined Presiding Bishop Griswold in speaking to the House of Deputies on behalf of resolution B033, she rose above the pathetic criticisms of her paleolithic detractors.
In Convention’s controversial legislation, it seems here also that God was at work. The Church had already determined at Convention 2003 not to proceed with authorization of same-sex blessings. Thus, a similar resolution here in the form of A162, merely as tribute to the inflated importance of the Windsor Report, would have been ethically wrong, morally weak, and spiritually shallow. Thanks be to God, the House of Bishops could not reach agreement on the resolution, and so this cowering proposal died on the vine.
Equally controversial, resolution A161 originally sought to express regret for stressing elements of the Anglican Communion in our consecration of a bishop who is gay. Like good politicians and bad theologians, the bishops overly-amended the original to have it cover too many topics and to appeal to too many points-of-view. Thus, when time the resolution reached the House of Deputies in its absurd final form, the Deputies, thanks be to God, courageously and prophetically rejected it.
The hastily crafted substitute resolution B033 called only for “Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church….” With her manner of life being that of a woman, one must wonder if our own Presiding Bishop-elect will be viewed as overly-challenging to the wider Communion; or if a person’s theological liberalism might someday soon be construed as a manner of life too challenging to permit.
Nevertheless, B033 was prayerfully adopted by a large majority, and its passage must be viewed as truly sacrificial by all who voted for it. Clearly, the Church’s gay and lesbian membership’s sacrifice is the more real and tangible; but those who considered this resolution too little and too late also sacrificed much in principle. Thus, though the Church has acted imperfectly, it has also acted honorably and commendably. All in the Episcopal Church need to stand proudly and defend the sanctity of this sacrifice.
Still some seem determined to drive schism. Absurdly, seven bishops have declared their intention to call upon their respective diocesan councils to petition the Archbishop of Canterbury for direct relationship with him. They blithely ignore the fact that this plan contradicts their exalted Windsor Report by inviting the Archbishop to cross provincial boundaries. Despite the Archbishop’s repeated clarifications that the Anglican Communion does not have a super-primate, and that he himself hopes “we don't develop an international executive,” these revisionists persist. The Bishop of Texas has invited so-called ‘Windsor-affirming’ bishops of the U.S. to gather September 19-22 in hopes of encouraging their dwindling hopes that they will somehow compel the Archbishop of Canterbury to claim an Anglican papacy. They seem mindless that their efforts only help thus drive this Church and this Communion further inward into irrelevance, robbing us of our ability to minister to a world increasingly in need of the wisdom the via media.
In the meantime, it’s important that the wider Church recognize that it has experienced a breathtaking example of the grace of God, and is now moving into a renewed freedom of responsibility to minister to the world around us. It’s time now that the Church turns its back to the blight of bigotry and petulant discontent, and gives its hands and heart to those communities outside its doors. The finest ministry the Church can offer a bleeding world is its undistracted participation in the universal Christian mission through its uniquely Episcopalian witness to the gentle and mighty grace of God.
Jim +
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