Episcopalians Promise to `Exercise Restraint’ on Gay Bishops

c. 2006 Religion News Service COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Hoping to stave off schism within the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church agreed Wednesday (June 21) to “exercise restraint” before electing any more openly gay bishops. The 11th-hour resolution urges Episcopal leaders to refrain from electing bishops whose “manner of life presents a challenge to the […]

c. 2006 Religion News Service

COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Hoping to stave off schism within the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church agreed Wednesday (June 21) to “exercise restraint” before electing any more openly gay bishops.

The 11th-hour resolution urges Episcopal leaders to refrain from electing bishops whose “manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.” The statement was a last-ditch attempt to appease anger at home and abroad after Episcopalians elected an openly gay priest, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop in 2003.


The measure falls short of the “moratorium” that was requested by overseas Anglican leaders after Robinson’s election in New Hampshire.

Coming at the tail end of a wrenching nine-day convention, the resolution pleased almost no one in this deeply divided church, and at least some bishops promised to ignore it.

Conservatives argued that it did not go far enough to meet the demands of Anglican leaders and threatened to further isolate the U.S. church from sister churches in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. Liberals, meanwhile, lamented that the resolution would shut down and offend the ministry of gay and lesbian Episcopalians.

“This is not what we hoped for, but this is what we have,” said Robinson, whose longtime relationship with another man and 2003 consecration set off the current controversy.

But church leaders, including outgoing Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori, pushed the resolution as the best way for the Episcopal Church to retain its seat at Anglican councils.

“We need something clear from the Episcopal Church,” said Griswold, who convened a special joint session of bishops, lay and clergy delegates to address the issue Wednesday morning. The resolution was then passed separately by the House of Bishops and lay and clergy delegates.

Griswold warned that if the church didn’t “do something substantial,” the church would likely not be invited to a summit of Anglican leaders in 2008 at the Lambeth Conference in England.


His successor, Jefferts Schori, will be the new face of the American church during Anglican meetings, and the first female primate in the 400-year history of the Anglican Communion.

Jefferts Schori, who was elected Sunday, told lay and clergy delegates, “I believe this is the best this church is going to manage at this point in our history.”

During the emotional debate, many delegates spoke of being painfully conflicted.

“This resolution tears my heart apart; it goes against everything in my being,” said delegate Sally Johnson from Minnesota as tears ran down her face. “But as a gift to the presiding bishop-elect, I think we should approve it.”

The resolution does not define what “manner of life” refers to, although all sides understood it to mean gay or lesbian bishops. And how the “restraint” resolution will affect the future election of bishops is not yet clear.

New bishops who are elected must gain the consent of bishops and elected leaders in a majority of U.S. dioceses. Almost immediately after the resolution was approved by lay and clergy delegates here, Washington Bishop John Chane pledged to ignore it.

“I will defy this resolution by consenting after careful consideration of any person duly elected by a diocese in this church,” Chane said in a statement.


Just Tuesday, a majority of lay and clergy delegates in the church’s House of Deputies voted against a measure that would have “urged very considerable caution” before electing gay bishops.

But in a bit of last-minute wrangling, Griswold called the church’s two legislative bodies into special session and urged them to pass the resolutions before the convention adjourned Wednesday.

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After Robinson was elected in 2003, Anglican leaders issued the so-called Windsor Report, which asked the Episcopal Church to stop ordaining gay bishops until a wider consensus is reached within the Communion on sexuality issues.

For nine days, Episcopalians here debated how to maintain their seat at the Anglican table while also asserting their independent and pioneering spirit.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who is the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, said Wednesday that “there is much to appreciate in the hard and devoted work done by the General Convention.”

But he cautioned that “it is not yet clear how far the resolutions passed … represent the adoption by the Episcopal Church of all the proposals set out in the Windsor Report.”


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While Episcopalians may have placated Anglican leaders and headed off a potential schism, their actions come at a cost, said the Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, a network of gay and lesbian Episcopalians.

“I think it’s unconscionable that we have bishops in this church that are willing to sell out gays and lesbians in order to go to Lambeth,” she said.

For her part, Jefferts Schori said she is “fully committed to the inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in this church” and said she does not see the statement as “slamming the door” on gay church members.

After the “restraint” resolution passed, 20 bishops stood in the House of Bishops and said the church’s response to overseas concerns are “clearly and simply inadequate.”

“We bishops have committed to withhold consents (not approve) for any persons living in same-gender relationships who may be put forward for consecration as a bishop of the church,” the bishops said.

“And we have refused to grant authority for the blessing of sexual relationships outside Christian marriage in our jurisdictions. We intend to go forward in the Communion confidently and unreservedly.”


KRE/PH END BURKE

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