19 Bishops Begin Action On "Relationships" Mandate
Episcopal News Service. November 9, 1977 [77365]
DES PLAINES, Ill. -- Nineteen Episcopal Church bishops met here on November 1 and 2 to discuss with Presiding Bishop John M. Allin the appointment of an ad-hoc committee to "establish and maintain relationships" among parties who hold divergent viewpoints about women in the priesthood, revision of the Book of Common Prayer and other issues raised during the 1976 General Convention.
Bishop Allin asked the bishops to assist him in selecting members for the committee, drawing up a statement of purpose, and to suggest procedural guidelines for the committee.
A resolution adopted at the October meeting of the House of Bishops called on the Presiding Bishop to appoint a "Committee on Restoring Relationships."
The 19 bishops suggested that Bishop Allin appoint a committee of 5 bishops who would co-opt lay persons, priests, deacons and other bishops to work with them as needed as resource persons. It was also suggested that the committee be an agent of negotiation between diocesan bishops and standing committees on the one hand and groups who have left the Episcopal Church on the other. Such negotiations would occur only when agreeable to both sides in any given situation. The committee would also be a possible agent for restoring relationships among persons within the Church who are in disagreement.
Bishop Allin said he hopes the committee will be responsive in a pastoral manner to congregations and organizations who might inquire about restoring or strengthening their organic relationships to the Episcopal Church.
"I do not think the committee should put any diocesan bishop in a bind," Bishop Allin told the meeting. "At the same time," he added, "I want the committee to have an open door to those who have left the Church and might be questioning their decision. We want to let them know we are concerned about them. " The Presiding Bishop said he hopes to appoint the committee "within a few weeks."
The 19 bishops adopted a purpose statement to forward to the committee, saying it should "establish and maintain relationships between parties in the Church in order to heal the breaches now existing, avoid future breaks, find a way for us to live and work together in peace and mutual respect and so to fulfill Christ's will for his Church."
The meeting also expressed support for those members of separated congregations who have remained loyal to the Episcopal Church, and asked that the committee find ways of ministering to their needs.
Bishop Clarence Haden of Northern California said during the meeting that "as bishops we are expected to provide leadership at this point of distress. I am now hopeful that the Church will recover its unity amidst diversity. "
"We meeting in Chicago have been given heart by this first step in opening doors for negotiations so that many in good conscience may remain within the Church," said Bishop Robert C. Rusack of Los Angeles. "The Committee will be able to go a long way in assisting bishops and those disconcerted within or withdrawn from the Church to enter into conversation that could bring about an end to our unhappy division," he added. Bishop Wesley Frensdorff of Nevada said it was clear to him that the bishops who met in Des Plaines were "open to all possibilities for healing and reconciliation" while at the same time recognizing the "many difficulties that lie ahead."
Bishop John B. Coburn of Massachusetts said the Des Plaines meeting and the appointment of the forth-coming committee "make it clear to dissident Episcopalians that they are free to remain true to their conscientious convictions and to the Episcopal Church at the same time. "
At the close of the meeting, Bishop Walter Righter of Iowa said the appointment of the committee will be the mark of "a reconciling Church as it deals with a particular need."
Others who attended the Des Plaines meeting at Bishop Allin's invitation were:
- Bishops Stanley H. Atkins of Eau Claire
- James L. Duncan of Southeast Florida
- Charles T. Gaskell of Milwaukee
- Albert W. Hillestad of Springfield
- John M. Krumm of Southern Ohio
- C. Kilmer Myers of California
- George E. Rath of Newark
- David B. Reed of Kentucky
- G. Paul Reeves of Georgia
- David E. Richards
- Office of Pastoral Development
- Bennett J. Sims of Atlanta
- Albert W. VanDuzer of New Jersey
- and Frederick B. Wolf of Maine.