News & Notes from Arizona Bishop Kirk Smith - Will GBLT Episcopalians and their allies be sacrificed on the altar of unity?
Sitting in the airport, waiting to catch a plane back to Phoenix from the North Carolina House of Bishops meeting gives me a chance to add my own unofficial "Word to the Church" as an introduction to the official published document, which I have included below in case you have not already seen it.
There were several large and important issues we dealt with at this meeting. We were very much aware that many in our own country, not to mention the wider Anglican Communion, were waiting to see how we would react to the Windsor Report on the eve of our June General Convention.
You will note the mention, in the “Word to the Church” document, of the Special Commission on the Anglican Communion. Although this Commission did not give us a written report (that will be published in a few weeks), it did outline several recommendations, which will take the form of resolutions at General Convention. From my perspective, these resolutions represent an endorsement of the Windsor Report and express a clear desire not to do anything that would further jeopardize our standing with the rest of the Communion. The resolutions, which I also expect will pass in June, I would sum up as follows—and these are my own words as nothing is official at this point:
1. A restatement of our commitment to the Communion and the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury; an endorsement of the Windsor process as the way forward for all of us.
2. An invitation that representatives from the wider Communion join us on our national standing committees.
3. An expression of "repentance" (and that is the word used rather than "regret") for actions of our church, which have caused pain to the wider Communion.
4. An encouragement of "very considerable caution" in electing future bishops whose “acceptability poses a challenge” to the Communion, until a wider consensus emerges.
5. A call for a wide breadth of responses and pastoral care to the needs of homosexual people. However, the authorization of same sex unions is to be put on hold "until a broader consensus emerges in Communion." Bishops who have authorized such are to apologize for their actions.
6. A commitment to the care of all people, especially those who dissent with the decisions of the national church and thus feel marginalized.
The provisions of DEPO (Delegated Episcopal Oversight) are to be revised.
7. A call to strictly enforce the ancient rule of bishops respecting the boundaries of other dioceses.
8. Urge the adoption of the Millennium Development Goal of .7% of income given by all parishes and dioceses to the needs of the developing world.
9. A recommitment to a grass roots listening process in which there would be face-to- face interchange of leaders of the Communion. The work of the Anglican Consultation of Women is given as a model for this.
10. Strong support of international human rights for gay men and women.
I think one might say this represents a "go slow" approach for our church. Without backing away from decisions we have made, it is nonetheless a clear message that we will work to conform to the requests of the majority of the Anglican Communion as expressed in the Windsor Report.
I know that some of you will have questions about my point #4. There are at present three openly gay candidates (out of six) for the next Bishop of California to be elected in May. If one of them should be elected, consent would have to be given at the June General Convention.
In that scenario, and given the mood of this meeting, my sense is that those consents would not be forth-coming from a majority of the bishops.
Although the response to the Windsor Report was the main focus of attention, the HOB did a lot of other good work. We got to hear from the seven candidates for the next Presiding Bishop. My personal observation is that there is no clear choice at this point. We also issued a pastoral letter on racism, and, of special note to Arizonans, we rejected any legislation that would make humanitarian aid to immigrants a crime. As our communications officer pointed out, we are more likely to get press coverage for that action than anything else we did!
Amidst all of this work—and it was a lot of work—we had time for a day-long silent retreat led by Frank Griswold, who will be stepping down as Presiding Bishop after 9 years. We honored him at a roast on the last night of the meeting.
We also had two reports on the effects of Katrina by the bishops of Louisiana and Mississippi. They were heartwarming in their accounts of the tremendous generosity of the church, but also heartrending in telling of the work that is yet to be done.
But their reports gave us all a great example of the church at its best. This was pointed out by the visiting English Bishop of Exeter in his remarks to us:
"If there was just one thing I could carry away from all the words that have been uttered in this room this week, it would be the testimony of the Bishop of Mississippi, 'We have discovered something of brokenness, when all your walls are broken down, grace abounds.' In the context of the Anglican Communion and hope for its future, I want to say Amen to that."
Bishop Kirk Smith of Arazonia
FROM EPISCOPAL NEWS SERVICE (ENS)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
A Word to the Church
House of Bishops meeting at Kanuga
In this Lenten season we greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We write to you from the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where we are gathered for our spring meeting. In Lent God calls us to examine our hearts and renew our companionship with the One who offered himself for the salvation of the world. We are very conscious of the larger context in which we gather and deliberate: in a country where the disparity between rich and poor persists, where we struggle to rebuild lives and communities along the Gulf Coast, a country whose daughters and sons are serving at war overseas. Increasingly we are aware that we represent not a single national church, but one richly comprising congregations in fifteen countries. We wish to share with you something of our journey with Christ during these days of our meeting together.
The unity, mission, and faithfulness of the Church are matters very much in our prayers. We strongly affirm our desire for the Episcopal Church to remain a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, and we recognize that the gift of communion requires generosity and restraint on the part of all. We were blessed by the presence and presentation of our guest from the Church of England, the Right Reverend Michael Langrish, Bishop of Exeter, who encouraged and challenged us in respect to our relationship with the larger Anglican Communion. On behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Ms. Sue Parks, the Manager of the Lambeth Conference, briefed us on the plans for the Lambeth Conference 2008.
