Urging Continued Dialogue on Thorny Issues, General Convention Ends in Fragile Peace
Episcopal News Service. September 7, 1994 [94135]
Michael Barwell, James Solheim, Jeffrey Penn
When deputies and bishops left the Episcopal Church's General Convention in Phoenix three years ago, one vexing question was left hanging, "How does the church cling to its deepest sense of community in the face of disagreements?" By the end of the 71st General Convention in Indianapolis, the church seemed poised to offer a few suggestions: keep talking, do not turn away from those who disagree with you, keep your eyes on the larger vision.
Everyone who arrived at the August 24-September 2 meeting knew that there was no way to avoid the sexuality issues. They would be asked to try again to resolve the issue of the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, to consider a call for a blessing of same-sex unions and to grapple with a common policy on clergy sexual misconduct.
"The Episcopal Church probably lives with ambiguity as well as any church, and I don't think that's a bad thing," said Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning at an opening press conference. "We know these are issues around which there is not simple consensus."
Yet many also sensed that questions of money and structure would loom large on the agendas of the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. Pressure from the grassroots was mounting for a complete revision of the national church structure and program -- including scrutiny of the role of the General Convention itself.
In parishes across the church, in visitations by teams of Executive Council members and staff to almost every diocese, at a grassroots symposium in St. Louis and at five interim meetings of the House of Bishops, Episcopalians wrestled with questions about their common mission.
The good news was that, after a lot of hard work, the legislative process itself had been streamlined. The convention would be asked to deal with half the number of resolutions it had considered in Phoenix and a cooperative committee structure winnowed the resolutions to a more manageable volume.
On the first day the bishops tested their collegiality, carefully nurtured since its collapse in Phoenix where sharp words among some bishops on the subject of sexuality forced the house to meet in six unprecedented closed sessions and to hold annual retreats to repair their collegiality. Developed in private meetings over three years and numerous drafts, a pastoral teaching on sexuality mandated in Phoenix became the focus of both hope and anxiety in the days leading up to the convention. The secrecy of the bishops in preparing the document added to the drama, fueling speculation about its contents. Weeks before the bishops' scheduled release date on the first day of convention, the conservative group Episcopalians United had leaked the final two drafts, further heightening the tension.
Called "Continuing the Dialogue: A Pastoral Study Document of the House of Bishops to the Church as the Church Considers Issues of Human Sexuality," the document served as a touchstone for all other discussions on sexuality during the convention. The document traces the church's positions, describes the discontinuities between the church's teachings and experience of its members, reviews scriptural interpretations, and offers guidelines on how to continue the dialogue.
But 18 bishops from Province 7 (composed of 12 dioceses in the Southwest) arrived at convention with a protest statement, signed by a total of 101 bishops. Their one-page "Affirmation" claimed the pastoral was a substantial departure from traditional biblical Christianity and it reaffirmed that the only appropriate context for sexual intimacy is within lifelong, monogamous, heterosexual marriage.
During a surprisingly civil debate, the bishops shored up the pastoral's language on chastity and marriage and downgraded its status from a teaching study document, And they voted to attach the Province 7 "Affirmation" to the pastoral.
Later, another statement, written by Bishop John Spong of Newark and signed by 55 bishops present at General Convention, asserted that sexual orientation is "morally neutral," marriage as an "honorable vocation for some of God's people," and "faithful, monogamous, committed" relationships of gays and lesbians are worthy of honor.
In the end the bishops decided to send the pastoral without either statement attached.
Opinion was split on interpreting the pastoral's final position on the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals in a guideline that commits the bishops to ordain "only persons [they] believe to be a wholesome example to their people according to the standards and norms established by the church."
In a press conference, Bishop John MacNaughton of West Texas, one of the signers of the Affirmation, called the bishops' vote a clear statement that the decision to ordain noncelibate homosexuals is not a local option. Not everyone agreed.
The pastoral and the bishops' call for further dialogue were mentioned in almost all other discussions of sexuality, though the deputies sent the bishops a strongly worded request that they not use the pastoral as an excuse to side-step other sexuality resolutions. While their authorization was not needed to release the pastoral, the deputies joined the bishops in urging the church to study it by setting up a 12-member committee on dialogue on human sexuality that will include both bishops and deputies.
