Like others in the All Saints’ community I
followed with interest, from afar, as the church gathered at General
Convention in Anaheim. Now that the dust is beginning to settle, I wanted to
take this opportunity to report on some of the work of that gathering.
As you know, GC is a bicameral gathering: lay and clergy delegates elected
by dioceses form the House of Deputies while bishops are members of the
House of Bishops. Legislation, in the form of resolutions, is referred to
committees for consideration and action. If voted out of committee, the
legislation is offered to each house for consideration and debate.
Resolutions must pass both houses to be effective.
Hundreds of resolutions on numerous topics were introduced and considered by
GC 2009. Many of these resolutions never made it out of committee; others
did not gain passage by both houses. While I intend to provide additional
information about legislation that passed both houses of GC at one of our
Wednesday Night Suppers later this fall, for now I want to bring to your
attention the two resolutions that have received the most press, D025 and
C056, and to offer resources to you for further reflection and study.
Titled “Commitment and Witness to Anglican Communion,” D025 contains seven
separate “Resolved” paragraphs. The first three reaffirm “the abiding
commitment” of The Episcopal Church to be a constituent member of the
Anglican Communion, to support the Communion financially and to “seek to
live into the highest degree of communion possible.” The next paragraphs
state that baptized members of the Episcopal Church include “same-sex
couples living in lifelong committed relationships ‘characterized by
fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, hones
communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships
to see in each other the image of God;’” that such persons exercise various
ministries within the church; that through our canonical process of
discernment “God has called and may call such individuals, to any ordained
ministry in the Episcopal Church;” but that those within our church and
across the Anglican Communion “are not of one mind, and Christians of good
conscience disagree about some of these matters.” Bishop Gray has written
that “the full implications of D025 will take a few years to discern.”
The second resolution getting much publicity is C056. Contrary to some
published reports, this resolution does not authorize the blessing of same
sex relationships but rather calls “for an open process for the
consideration of theological and liturgical resources for the blessing of
same gender relationships” and allows bishops, “particularly those in
dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil
unions, or domestic partnerships are legal [now six in number],” to provide
“generous pastoral response” to members of the church.
Bishop Gray has written that these two resolutions will not change policy in
the Diocese of Mississippi as he does not foresee the authorization of the
blessing of same sex unions in this diocese during his episcopacy. He does
intend to reflect upon and invite conversation about the “nature and
relationship between the sacrament of marriage, same sex blessings, civil
unions and civil marriage of same sex couples” so that our diocese may be
involved in the larger conversation that will take place in the broader
church.
Because my space is severely limited, it is impossible here to even begin to
trace the history of GC as it relates to D025 or C056, to place the
resolutions in context, to evaluate the nuances of either or to predict how
these resolutions will impact the church in the United States or abroad. I
do want to offer some resources that are easily accessible so you might
begin your own study of these issues if you so desire. Bishop Gray’s
reflection on GC, together with copies of D025 and C056 and other
information, may be found on the diocesan web page located at
http://www.dioms.org/digital_faith/news/377 . Reflections by the
Archbishop of Canterbury on GC, its work and the impact on the Anglican
Communion may be accessed at
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/2502 . As one of our delegates to
GC, Canon David Johnson wrote an insightful blog containing reflections
about the daily work of GC; it is found at
http://canondioms.blogspot.com/
. Other resources will follow at a later date.
I welcome your comments, questions or opinions. Call or come by and visit.
Paul+