We believe that the most effective way to foster communion is to be present for each other, as often as possible, so that we may learn from each other, be corrected by each other, and discern the mind of Christ together. In this regard we were encouraged by the report of the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
We welcomed the Commission's overview of the report that it is preparing in order to assist the General Convention in addressing the critical issues and concerns raised in the Windsor Report, in the Primates' Communiqué, and by the Anglican Consultative Council. The report, which will be completed and issued early in April, affirms our commitment to the Anglican Communion, and will include a number of resolutions to be proposed for consideration by the General Convention. We commend to the prayerful reflection and legislative process of the General Convention this report of the Special Commission as a way forward in faithfulness to our Lord, to the Episcopal Church, and to the Anglican Communion.
A significant experience of our meeting was the opportunity to have a conversation with the seven current nominees for Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church. All the nominees listened carefully and responded with their own insights and perspectives. Our evening together gave testimony to God's blessing upon the life of the Church, and proved helpful as we begin to prepare for the election of the next Presiding Bishop. We are deeply appreciative of the generosity of these our colleagues in offering themselves for this discernment process.
We also benefited enormously from a day spent considering the nature and purposes of biblical interpretation in hearing God's living Word.
Our guests for this day, eminent Anglican biblical theologians originally from Kenya, India, and Hong Kong, and the United States, provided us with a profound glimpse of the contexts in which the Word of God comes to life throughout the world.
As part of our continuing commitment to work against the sin of racism, and much informed by what we have learned about ourselves in the wake of last year's hurricanes, we developed a new Pastoral Letter to be read in all congregations. We also wrestled with the grave difficulties regarding immigration and the injustices facing those who come to the United States. Additionally we considered important studies relating to the opportunities and challenges of evangelism and church growth today. As we prepare for General Convention, we commit ourselves to continued prayer and labor for justice for all of God's people, for the unity of the Church, for the faithfulness of the Church, for the mission of God.
At the heart of our meeting was a retreat led by our Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, III. Our time together in prayer was deeply enriched by his profound gifts as a spiritual guide and teacher. This occasion manifested his depth of conviction and generosity of heart, which have so characterized his years as Presiding Bishop and meant so much to so many of us.
As a result of our time together we are better prepared to join at General Convention our sisters and brothers of the House of Deputies, whose presiding officer, the Very Reverend George L. Werner, also addressed us. Together we will journey with hearts confident in God, eager to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in serving Christ's mission of drawing all things to God.
Lea este artículo en español:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_73088_ENG_HTM.htm
There were several large and important issues we dealt with at this meeting. We were very much aware that many in our own country, not to mention the wider Anglican Communion, were waiting to see how we would react to the Windsor Report on the eve of our June General Convention.
You will note the mention, in the “Word to the Church” document, of the Special Commission on the Anglican Communion. Although this Commission did not give us a written report (that will be published in a few weeks), it did outline several recommendations, which will take the form of resolutions at General Convention. From my perspective, these resolutions represent an endorsement of the Windsor Report and express a clear desire not to do anything that would further jeopardize our standing with the rest of the Communion. The resolutions, which I also expect will pass in June, I would sum up as follows—and these are my own words as nothing is official at this point:
1. A restatement of our commitment to the Communion and the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury; an endorsement of the Windsor process as the way forward for all of us.
2. An invitation that representatives from the wider Communion join us on our national standing committees.
3. An expression of "repentance" (and that is the word used rather than "regret") for actions of our church, which have caused pain to the wider Communion.
4. An encouragement of "very considerable caution" in electing future bishops whose “acceptability poses a challenge” to the Communion, until a wider consensus emerges.
5. A call for a wide breadth of responses and pastoral care to the needs of homosexual people. However, the authorization of same sex unions is to be put on hold "until a broader consensus emerges in Communion." Bishops who have authorized such are to apologize for their actions.
6. A commitment to the care of all people, especially those who dissent with the decisions of the national church and thus feel marginalized.
The provisions of DEPO (Delegated Episcopal Oversight) are to be revised.
7. A call to strictly enforce the ancient rule of bishops respecting the boundaries of other dioceses.
8. Urge the adoption of the Millennium Development Goal of .7% of income given by all parishes and dioceses to the needs of the developing world.
9. A recommitment to a grass roots listening process in which there would be face-to- face interchange of leaders of the Communion. The work of the Anglican Consultation of Women is given as a model for this.
10. Strong support of international human rights for gay men and women.
I think one might say this represents a "go slow" approach for our church. Without backing away from decisions we have made, it is nonetheless a clear message that we will work to conform to the requests of the majority of the Anglican Communion as expressed in the Windsor Report.
I know that some of you will have questions about my point #4. There are at present three openly gay candidates (out of six) for the next Bishop of California to be elected in May. If one of them should be elected, consent would have to be given at the June General Convention.
In that scenario, and given the mood of this meeting, my sense is that those consents would not be forth-coming from a majority of the bishops.
