Anglican Fudge In the Oven In New Orleans

Matt Kennedy has the points of the draft statement of the House of Bishops; unknown at this time whether they will address +Bruce’s resolution; PB has taken the stance of let’s write this statement and then vote on the resolutions. Dumb in my opinion. Here’s the fudge:

1. We affirm and support the PB’s plan to provide Episcopal visitors for dioceses within the Episcopal Church. The Windsor Report (paragraph 152) affirmed that our plan for DEPO is reasonable and saw no reason why such delegated pastoral and sacramental oversight should not be provided by bishops from within this province. We believe the Presiding Bishop’s plan is consistent with DEPO and we thank those bishops who have generously offered themselves for this ministry.

2. While we have already expressed concerns about the recommendations made by the Primates for a pastoral scheme, we nonetheless urge the PB to continue conversations with those requesting alternative oversight, seeking ways to create and implement arrangements which meet pastoral needs and which do not violate our Constitution and Canons. We urge those requesting such oversight to participate in these conversations and to assist in finding appropriate solutions. We pray that a way forward can be found which will bring an end to the incursions of extra-provincial bishops. These incursions imperil the Communions principle of honoring one another as we work together in good faith on these very difficult issues.

3. We continue to invite all the provinces of the Anglican Communion to join in the listening process which was embraced by the 1998 Lambeth Conference I prayerfully considering the place of gay and lesbian people in our common life. We look forward to receiving initial reports about this process from every province if the communion and to our own continuing participation with others in this crucial project. We see an important role for the ACC in helping to accomplish this objective, as well as in addressing other important issues that come before us. The ACC is representative of both the lay and ordained members of our constituent churches, and it is the only body possessing a written constitution.

4. We have attempted to respond to the Primates questions regarding Resolution B033. in honesty we must report that within the HOB there is disagreement as to how this resolution is to be interpreted and applied. As we live with this painful reality, conversation study and prayer will continue. We recognize the challenge our disagreement presents for some in the Communion and we respectfully ask for their patience and forbearance.

5. Because we are a liturgical church our actions concerning
blessings are expressed in public liturgies. No rite of blessing for
persons living in same sex unions has been adopted or approved by our
General Convention. We wish to make it clear that the House of
Bishops has not voted to authorize such liturgies. Even in the
absence of such public rites, we acknowledge that the blessing of
same sex unions, no matter how public or private, is unacceptable to
some of our brothers and sisters in our own House, in our church, and
in the Communion. The issue remains perplexing for us as we seek to
balance these concerns about rites of blessing and the pressing
pastoral need that confronts us. We wish to offer respect for these
differing viewpoints.

We are grateful that the Primates have articulated their support for
meeting the individual pastoral needs of gay and lesbian persons. In
2003 they wrote “there is a duty of pastoral care that is laid upon
all Christians to respond with love and understanding to homosexual
persons.” The Primates have writeen that there must be a breadth of
private and pastoral responses to individual situations. It is the
case that for many decades, the Episcopal Church has explored the
most faithful ways of ministering to and with gay and lesbian people
who are part of our common life. We acknowledge that in some of our
dioceses this includes the blessing of same sex unions.

6. Those among us who have received an invitation to attend the 2008
Lambeth Conference look forward to that gathering with hope and
expectation. Many of us are engaged in mission partnerships with
bishops and dioceses around the world and cherish those
relationships. Lambeth offers a wonderful opportunity to build on
those partnerships.

We are mindful that the Bishop of New Hampshire has not yet received
an invitation to Lambeth. We are also mindful that the Archbishop of
Canterbury has expressed a desire to explore a way to include Bishop
Robinson in the Lambeth Conference. Because we believe that this is a
matter of importance to the House of Bishops, we propose that the
Archbishop of Canterbury invite a small group of bishops appointed by
the Presiding Bishop to assist him in facilitating Bishop Robinson’s
presence and participation.

7. We reaffirm our March 2007 statement in which we said, “We
proclaim the Gospel of what God has done is doing in Christ, of the
dignity of every human being, and of justice, compassion and peace.
We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no
male or female, no slave or free. We proclaim the Gospel that in
Christ all God’s children, including women, are full and equal
participants in the life of Christ’s Church. We proclaim the Gospel
that in Christ all God’s children, including gay and lesbian persons,
are full and equal participants in the life of Christ’s Church. We
proclaim the Gospel that stands against any violence, including
violence done to women and children as well as those who are
persecuted because of their difference, often in the name of God.”

Monday Morning News Of The HOB

The Guardian has news of a compromise resolution being hammered out by Bishops Jenkins, Parsley, Bruno and Chane:

The compromise being worked on over the weekend has seen the US moderate conservative bishops Charles Jenkins of Louisiana and Henry Parsley of Alabama working with liberals Jon Bruno of California and John Chane of Washington DC and Canons Kenneth Kearon and Gregory Cameron, of the Anglican communion council, on a formal statement that would keep the majority of US bishops together.

The resolution would also allow dioceses out of sympathy with the church’s leadership to seek their own Episcopal oversight and also for the setting up of a pastoral council with foreign representatives. No such compromises, however, are likely to appease conservative groups.

I don’t know about that, Mr. Bates. It depends on what they look like.

