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[Back to index of June articles] Diocese gears up for General Convention By Jim Naughton Episcopalians in and around the Diocese of Washington gathered last month for briefings and conversation about the issues likely to dominate the agenda of the church's General Convention, which meets June 13-21 in Columbus, Ohio. At Virginia Theological Seminary, the Rev. Canon Rosemari Sullivan, the seminary's director of alumni affairs and church relations, led some 50 convention deputies, seminary students and visitors through an examination of the 11 resolutions drawn up by the commission charged with shaping the church's response to the Windsor Report. Meanwhile, at St. Paul's, Rock Creek, the Rev. Frank Wade, chairman of the diocesan deputation to General Convention, and seven other deputies and alternates participated in a sparsely attended forum that focused on proposed revisions to the church's canons of discipline, but touched on other issues as well. Sullivan and Wade both served on the 14-member Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, formed by Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and the Very Rev. George Werner, president of the House of Deputies, and Wade, the retired rector of St. Alban's, D.C., is co-chairman of the committee that will shepherd Windsor-related resolutions through the legislative process. "It was difficult and exciting work to be part of a group of 14 people who held every conceivable combination of opinions in the Episcopal Church," said Sullivan during her talk on a Friday afternoon at the seminary in Alexandria. Sullivan said the resolutions were "carefully worded" in order to achieve unanimous consent from the commission. Among the more controversial, Sullivan said, were: - Resolution A160, in which the church would express regret for "any failure to consult adequately" in arriving at its decision to consecrate the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, who lives with his male partner, as Bishop of New Hampshire. "We did consult," she said. "There are those who felt we did not consult adequately." - Resolution A161, which urges the church to exercise "very considerable caution" before electing a bishop whose "manner of life" might alienate the Episcopal Church from the rest of the Anglican Communion. The resolution will be "a hard pill to swallow for the Episcopal Church," Sullivan said. "And whether we will or not remains to be seen." The committee chose not to propose that the church "refrain from" electing a gay bishop, but did suggest that such a step could be taken if the Convention desired. - Resolution A162 which advises bishops against authorizing "public rites" for the blessing of same-sex relationships. "The thrust of this resolution is diocesan, not parochial," Sullivan said, noting that it did not bind individual clergy members. She said the church's policy on same-sex blessings required "further conversations in the House of Bishops about what constitutes pastoral care," for gay couples, and whether such care could legitimately include the blessing of their relationships. Sullivan, who was secretary of the commission, said she was encouraged by an apology offered in March by the Rt. Rev. John Paterson, Bishop of Auckland and chair of the Anglican Consultative Council to the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. "He said, 'You have really gone the extra mile to remain part of this communion and the communion has not gone the extra mile to embrace you, and I want to say that publicly,'" Sullivan recalled. Church discipline, rather than human sexuality, was the focal point of the first "Conversation before Columbus" sponsored by the diocesan deputation, and held on a weekday evening at St. Paul's, Rock Creek. The second took place at Trinity, Upper Marlboro on May 30. Jim Ince of All Saints, Chevy Chase opened the questioning, asking Wade whether revisions to the church's Title IV disciplinary canons had any chance of passing. The proposed revisions include, for the first time, procedures for disciplining lay people. Ince, who founded the conservative pressure group Lay Episcopalians for the Anglican Communion, said the proposals seem "so draconian as to be from another planet." "In this climate there is a concern that some bishops for ulterior reasons will be slashing and burning," said Dick Amberg, also of All Saints, Chevy Chase. The Rev. Joan Beilstein, a clerical deputy and priest-in-charge at All Souls in the District said the proposed revisions were a response to the significant growth of lay ministry. The church now has many lay ministers, paid and unpaid, but no procedures for disciplining them, or protecting those who are subject to their authority, she said. The issue was complicated by the fact that the proposed revisions embrace the church's baptismal theology, defining all adult members as "ministers" and therefore subject to the disciplinary canons, said Barbara Miles, an alternate deputy from St. Nicholas', Darnestown. Wade noted that "disputing a bishop's leadership or theology is not a punishable offense," under the proposed revisions. However, he said in a recent interview that he would not support the legislation, in part because he thought the proposed canons could be easily abused. Beilstein said the National Network of Episcopal Clergy Associations also had reservations abut the proposed changes. "I think it is safe to say that what you see before you is not going to go through," she said. As the meeting ended, the Rev. Elizabeth McWhorter, an alternate deputy and rector of St. Patrick's in the District, reminded the group that General Convention is not only a time for politicking, but also a time of prayer. She urged members of the diocese to observe the General Convention Octave of Prayer, June 4-11. (For more information visit [Back to index of June articles]
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