Although the response to the Windsor Report was the main focus of attention, the HOB did a lot of other good work. We got to hear from the seven candidates for the next Presiding Bishop. My personal observation is that there is no clear choice at this point. We also issued a pastoral letter on racism, and, of special note to Arizonans, we rejected any legislation that would make humanitarian aid to immigrants a crime. As our communications officer pointed out, we are more likely to get press coverage for that action than anything else we did!
Amidst all of this work—and it was a lot of work—we had time for a day-long silent retreat led by Frank Griswold, who will be stepping down as Presiding Bishop after 9 years. We honored him at a roast on the last night of the meeting.
We also had two reports on the effects of Katrina by the bishops of Louisiana and Mississippi. They were heartwarming in their accounts of the tremendous generosity of the church, but also heartrending in telling of the work that is yet to be done.
But their reports gave us all a great example of the church at its best. This was pointed out by the visiting English Bishop of Exeter in his remarks to us:
"If there was just one thing I could carry away from all the words that have been uttered in this room this week, it would be the testimony of the Bishop of Mississippi, 'We have discovered something of brokenness, when all your walls are broken down, grace abounds.' In the context of the Anglican Communion and hope for its future, I want to say Amen to that."
Bishop Kirk Smith of Arazonia
FROM EPISCOPAL NEWS SERVICE (ENS)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
A Word to the Church
House of Bishops meeting at Kanuga
In this Lenten season we greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We write to you from the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where we are gathered for our spring meeting. In Lent God calls us to examine our hearts and renew our companionship with the One who offered himself for the salvation of the world. We are very conscious of the larger context in which we gather and deliberate: in a country where the disparity between rich and poor persists, where we struggle to rebuild lives and communities along the Gulf Coast, a country whose daughters and sons are serving at war overseas. Increasingly we are aware that we represent not a single national church, but one richly comprising congregations in fifteen countries. We wish to share with you something of our journey with Christ during these days of our meeting together.
The unity, mission, and faithfulness of the Church are matters very much in our prayers. We strongly affirm our desire for the Episcopal Church to remain a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, and we recognize that the gift of communion requires generosity and restraint on the part of all. We were blessed by the presence and presentation of our guest from the Church of England, the Right Reverend Michael Langrish, Bishop of Exeter, who encouraged and challenged us in respect to our relationship with the larger Anglican Communion. On behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Ms. Sue Parks, the Manager of the Lambeth Conference, briefed us on the plans for the Lambeth Conference 2008.
We believe that the most effective way to foster communion is to be present for each other, as often as possible, so that we may learn from each other, be corrected by each other, and discern the mind of Christ together. In this regard we were encouraged by the report of the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
We welcomed the Commission's overview of the report that it is preparing in order to assist the General Convention in addressing the critical issues and concerns raised in the Windsor Report, in the Primates' Communiqué, and by the Anglican Consultative Council. The report, which will be completed and issued early in April, affirms our commitment to the Anglican Communion, and will include a number of resolutions to be proposed for consideration by the General Convention. We commend to the prayerful reflection and legislative process of the General Convention this report of the Special Commission as a way forward in faithfulness to our Lord, to the Episcopal Church, and to the Anglican Communion.
A significant experience of our meeting was the opportunity to have a conversation with the seven current nominees for Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church. All the nominees listened carefully and responded with their own insights and perspectives. Our evening together gave testimony to God's blessing upon the life of the Church, and proved helpful as we begin to prepare for the election of the next Presiding Bishop. We are deeply appreciative of the generosity of these our colleagues in offering themselves for this discernment process.
We also benefited enormously from a day spent considering the nature and purposes of biblical interpretation in hearing God's living Word.
Our guests for this day, eminent Anglican biblical theologians originally from Kenya, India, and Hong Kong, and the United States, provided us with a profound glimpse of the contexts in which the Word of God comes to life throughout the world.
As part of our continuing commitment to work against the sin of racism, and much informed by what we have learned about ourselves in the wake of last year's hurricanes, we developed a new Pastoral Letter to be read in all congregations. We also wrestled with the grave difficulties regarding immigration and the injustices facing those who come to the United States. Additionally we considered important studies relating to the opportunities and challenges of evangelism and church growth today. As we prepare for General Convention, we commit ourselves to continued prayer and labor for justice for all of God's people, for the unity of the Church, for the faithfulness of the Church, for the mission of God.
At the heart of our meeting was a retreat led by our Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, III. Our time together in prayer was deeply enriched by his profound gifts as a spiritual guide and teacher. This occasion manifested his depth of conviction and generosity of heart, which have so characterized his years as Presiding Bishop and meant so much to so many of us.
As a result of our time together we are better prepared to join at General Convention our sisters and brothers of the House of Deputies, whose presiding officer, the Very Reverend George L. Werner, also addressed us. Together we will journey with hearts confident in God, eager to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in serving Christ's mission of drawing all things to God.
Lea este artículo en español:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_73088_ENG_HTM.htm
posted by Tom Jackson at
3/27/2006 12:08:00 PM
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