Bishops Strive For Firmness, Diversity
Episcopal News Service. October 2, 1986 [86205]
SAN ANTONIO (DPS, Oct. 2) -- Inclusiveness and firmness became the balance wheels powering the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops, as its members grappled with issues facing the Church and society.
The largest number of bishops ever to attend an interim meeting of the House -- 176 -- gathered at the Gunter Hotel here for a week of worship, prayer, discussion and legislation on topics that ranged from women in the episcopate to a sharp warning against interference by a bishop from outside the Church.
Presiding Bishop Edmond Lee Browning, chairing his first meeting as Primate, set the tone with two addresses -- the first laying down his assumptions about leadership and the second a sermon of praise for the role of the prophet, especially Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (Editors: see attached documents, 86213, 86214.)
In his opening address, Browning laid out a series of assumptions or values about leadership, to which he urged the bishops to hold him accountable. These included collegiality, trust, dialogue, diversity, the integration of pastoral and prophetic roles, the need for Church/State engagement and the importance of traditional values as touchstones. He told the bishops that he would continue, at least for a while, the heavy schedule of travel that has helped him begin to build collegial and trusting relationships and open dialogue.
Throughout his comments ran his commitment to a Church that encourages the engagement of all its members:
"The tension that is often experienced in the diversity must be seen as creative catalyst, as it almost invariably challenges us to a greater hope for our outreach. The Church and its mission are served when there is the continual realization that no part of this diversity holds all the answers to our well-being."
But he also pointed consistently to the role of the Church in society:
"I believe that it is the role of the Church to place and champion moral issues on the national agenda. Whether these issues effect foreign or domestic concerns, human rights, justice, employment, accessibility for persons with physical handicaps, criminal justice, social security or medical care, the Church must give moral leadership. This leadership comes with ministry with the persons involved, education of the general population and advocacy before legislative and judicial bodies. I do not need to rehearse for you the number of concerns affecting the common good which had their genesis and championship within the religious community. The religious community has been effective because it has been the conscience of the nation."
The Primate expressed disappointment at what appeared to be efforts within the White House to close off dialogue with Churches -- dialogue which past administrations had sought and encouraged -- and told the bishops of plans to enhance the presence and effectiveness of the Church's Washington Office.
He also told the bishops that he had instructed the Communication Office to begin taking a more pro-active approach to presenting the Church's case to the media and praised a session of media training which he had undertaken in New York.
In conclusion, he returned to the theme of inclusiveness, setting it in the Anglican context:
"When Anglicanism lost its tolerance for tolerance, it no longer served the Lord. But when it had a high sense of tolerance, an openness, an inclusiveness, it found its greatness. Anglicanism has a high tolerance for ambiguity -- it is a gift we give to our religious partners. It is a gift from God we need to accept and exercise. It means taking risks, facing pain and tension, living with seeming contradictions. With God's Grace, we will accept and exercise this ministry of inclusiveness, holding together the many parts of Christ's Body, bringing meaning to the lives of all God's Children out of our deep spirituality."
The elements and themes of Browning's address surfaced repeatedly as the bishops took counsel together on the matters brought before them.
A plea by some 17 bishops for consideration of those in the Church who are unable to accept the probability of the inclusion of women in the episcopate led to a wide-ranging review of the history of that issue, beginning with the statement last year that the bishops would not withhold consent (to consecration of a women) on grounds of gender alone.
After the matter had been carried through small groups and two open plenary sessions, the bishops agreed to a four-part resolution that affirmed the Anaheim action and the subsequent Communion-wide discussions and upheld the right of dioceses to engage in their own election processes while "acknowledging" the concern of Anglican primates that a woman not be consecrated before the 1988 Lambeth Meeting. (Editors: See DPS 86206 and Documents 86215 & 86216)
The Anglican Communion was high on the agenda partly because of the forthcoming Lambeth Meeting of Bishops but also because of the sense of unity engendered by Tutu's installation and partly by what was widely perceived as an attempt at interference.
The bishops spent most of a day on preparing for the Lambeth Meeting; preparation that included enthusiastic reception of a 30-minute videotape "Lambeth 88 -- the Call," copies of which were given to all so that they could begin preparation at home for the Communion-wide gathering.
In his sermon, Browning reflected on the experience of Tutu's installation and his ministry within that racist country and related that part of Anglicanism to the rest of the Church.
"My dear friends, in a very real way our partner Church of South Africa is, as St. Paul said in the second letter to the church in Corinth, carrying about in its body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in its body. We must not be tricked to think that the struggle of apartheid is limited to South Africa. The struggle is with the pernicious evil of institutional racism. The greater question before us is not, necessarily, how we support the anti-apartheid forces in South Africa, but how will we confront the racism that pervades all human society? Are we prepared to work for a United States and a world where all people of color are enabled to play an equal part with white people or will we continue to view non-whites as expendable at points of political and economic forces? "The struggle against racism is dramatically engaged in South Africa, but it is being fought around the world: in the Middle East, in Southeast Asia, in Sri Lanka, Central America, may I suggest even in some parts of this country."
While the Anglican Communion figures high in the ministry and theology of the Episcopal Church, the bishops made it clear that their commitment to it must be based on the full weight and history of the Church, not just present-day amity.
An attempt by the Bishop of London to "adopt" a deposed priest, a vestry under ecclesial discipline and a former parish within the Diocese of Oklahoma met with a unanimously approved Statement of Jurisdiction, in which the House said that if such acts were allowed, "The order of the Church is compromised, trust and collegiality are violated, and the integrity of the decision-making process of every province is destroyed."
The message was cabled immediately to the Archbishop of Canterbury and, it is reported, the issue will be a major topic when Church of England prelates hold their own House of Bishops meeting this month.
The House opened each day with Morning Prayer and held daily Eucharists at nearby St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Before settling into the major themes of Family and Leadership, the bishops and their wives heard each day a meditation by Dr. Kosuke Koyama, an ecumenist, missionary and teacher who has sparked a number of Church gatherings and whose meditations Browning called "a benediction among us."