NEW YORK (ABP) — Leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States voted overwhelmingly Sept. 24 to continue working toward unity with the worldwide Anglican Communion, despite years of infighting and threats of schism over homosexuality and other issues.
Some conservative U.S. bishops have called the latest statement, released during the Episcopal House of Bishops' semiannual meeting in New Orleans, “lukewarm.”
Martyn Minns, bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, told reporters on a Sept. 26 conference call that he was “saddened but not surprised” by the tone of the statement. The convocation is the new umbrella group for American Episcopal churches dissatisfied with what they view as the denomination's liberal bent.
“It's disappointing,” he said. “Frankly I would have preferred that they would have pulled back and said, ‘We've gone too far,' and fallen back in line with the rest of the church.”
While appearing to hold out hope for finding middle ground in the worldwide Anglican community, the House of Bishops nonetheless rejected demands by leaders of the Anglican Communion that the church limit any further advances by its pro-gay faction. The U.S. bishops also called for an end to foreign Anglican prelates consecrating conservative American priests to oversee congregations that want to remove themselves from their regional bishops' supervision.
The New Orleans announcement comes after a communiqué sent last February from a meeting of Anglican Communion leaders in Tanzania. The communiqué had set a Sept. 30 deadline for Episcopalians to stop further consecration of openly gay bishops in partnered relationships. It also demanded that the church stop giving local dioceses and congregations leeway in deciding whether to bless same-sex relationships among members.
At stake is more than just the issue of sexuality, conservative bishops say. According to Minns, the larger issue is submitting to the authority of Scripture and the authority of fellow congregations.
“This is a much bigger issue [than homosexuality],” Minns said. “It's about whether the word of God is still trustworthy and applicable in daily life.”
While fast-growing Anglican bodies in many developing countries are far more socially conservative, Episcopal and Anglican bodies in the United States and other Western nations have generally been moderate-to-progressive.
Several groups supporting gay Episcopalians have expressed appreciation that the decision wasn't more restrictive. And presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, in a Sept. 26 written response to questions raised by worldwide Anglican Communion partners, said she is convinced that the Episcopal Church needs the Anglican Communion, and vice versa.
But she did not back down from her argument that gay bishops should be allowed to participate in an upcoming conference of bishops and her call for “unequivocal and active commitment to the civil rights, safety, and dignity of gay and lesbian persons.”
“It is of fundamental importance that, as we continue to seek consensus in matters of human sexuality, we also be clear and outspoken in our shared commitment to establish and protect the civil rights of gay and lesbian persons, and to name and oppose at every turn any action or policy that does violence to them, encourages violence toward them, or violates their dignity as children of God,” she said. “We call all our partners in the Anglican Communion to recommit to this effort.”
American Episcopalians, part of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, have been most heatedly embroiled in the conflict since the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson is openly gay and has been in a relationship with another man for more than a decade.
Another flare-up came last year, with the election of Schori as the Episcopal Church's first female presiding bishop. She supports full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the church.
Since Robinson's consecration, conservative Anglicans have requested removal from the authority of bishops who support homosexuality, asking instead to be put under the care of conservative bishops elsewhere. Most recently, 11 congregations in Virginia voted to leave their diocese for the authority of Archbishop Peter Akinola of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Dioceses in Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois and California are also planning to align with Anglican churches abroad.
Minns said he would have preferred for the statement to provide some “clarity” on the matter. Members of the church should declare what they believe is true, “stand by that and pay the price, or back away from it,” he said.
“No one is asking for others to violate their conscience,” Minns said. “We're asking them to stand by what they believe.”
The next major meeting for the Anglican Communion will be held next summer in England. Called the Lambeth Conference, it is a once-a-decade meeting for all Anglican bishops worldwide.
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Read more:
Episcopal bishops reject Anglicans' ultimatum; total split over gays looms (4/21)
Other Anglican denominations force Episcopalians to find clarity (4/1)
Third World Anglican bishops denounce installation of gay man (11/4/2003)