Having approved the pastoral, bishops dismissed at least some of the resolutions proposed on sexuality, including several that would have bound clergy by church law to adhere to traditional understandings of sexual behavior. These included resolutions to add canonical prohibitions against blessing same-sex unions or engaging in genital sexual relations outside of marriage. Bishops also discharged a resolution that would have removed "the obstacles to ordination for qualified candidates who are living in committed same-sex relationships."
After several attempts in previous General Conventions, bishops and deputies finally agreed to change the canons to ensure that no one will be barred from access to the ordination process because of "race, color, ethnic origin, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities or age, except as otherwise specified by these canons." The same language was lifted for a second, more general statement that says "no member of this church shall be denied access to full participation in the life, worship, and governance of this church" for any of the same reasons.
Despite their new-found collegiality, the bishops did act on several issues in the sexuality debates.
Bishops refused to develop rites for blessing same-sex unions, one of the fundamental issues in the convention's sexuality debate. After two days of debate, they did hammer out a substitute resolution that endorses a study of the theological and pastoral considerations involved in developing "rites honoring love and commitment between persons of the same sex."
While all liturgies for trial use are subject to General Convention's ratification, Bishop Frank Vest of Southern Virginia pointed out that a restriction would allay fears that "we are slipping ahead" of the church on the development of rites blessing same-sex commitments. On the final day of convention, deputies concurred with the bishops with little debate.
Another resolution, calling for educational materials to help families understand and accept children's sexuality and sexual orientation, shuttled between the bishops and deputies before finally being approved. Bishops and deputies could not agree to distribute a report from the Standing Commission on Human Affairs that called on the church to address children and youth at risk, including those who are gay and lesbian.
Although the Episcopal Church may be deadlocked over who may be ordained, it is agreed on complicated procedures for handling clergy misconduct. After three years of painstaking work by the Standing Commission on Constitution and Canons (SCCC) and an hour of painful testimony at a General Convention open hearing, bishops and deputies overwhelmingly approved a massive overhaul of the Title IV clergy disciplinary canons.
The new church laws, which go into effect January 1, 1996, provide more uniform and balanced procedures for bringing charges against clergy accused of misconduct, in prosecuting charges, and in protecting the due process rights of both complainants and the accused.
Despite forceful arguments over statutes of limitation on alleged abuse and a controversial provision grandfathering victims who are ineligible to file charges under current canons, bishops and deputies agreed with the majority of revisions proposed in the resolution (A-019/a). The only change was a minor "friendly" amendment by the bishops allowing a vestry to retain a suspended clergy person who is seeking treatment.
Modeled on the U.S. Armed Forces Uniform Code of Military Conduct, the new canons give clarity and uniformity to a process that in large part was left up to individual dioceses. The old canons, unchanged since their creation in 1915, were intended to deal primarily with issues of heresy and doctrine. Until the 1970s, cases of clergy misconduct "were usually handled privately by the bishops and clergy guilty of misconduct," explained Robert Royce, former chancellor of the Diocese of Long Island and the principal author of the SCCC's resolution.
"We had so much local option that the same set of facts in two different dioceses gave no guidance to either, and we felt that was not appropriate," said Royce. "So we have truly drawn this thing kicking and screaming into the modem era."
What they were looking for, said Bishop Robert Rowley, Jr. of Northwestern Pennsylvania and a member of the canons committee, was "a balanced set of canons in which clergy's rights are protected, the interests of the church as a whole are served," and in which victims feel secure in making complaints.
"Money could replace sex at the top of the church's agenda," predicted Bishop Don Wimberley of Lexington at an Executive Council meeting before convention.
Two issues simmered beneath the surface throughout the 10 days: how to finance a program and how to design effective structures. Proposals for a new funding formula were hammered out in support of the national mission fared well, but the convention could not agree on the efforts for more drastic restructure.
Determined to support a continuation of missionary work on the national level, convention approved a three-year, $131.5 million budget that will challenge dioceses to go the extra mile in support of national programs. "We've tried to put Christ at the center of this program and budget." said Bishop George Hunt of Rhode Island, chair of the program committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F) Convention approved a budget that responds to repeated calls for visible and significant funding for national and world mission responding to Browning's challenge to congregations and dioceses to reach for a larger vision of the church. Support for world mission will restore full funding at the 1994 levels for appointed missionaries, Volunteers for Mission and overseas dioceses for the next three years. It also will provides $800,000 for a churchwide computer bulletin board.
