Bishops Learn that Episcopalians are Demonstrating Openness to Sexuality Issues
Episcopal News Service. October 7, 1993 [93169]
Nearly 20,000 Episcopalians have participated in parish-based discussions on sexuality mandated by the 1991 General Convention in Phoenix- -the so-called A104s/a resolution -- and, based on a preliminary look at questionnaires they filled out, they display some surprisingly open attitudes.
Nearly all those who responded, for example, said that one can be a faithful Christian and be divorced or divorced and remarried. Three-quarters said that one can be faithful and live with someone of the opposite sex without marriage and 70 percent said that it is possible to be a sexually active gay or lesbian person and still be a faithful Christian.
In a preliminary report he shared at the annual meeting of the House of Bishops in Panama, retired Bishop O'Kelly Whitaker, who chaired the steering committee that facilitated the survey, noted that 75 of the churches 96 domestic dioceses have taken part in the survey, or to put it another way, one percent of the church's communicant membership has participated.
The resolution at the 1991 General Convention also mandated that the House of Bishops develop a pastoral teaching on the subject of sexuality, taking into account the findings of Whitaker's committee.
Whitaker said that his committee worked under "an enormous amount of pressure in "a highly charged area" in order to "implement a process that opens up a climate for dialogue." Throughout the church, parishioners participated in at least five sessions focused on the subject of the sexuality and the church's teaching. Two resources -- one adapted from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and another developed by Province 7 -- were the basis for small-group discussion. Following the series of meetings, participants filled out a questionnaire that was sent through the diocese to Whitaker's committee for tabulation.
According to Whitaker, the committee carefully prepared the questionnaire with the help of professionals who were trained to solicit honest, objective responses. Facing almost certain distrust of the process by some in the church, the questions were tested in several dioceses and in training sessions for diocesan leaders.
"We knew it wouldn't be easy to move from the debate mode to a conversational one," Whitaker said during an interview at the House of Bishops meeting in Panama. "And we knew that the issues of sexuality are constantly shifting."
While the committee attempted to avoid any suggestion that the questionnaire is a "referendum on church policy, theology or legislation," Whitaker said that "there has never been such a sweeping survey of church members." He pointed out that there is nothing "scientific" in the survey and those who responded "do not necessarily constitute a representative sample."
When asked what was the biggest surprise in the results, Whitaker answered, "the willingness to be open. The process has helped to de-politicize the issue and to bridge gaps between people," he said. Speaking personally, Whitaker said that he hopes the church can learn to "share differences and learn to live openly, based on our baptismal covenant." While acknowledging that some regulations are necessary for the order of the church, he is convinced that "issues of human sexuality will never be solved by legislation."
Although Whitaker's committee presented a preliminary report to the House of Bishops for their consideration in the development of a pastoral teaching, it will continue to receive and evaluate responses from across the church. For example, still to be sifted are a bundle of responses to essay questions in the questionnaire. The committee is charged with presenting a report on the dialogue to the 1994 General Convention in Indianapolis.