Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning spoke strongly against the presentment filed earlier this year against Bishop Walter Righter [TLC, Feb. 19], during the House of Bishops' meeting March 2-8 at Kanuga (N.C.) conference center.

Ten bishops filed the presentment, charging Bishop Righter with violating his ordination vows and teaching doctrine contrary to that of the Episcopal Church when he ordained a practicing homosexual in 1990. Bishop Righter, the retired Bishop of Iowa, was assistant bishop in the Diocese of Newark at the time.

"This presentment is not the way to go deeper into the truths of one another," Bishop Browning said. "Regardless of its merits, its worth, and what might or might not be found by invoking the legal process, this presentment will not solve anything. It will resolve nothing.

"When it is my turn to vote, I cannot, and will not, consent to this presentment. And I pray the house will realize that this is not the way."

Bishops spent a considerable amount of time discussing the presentment, both in small groups and in a plenary session. A suggestion was made that a dialogue be held involving five bishops who brought the presentment and five who opposed that. After considerable discussion, the five who opposed the presentment broke off the dialogue.

"My sense was the presentment has focused us on an issue we'd rather not talk about," said the Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton, Bishop of Dallas. "The central issue is church order. It is not anything toward Bishop Righter. Does this church have a teaching? Most people recognized that was the focus."

"It seemed quite apparent that no matter where one stood on the spectrum of ordination of non-celibate homosexuals, the vast number of bishops there did not want to go the way of the presentment," said the Rt. Rev. Charlie F. McNutt, Bishop of Central Pennsylvania.

"The bishops struggled with the issue," said the Rt. Rev. Dorsey Henderson, Bishop of Upper South Carolina. "The ideal solutions to the presentment and ordination issues," the full discernment, he said, did not yet occur. "We continue [our] study, prayer and dialogue."

Bishop Righter addressed the house in his own behalf and received a standing ovation.

"He said he was prepared to go through the presentment process, if that was necessary," Bishop Henderson said. Bishop Righter has three months to respond to the presentment, then his response and copies of the presentment will be circulated among diocesan bishops. If one-fourth of them agree to the presentment, a trial will be held.

The bishops also discussed two other major issues: the suicide of Bishop David Johnson of Massachusetts [TLC, Jan. 29], and the investigation into possible misappropriation of funds by former national church treasurer Ellen Cooke [TLC, March 5]. Bishop Browning said a full report will be made as soon as the investigation into missing funds is complete.

Two members of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the Rev. Martin Smith and the Rev. Curtis Almquist, were chaplains for the meeting. Bishops also heard addresses by the Rev. Kortright Davis of the divinity school at Howard University, and the Rev. Walter Wink of Auburn Theological Seminary.

Bishops also discussed ministry to children and racism. "The presentation by Bishop Walmsley on children in crisis was an outstanding piece of work," said the Rt. Rev. Robert Tharp, Bishop of East Tennessee.

He said he had come to the meeting with trepidation, but "I felt better when I left. I'm glad I was there." He said it had been one of the most serious meetings he had attended.

"I felt affirmed by many members of the house," Bishop Stanton said. "The meeting was not as contentious as it might have been."

This was the first House of Bishops meeting for Bishop Henderson. He summed it up: "It did not go as well as I would have hoped - and it wasn't as bad as it could have been."

Bishops are scheduled to meet again in September in Portland, Ore.