The First Day of the Rest of our Lives 


It's a new Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Praise the Lord! 

Things have been moving (actually back and forth) so rapidly at the General Convention of The Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) being held the past week in Columbus, Ohio, that it's been hard to get clear on just what the final result is going to be. But, today, the last day of the convention, it looks very certainly like, barring unforseen acts of God, ECUSA will be living under a progressive presiding bishop who finds no problem in proclaiming Jesus Christ to be a mother, and who thinks homosexuals are just as good in God' eyes as heterosexuals. She is saying these things right now, daily, to the press and to those entrusted to her charge. Folks, we are traveling at the speed of light.

It's going to mean two separate things. 1) We here in the USA are going to get serious about treating women, men, gays and lesbians equally in our parishes, our liturgies, and our Christian life. 2) The Anglican Communion has almost an extremely high probability of falling apart, because the conservatives are going to walk away from such a table, believing that it is not of God.

An article was published in the Telegraph by Johathan Petre today, Anglican church on brink of schism, which puts a lot of this in welcome international perspective. Yesterday, the House of Delegates (HOD) refused to comply with one of the three steps requested by the conservative-sponsosred Windsor Report, namely that ECUSA put a moratorium on the ordination of openly gay bishops. Today, however, exiting presiding bishop, Frank Griswold, warned the House of Bishops that if they did not pass a compromise motion, Dr Williams would find it "very difficult" to invite them to the next Lambeth Conference. The presiding bishop-elect, Katherine Jefferts Schori, urged the Convention to support a compromise motion in attempt to save the Anglican Communion from schism. The final result of this urging from old and new leadership was the passage by 3/4 of the HOD of a resolution calling on "standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider Church and will lead to further strains on communion."

Some liberal bishops in the USA immediately disavowed any intention of being bound by this resolution. A conservative bishop has referred to this whole movement of ECUSA as "a Boston Tea Party." It is perhaps an apt metaphor. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, has been warning ECUSA that failure specifically back off of its acceptance of gays and lesbians fully into the church would result in a rupture of the church, and that even a more loosely federated Anglican Communion might not be possible. In effect, the Windsor Report drew three lines in the sand, asking for clarity, and ECUSA is toeing in and out of those lines, saying "We're not going to do it, but we still want to talk."

I'm not sure about this, but apparently, the Convention did not take stands on the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of openly gay priests.

I am amazed at this result! I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that the Episcopal Church USA would take such a bold stance for inclusions of gays and lesbians fully in the life and ministry of the church or that they would elect such progressive leadership. I'm proud of my national church AND my parish, where the church leadership AND the rector boldly proclaim Trinity Episcopal St. Louis to be a progressive church preaching the gospel of radical inclusion. Jesus Christ IS shining through our eyes and through our actions.  

Posted: Wed - June 21, 2006 at 11:55 PM          

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