The budget is based on a new funding formula that is expected to provide relief for dioceses that find it difficult to support national church operations. Russell Palmore of Virginia, a member of PB&F, explained that the "current funding system has been in place for 50 years [and is] based on income at the parish level of each diocese." But, he added, in most cases the increase of support to congregations has not been matched by increased giving to dioceses. "It has been a flawed system," Palmore admitted.
Most dioceses are working to support both the national church and local ministries, added Hunt. "But when push comes to shove, if you have a hungry person staring you in the face, you vote to feed the person you can see." Treasurer Ellen Cooke added, "There are three main factors [in the drop in available funds]. One is local economic conditions. The second is the desire to do more ministry on the local and regional level. And the third is, some people were taking positions for and against actions taken or not taken in Phoenix. We hope that won't be true coming out of this convention," Cooke added, "but there is always that possibility."
The revised formula, which proposes a single asking rather than the old two-part apportionment and assessment, offers three options:
- A diocese can calculate the amount it sends to the national church based on the income received from its congregations rather than (as in the past) on the total income received by its congregations from their members. A diocese choosing this option then uses a new formula with five graduated percentage ranges: 16 percent on their first $500,000,19 percent for the next $500,000,22 percent for the next $1 million, 25 percent for the next $2 million, and 20 percent for income over $4 million.
- As an alternative, a diocese may elect to pay the same amount it paid to the national church in 1994. If it chooses this option, the amount would increase by 3 percent in 1996 and 1997 to account for inflation. (During the past three years, dioceses paid an apportionment of.0375 percent and a General Convention assessment of.027 percent.)
- A diocese also has the choice of paying somewhere within a "covenant range" based on the new graduated formula. With this option, dioceses can pay either the lesser, greater, or somewhere between two amounts; the 1994 payment; or what they would pay under the graduated formula. Bishops and deputies also approved a new "Challenge Giving Program Fund" to support $1.12 million in programs not in the budget adopted by the convention. The challenge giving program assures that any money received above the amount budgeted from the dioceses in 1995 for program -- projected at $27.6 million -- would be applied to such ministries as support for ethnic minority scholarships, increased funding for black colleges, a grant for Cuttington College in Liberia, and grants to Jubilee and other social ministries.
After three years of listening to a wide range of suggestions about the structure of the church, convention nearly adopted a plan that would respond to grassroots cries for change. In the end, however, bishops and deputies could not agree on the form that change should take.
Although deputies hammered out a resolution they thought would move the Episcopal Church closer to restructure, the bishops chose to endorse changes already being implemented at the national level such as reducing staff and reorganizing church program into a single Service, Witness and Education unit with six clusters.
Resolutions on restructure received mixed reviews. Deputies and bishops soundly defeated the Executive Council proposal to study reorganizing the General Convention from a bicameral legislative body into a unicameral body. As in past conventions, deputies and bishops agreed that the time was not right to move the Episcopal Church Center out of New York.
The convention did, however, vote to reduce the presiding bishop's term from 12 years to nine, beginning with the election of a new presiding bishop in 1997. And it decided to include two youth on the committee to nominate the next presiding bishop.
In addition to debates on sexuality and money, the convention also struggled through a thicket of domestic issues. Deputies and bishops took care of unfinished business from the 1991 General Convention when they expressed the Episcopal Church's "unequivocal opposition" to any action by local, state or national government to "abridge the right of a woman to reach an informed decision about the termination of pregnancy," or to "limit the access of a woman to safe means of acting on her decision." While sidestepping political implications from the current national health care debate, the convention issued a strong call for universal health care. The resolution states that everyone should have access to quality, cost-effective health care services.
After lengthy debate, the bishops concurred with the deputies that the church should support civil rights legislation that entitles gay and lesbian couples to bereavement and family leave policies, health benefits, pension benefits, real estate tax benefits, and "commitments to mutual support enjoyed by non-gay married couples."
Based on a recommendation from the structure committee, the Joint Commission on AIDS was replaced by a committee of Executive Council that will be responsible for the oversight, evaluation, and strategic planning of the national AIDS ministry program in collaboration with existing networks. International issues
Keeping faith with Anglicans around the globe, the convention also addressed trouble spots in the international arena.
