Committee for a New Dialogue on Sexuality Defines its Task
Episcopal News Service. March 16, 1995 [95047]
(ENS) In its organizing meeting at New York's General Seminary March 9-11, the committee charged by General Convention to continue the dialogue on sexuality set the parameters for its task.
"We are very clear that our work is of a basic nature -- to increase understanding of what it means to be a sexual being," said the Rev. Jane Garrett of Massachusetts, co-chair. "Our task is to do everything we can to encourage people to talk with each other, and to provide some resources for that conversation."
The committee moved quickly towards a consensus on several matters. They were clear, for example, that they were not being asked to deal with the controversial issues of ordination of non-celibate homosexuals or the blessing of same-sex unions because those issues have been assigned to other committees and commissions.
"We should assist in creating an environment where a variety of voices can be heard, where people feel comfortable enough to risk being honest," said Deborah Stokes of Ohio.
"What grounds our understanding of sexuality?" asked Bishop Craig Anderson of General, also co-chair of the committee. "Is there anything we can do as a committee to make connections with broader issues?" He argued that it would be important to draw on a wide range of resources already available from the culture.
Committee members also agreed that part of its task would be to integrate spirituality and sexuality, too often separated by the church. "We have a golden opportunity to begin to change some of the negative definitions of sex in the broader culture," said Stokes.
After some evaluation of how previous dialogues on sexuality were managed, the committee expressed a determination to look for something "less complicated, more usable on the local level," according to Nancy Rayfield of Indiana. "How do we reach those who haven't been involved in previous dialogues and who may feel some resistance?" asked Fred Ellis of Tennessee. Maybe it would be important to "prepare the ground, to plant the seeds," responded Bishop Mary Adelia McLeod of Vermont.
"We are looking for a different kind of dialogue, more open and flexible," added Pan Adams of Arkansas. "Last time people were discounted if they didn't take the training and follow the right steps."
"The goal is a more comprehensive understanding of our sexuality and how it relates to our spirituality," Anderson said. "Can we find a fresh method of dialogue so that people don't dismiss it by saying that we have done this before? Otherwise we exalt ambiguity and then wallow in it."
As an important first step in fulfilling its mandate, the committee will prepare a guide for "Continuing the Dialogue: A Pastoral Study Document on Human Sexuality" that emerged from the House of Bishops meeting at last summer's General Convention. It's important that the committee's efforts be perceived as "neutral," warned J.P. Causey of Virginia, without any implicit agenda. "It's not our responsibility to push the church to come to some decisions on these issues," added Stokes. "We all have points of view on these issues -- so we should recognize that but move ahead without promoting any specific positions," Anderson said.
The committee will seek ways to use the network that was created on the diocesan level for the previous dialogue. And it will try to determine who did not participate in that dialogue -- and why. "Maybe we should ask some of those people for another chance," said McLeod. Adams asked, "How do we honor the earlier dialogue and those who were trained to conduct it -- and then incorporate them into the ongoing dialogue?"