Province Backs Browning Plea
Episcopal News Service. May 7, 1987 [87102]
Mike Barwell, Diocese of Southern Ohio
RACINE, Wis. (DPS, May 7) -- Saying they would follow the request of Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning to maintain open dialogue on questions of sexuality, the bishops and delegates of Province V, representing 14 Episcopal dioceses in the Midwest, declined to endorse a sexual ethics statement endorsed earlier by the bishops of Province VII and Province IV.
Instead, the synod referred the statement and the issue of sexuality to the provincial executive committee for study and proposed that sexuality be the topic for the 1988 synod meeting.
The sexual ethics statement was brought to the annual Synod, meeting at the DeKoven Center here April 27-28, by the Rt. Rev. William Wantland, bishop of the Diocese of Eau Claire. Eau Claire's executive council, in a letter to the synod delegates, said they "applaud and affirm" the statement "which calls upon all our members to follow the biblical and traditional teachings of the church," noting that "God's intention for his human creatures lies in the union of male and female in marriage. Such marriage...is, by intention, faithful, lifelong and monogamous." The Eau Claire council urged synod endorsement.
The statement was debated by the provincial bishops during a closed bishops' meeting, in which the bishops could not reach agreement on endorsement, with several reportedly saying they could not, in good conscience, sign the statement because it was judgmental and discouraged full dialogue in the church. The bishops referred the statement to the annual business session for debate and a vote.
The reasons given by bishops and synod delegates for refusing to endorse the statement included honoring the request of Browning to wait for complete dialogue in the church before reaching conclusions about sexuality. Browning sent a letter to all diocesan bishops in April appealing for non-judgmental, open discussion in the church. Several synod delegates echoed the fear that the statement was judgmental and included "innuendos" about homosexual unions.
The sexuality statement comes on the heels of the controversial report from the Diocese of Newark and the ongoing studies of sexuality by a national church commission which will make recommendations to the 1988 General Convention in Detroit. The Newark report and state ments by the Rt. Rev. John Spong, bishop of Newark, were widely reported in secular media earlier this year, which sent ripples throughout the Anglican Communion. Many newspaper reports highlighted the aspects of the Newark report which indicated that the church may, someday, propose blessing unions of people of the same-sex.
Delegates noted that the Newark report also dealt with blessing relationships outside marital union, including young couples living together before marriage in a "betrothal" situation, and elderly people who live together for companionship and whose economic situation would be adversely affected because pensions and social security payments could be cut off after marriage.
The Rt. Rev. Thomas Ray, bishop of Northern Michigan, opposed the statement, saying it was "judgmental against homosexuals, young couples and older people. Celibacy isn't the answer either," he said.
Many of the bishops and delegates noted during and after the debate and vote that, while they agreed the content of the statement, they had not had sufficient time to reflect on and debate that particular statement.
The Rt. Rev. Coleman McGehee, bishop of Michigan, said during the debates that Browning has clearly asked the church to remain open to dialogue. "As we open ourselves to this dialogue, for those of us who may be concerned, the position of the church is stated in the Prayer Book. The basic theology of the Prayer Book is the blessing of union between man and woman."
Bishop Roger White of Milwaukee called referral of the statement to committee "a cop out," noting that by the time the synod meets again to study the sexuality issue, the national church's report and recommendations to General Convention will already be determined.
In an interview following the debate, Wantland said he was disappointed because "there are thousands of people out there who are calling on this church to stand firm in its commitment to biblical principals. It is important to determine the context of ideal (behavior) and standards. And the standards must be there"
Wantland said he was angered that the church would base its standard of morality on what is the norm in this "Godless, violent society."
He added that his concern in supporting the statement was not not to be condemnitory nor judgmental but rather pastoral, by "upholding standards and calling people to holiness and perfection."