Window Online

[Back to index of May articles]

By Ronald Baygents
Washington Window
Vol. 75, No. 6, May 2006

The controversy surrounding same-gender relationships will dominate the headlines when the General Convention of the Episcopal Church convenes in Columbus next month, said current and former convention deputies from the Diocese of Washington.

Those who wish to discuss convention issues can do so this month when members of the diocesan deputation take part in two "Conversations Before Columbus." The meetings are scheduled for 6:30-8 p.m., May 10 at St. Paul's, Rock Creek, and 6:30-8 p. m., May 30 at Trinity, Upper Marlboro.

"The focal issue is our responses to the Windsor Report, the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council as the Anglican Communion continues in a serious process of renegotiating its relationships," said the Rev. Frank Wade, retired rector of St. Alban's, and a veteran convention deputy. "Our church is seeking the highest forms of communion given our differences on issues like human sexuality, interpretation of scripture and the role of bishops."

Wade was a member of the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion a 14-member group formed by Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, and House of Deputies President George Werner, to help formulate the church's response to the Windsor Report.

The commission's report, released April 7, contains 11 resolutions. Several dioceses have also submitted resolutions regarding same-gender relationships, said Wade, who will co-chair the special legislative committee that will deal with the issue.

The most contentious of the proposed resolutions asks those involved in the nomination, election and consent to Episcopal elections to exercise "very considerable caution" in electing someone who would put a strain on Anglican relations, Wade said.

"This does not preclude electing and confirming a person in a same-gender relationship," he said. "It does mean that we need to take the Anglican Communion seriously as we make decisions. That is what we are accused of having failed to do in 2003. It also does not limit our concern to same gender-relationships."

The proposed resolutions also affirm support for gay and lesbian persons and their ministries in the church, he said.

"We do not encourage the development of public rites for blessing same-gender relationships, but affirm the need for a breadth of continued private responses," Wade said. "It is worth noting that we did not authorize the development of such public rites in 2003. We affirmed that those who are working privately in blessing such relationships are properly within the life of our church."

The distinction is important, Wade explained, "because our church expresses its convictions in liturgy more often than in creeds or confessions. Developing public rites would imply that we are of one mind on this issue, and we are obviously not."

An unknown factor at the convention will be the Episcopal election in California scheduled for May 6, Wade said.

"Three of the six nominees are openly gay persons," he noted. "If one of those persons is elected, the House of Deputies and the diocesan bishops will have to deal with the question of ratifying that election. That will be a major issue if a gay person is elected."

John Vanderstar, a parishioner at St. Columba's in Washington, D.C., who serves on the Executive Council of the national church and the diocesan deputation to the convention, said most church members have no strong feelings about the same-gender issues and "do not feel we should break up the church" over these issues. He said the same-gender issues are overblown by the media.

Iris Harris, a diocesan deputy from St. Timothy's, D.C., said she does not think the convention can resolve same-gender issues in a way that will please all parties. Harris said she hopes the convention will not be contentious, but if it is, "we should leave feeling as if we have dealt with the issues, even if we agree to disagree."

The reaction to the Special Commission report from members of the Diocese of Washington has been positive so far, Wade said.

"People recognize it as the kind of middle road that our church generally seeks," he said. "It probably does not please people who are convinced that their view is the only right one, but I personally have not heard from anyone with that view."

While the convention has a role to play in these issues, it is not definitive, Wade said. The Anglican Communion is large, takes a long time to think things through, and "the next big step after the General Convention will be the meeting of Anglican bishops at Lambeth in 2008," he said.

Also at the convention, the House of Bishops will elect a new Presiding Bishop for a nine-year term, and the House of Deputies will be asked to concur.

"One of the nominees is female (the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada), which will be a concern to some in the Anglican Communion," Wade said. "Whoever is elected will be a key figure in the renegotiation of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church."

Vanderstar said that if Schori is elected Presiding Bishop, that could be an "explosive issue" because there is a link between her possible election and "a whole lot of issues."

Six or more resolutions on the issue of church reparations for slavery will be considered at the General Convention, Vanderstar said.

Finances also will be a convention issue, Wade said, noting that the budget calls for "increased funding for our participation in the Anglican Communion at the expense of certain other missions of the church."

Vanderstar said the Anglican Consultative Council wants "a lot more" money from the U.S. church, and some feel the Anglicans "treated us so badly that we should not give them anything, which would be a bad idea."

[Back to index of May articles]