AP predicts the Communion will split:

As Episcopal leaders consider barring more gays from becoming bishops to prevent an Anglican schism, the world Anglican family is already dying by a thousand cuts.

Theological conflict over the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, is draining the Anglican Communion of its global influence.

And while the number of Episcopal parishes that have broken with the national church is relatively small, observers say there’s another threat that’s harder to measure: that some parishioners upset by how leaders have handled the crisis are falling away from the church.

“It’s turning people off,” said David Hein, a religion professor at Hood College in Maryland who specializes in Episcopal and Anglican history. “They never endorsed gay marriage. They never said ordaining gay bishops was all right. They just did this as an ad hoc thing.”

The 77-million-member Anglican Communion is a fellowship of churches that trace their roots to the Church of England. It is the third-largest Christian body in the world, behind the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, and is represented in the U.S. by the Episcopal Church.

After four years of emergency summits and failed talks over Robinson’s consecration, Episcopal bishops are meeting here under enormous pressure to roll back their support for gays.

Well, let’s pray that AP’s prediction doesn’t come to pass, but I think the AP understands the situation.

Bishop Epting had to face a congregation in the Diocese of Louisiana regarding the presenting issues, and at least we know what part of the problem is – the 815 office itself:

I presided at the Eucharist and preached at a small mission congregation in the Diocese of Louisiana this morning. Before the liturgy, I led an adult forum with about 15 folks around a table in the parish hall. After an overview of the House of Bishops meeting and a little bit on our ecumenical relations, I opened the floor for their questions.

Lots of concern about the “September 30 deadline” (which, of course, is not a deadline but as the Archbishop of Canterbury has reminded us “perception is reality” in real life). I spoke of my hopes that we will find a way forward, and then said something like:

“Two things I hope you’ll hold in tension: I want you to be concerned about these larger issues, about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, and all the rest of it. But, bottom line, no matter what happens at this House of Bishops meeting, it doesn’t have to derail your local efforts. The cutting edge of our mission and ministry is the local congregation and you need to build a healthy and vital congregation!”

A 40-something big guy, with a red face and tears in his eyes said, “I disagree with you. What happens does affect our local congregation! I invite people but nobody in this part of the world wants to come to a church where, when you open the paper, is all about gay bishops and being thrown out of the world wide communion!”

I conceded that there are local consequences, but reminded him that I was only arguing for some balance in all this…that we shouldn’t be consumed by “the issues” but dedicate ourselves to mission. Then we went on to the predictable argument about “do we believe the Bible or not…why won’t the bishops defend the plain Scriptural truth…why is the Episcopal Church going against worldwide Christian opinion on these matters, etc., etc., etc.”

So, I did what bishops do every Sunday in the 50 minutes we are given in adult forums like this…trying to summarize decades of biblical scholarship, cultural differences, Anglican polity — things which parish clergy should have been doing for years in little places like this! In the end, I think I did OK. They trusted me enough to come to the liturgy, listen carefully to the sermon, receive the sacrament. All in all, it was a good day.

But, over a glass of wine at lunch with the rector and his wife, I had to confess that I do not know if we can hold this fractious Church together. Where I live, in New York, we bishops will be pilloried if we make any concessions in a conservative direction. An 815 staff person walked out on Katharine Jefferts Schori after she reported on General Convention Resolution B033. It was too conservative.

Finally what we will have to do, over these next two days, is say our prayers…listen deeply to each other…come to a consensus decision which is faithful to what this church is and what this church desires to become…and offer it to the larger Church.

As we said in an earlier communication from this House: all we can offer you is who we are. Not who you might wish we were.

Well, I commend Bishop Epting for visiting a parish and taking some heat, but he doesn’t give any solid answers. What TEC has done hurts evangelism in this part of the world – namely Louisiana, but oh well. So, he’s all worried about catching hell from the 815 staff. Why? They work for the PB and him, right? Of course, one of the major issues in the church today is the fact that the 815 staff DOES NOT REFLECT WHO WE ARE AS A CHURCH, BUT ONLY THE MOST LIBERAL PARTS OF THE CHURCH. This is primarily why a lot of folks don’t like sending money to 815.

Stay tuned; I have court this morning, but will be back in the game of monitoring this situation this afternoon.

A Truly Radical Suggestion for the House of Bishops

From here:

56. HCLD wrote:

The “problem” has not really been properly identified. Just about every argument or case one reads in this matter contains a “they did this” sort of thing. But the “they” have changed, and so have the many “this-es.” Some problems, still with us, cropped up when TEC was very much “the Republican party at prayer” and those were never fixed—like, say, divorce. So, first, we have to get people to designate what the real problems ARE. And that will indeed require more listening. After we do that—and I am deadly serious here—convene the entire House of Bishops again, with children present. I’ll bring my 10-year-old son, if that helps. And have the Bishops discuss the problems with the children and explain, first, why these problems are problems. And, second, how they believe Jesus would deal with these problems. “What would Jesus do?” (Just leave the cloth bracelets home.) EVERY SINGLE BISHOP must do exactly that. And once they’re done, let’s go from there.

Respectfully submitted,
HCLD

I should send my 10 year old Sarah to this meeting as well. After about, let’s say, half an hour, the bishops would probably ask, “Hey, can I talk to your Dad? He’s a bit more reasonable about these things.”