In a strong support of the Middle East peace process, deputies and bishops affirmed the Israeli-Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) September 1993 Declaration of Principles, declaring that a durable peace process depended on the U.S. State Department adhering to "a single standard of justice" for both Israel and the PLO.
Convention also urged the U.S. government to require Palestinians and Israelis to renounce violence as a terror tactic and method of civilian control as a condition for receiving aid and loan guarantees. In carefully balanced language, the resolution called on Palestinian police "to make every effort to apprehend violators" and called on Israel to release all Palestinian political prisoners and detainees.
Both houses approved a resolution urging a negotiated settlement to the tribal blood bath in Rwanda. The convention condemned the Japanese Imperial Army's exploitation of Korean women as sex slaves and called for reparations. The church also went on record supporting an end to U.S. military aid to the Philippines and supporting reduction and restructuring of the Philippine debt to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The resolution calls for ending military aid to the Philippines as a way to discourage the "total war" strategy of the Philippine government against insurgents.
Turning their attention to relationships with Anglican partners and other faith communities, convention:
- bid farewell to five Mexican dioceses as they formed the new Anglican Church in Mexico;
- committed the church to continuing membership in the Consultation on Church Union (COCU);
- urged congregations to study proposals for full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in preparation for a final decision in 1997;
- welcomed the first official delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church; and
- heard a plea for balance on Israeli-Palestinian issues from a delegation of Jewish leaders.
To some observers it seemed ironic that in the closing hours of a convention where the main Eucharist celebrated the ministry of women, it faced its most serious impasse -- trying to reassure those who still oppose the ordination of women in the church and address the impatience of those who support the ordination of women.
After a series of parliamentary skirmishes over two days, deputies and bishops adopted resolution C004s/a directing both supporters and opponents of women's ordination to engage in dialogue, while officially recognizing both theological positions for the first time.
The debate was sparked by the disagreement between the bishops and deputies about forcing implementation of an 18-year-old canon on women's ordination. In a lopsided vote by orders, the deputies staunchly defended their belief that the canon (Title III.8.i) guaranteeing access to ordination for both men and women should be implemented and not simply "addressed" as proposed by the bishops.
Frustrations over the issue forced the traditionalist bishops to take their gloves off. Bishop William Wantland of Eau Claire charged that the deputies' changes "clearly say to me -- and thousands more like me --[that] there is no place in this church, you do not have a legitimate theological position, and the sole purpose of dialogue is to implement what one side has already determined will be universally so." He warned that he and others could be forced to leave the church "as a matter of conscience."
In the face of the growing resolve of the traditionalist statements, bishops who support the ordination of women found themselves caught in their own crisis of conscience.
"In trying to honor the conscience of others I find myself compromising my own conscience," said Bishop Vincent Warner of Olympia. Although he offered an expression of compassion for traditionalist bishops, Warner said that he would "not walk away from my support of the women of the church whom I stand beside."
Clearly exhausted, and after a dramatic call for prayer by a traditionalist bishop, the bishops amended the deputies' resolution in an effort to satisfy traditionalists who said that they were on the verge of being pushed out of the church. In their amendment to the deputies' resolution, bishops said that both opponents and supporters of the ordination of women to the priesthood "hold a recognized theological position in this church."
Two traditionalist bishops in dioceses that do not ordain women will be appointed by the presidents of both houses to a committee that will continue the dialogue on "how the canon can be implemented in every diocese of the church."
Waiting for the bishops to complete their debate brought the House of Deputies to a stand-still. When word finally came from the bishops, the deputies heard one protest on the resolution before voting. The Rev. Ruth A. Meyers of Western Michigan read an impassioned statement that chastised the bishops for failing to assert that "the stated position of this church is that ordination to the three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons is equally open to women and men. I am disappointed that after 18 years the bishops are not able to recognize this very basic fact."
But the deputies immediately halted debate, accepted the revisions without comment and promptly adjourned until 1997.
Despite the obvious tensions, the strong pressures from all sides and continued willingness to compromise and live with ambiguities, most deputies and bishops agreed with Bishop Richard Grein of New York on his way to the airport that "we managed to keep the peace."
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