Glasspool consent continues to draw criticism, praise
Episcopal News Service. March 22, 2010 [032210-03]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
Twelve active and retired Episcopal Church bishops, along with six rectors and deans, have said that they "disassociate" themselves from the wider church's consent to the ordination and consecration of its second openly gay and partnered bishop.
The statement, posted here but not yet available on the Communion Partners' website, came in response to the March 17 news that Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop-elect Mary Douglas Glasspool had received the required number of consents from standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to her ordination and consecration as bishop.
Meanwhile, Fulcrum, a group of evangelical Anglicans in the Church of England, has called for Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori not to be invited to the next meeting of the Anglican Communion's primates or leaders. And another Britain-based group, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, welcomed news of the successful consent process.
Glasspool was one of two openly gay candidates on the Los Angeles slate. She is the second openly gay partnered priest to be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Church. The first was Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected in 2003.
Glasspool was elected Dec. 5 as the second of two bishops suffragan in Los Angeles. The day before her election, the Los Angeles diocese elected the Rev. Canon Diane Jardine Bruce. An announcement of a successful consent process for Bruce came March 8.
Bruce and Glasspool will become the diocese's first female bishops when they are ordained and consecrated May 15. Jefferts Schori will be the chief consecrator.
The Communion Partners statement said that "it is with profound sorrow that we, the Communion Partner Bishops and Rectors, express our deepest regret to our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion for the action of the majority of the diocesan bishops and standing committees of the dioceses of the Episcopal Church in voting to consent to the consecration as a bishop of a woman living in a sexual relationship outside Christian marriage."
While the statement said it was made in the name of "we, the Communion Partner bishops," it is signed by 12 of the 19 diocesan, suffragan and retired bishops listed on the website. The statement is also signed by five rectors and one cathedral dean under the heading "The Communion Partner Advisory Committee." The organization's website lists 74 Communion Partner rectors.
The signers say that the church has "ignored" a request from the Anglican Communion's Standing Committee, made about two weeks after Glasspool's election, for "gracious restraint in respect of actions that endanger the unity of the Anglican Communion."
The Communion Partners claim that the church's decision to allow Glasspool's ordination and consecration renders "moot" the General Convention's call for the Episcopal Church to study the Anglican covenant.
"Therefore, we disassociate ourselves from this action and grieve the state of separation that exists in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion," the signers said. "This separation is a witness to the need for the Anglican covenant as the means through which dioceses and congregations in the Episcopal Church can affirm their commitment to the Anglican Communion."
It is not clear what practical implications such a disassociation would bring, if any. However, at least six of the statement's signers have urged dioceses and congregations to adopt the covenant. Diocese of Dallas Bishop James Stanton succeeded March 6 in leading his diocese to such an endorsement. Diocese of Central Florida, whose bishop John Howe is statement signer, affirmed the covenant during its recent diocesan convention and said that the diocese would "listen carefully to the continuing discernment of the communion regarding the adoption, meaning, and role of the covenant in our common life."
Fulcrum's statement said that the consent approval by a majority of the Episcopal Church's diocesan standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction is a "clear rejection" of the authority of the communion's Instruments of Communion (the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Conference, Primates Meeting and Anglican Consultative Council).
The statement says that the next Primates' Meeting must take place as planned in January 2011 and "for this to happen the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church should not be invited to attend."
"Actions have consequences," the statement concludes.
The Rev. Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, meanwhile "enthusiastically welcomed" news of Glasspool's approval.
"It was our prayer that wisdom, maturity and justice would guide this process. Our prayers have been answered and we are thrilled by the outcome," Ferguson said in March 22 statement. "The Episcopal Church have [sic] demonstrated a commitment to the inclusive gospel of Christ and have recognized the qualities, experience and deep Christian faith which have characterized Mary Glasspool's ministry thus far."
The group said it "hopes that even those who find this to be a decision they cannot accept will join with her in furthering the cause of the gospel in a hurting world."
Meanwhile, Glasspool is attending the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops' retreat meeting at the Diocese of Texas' Camp Allen. Jefferts Schori invites all bishops-elect who have successfully completed the canonically required consent process to attend House of Bishops meetings.
Arizona Bishop Kirk Smith said on his blog March 21 that he has been appointed to be Glasspool's "90 Day Companion," to "show her the ropes of being a new bishop." Each bishop-elect receives such companionship.
"She is a delightful person who will be a great addition to this body," Smith said of Glasspool.