Updated Monday afternoon
ENS reports that Deputies support fully inclusive ordination process, ongoing commitment to communion.
The House of Deputies by more than a 2-1 margin adopted a resolution July 12 that declares the ordination process of the Episcopal Church open to all individuals while expressing its ongoing commitment to the Anglican Communion.
The vote was 77-31 in the lay order and 74-25 in the clergy order. It now goes to the House of Bishops, where it must be passed to be enacted.
Resolution D025 was created as a response to resolution B033, which was adopted in the waning hours of the 2006 General Convention and urged restraint concerning the election of bishops whose “manner of life” would cause offense to the wider Anglican Communion. That was widely believed specifically to refer to gays and lesbians in committed same-sex relationships.
Ruth Gledhill has a comprehensive report on what the Archbishop of Canterbury said during the first item of business on Monday.
Archbishop of Canterbury ‘regrets’ TEC move to gay ordination.
Responding to a question by Chris Sugden of Anglican Mainstream, Dr Williams said: ‘As for General Convention it remains to be seen I think whether the vote of the House of Deputies will be endorsed by the House of Bishops. If the House of Bishops chooses to block then the moratorium remains. I regret the fact that there is not the will to observe the moratorium in such a significant part of the Church in North America but I can’t say more about that as I have no details.’ Dr Williams also responded to concerns about the funding for the ‘listening process’ saying that he had been personally involved in securing that funding and had been completely unaware of any ‘agenda’ attached to the funding.
The Church Times blog has a good report on the story from General Convention, see House of Deputies affirms ministry of gay and lesbian persons.
Updates Monday afternoon
The Times Ruth Gledhill Schism closer as US Anglicans vote to overturn ban on gay ordinations
Guardian Riazat Butt Archbishop of Canterbury ‘regrets’ move to ordain gay bishops
Press Association Martha Linden Archbishop’s ‘regret’ over US decision over gay bishops
What an unfortunate comment by the Archbishop! Throughout the process of ACNA setting up its schism in North America, he has been repeatedly asked to support the Episcopal Church and disown the schismatics, yet has said absolutely NOTHING. Yet, when the overwhelming majority of the laity and clergy of TEC give expression to what is, after all, the sensus fidelium, he intervenes immediately, even before the bishops have voted, to try to influence the outcome. There is something very wrong with his view of how the Church works here. TEC cannot operate in defiance of the sensus fidelium in the… Read more »
After TEC’s gracious use of restraint in the adoption of B033 resulted in ACNA, CANA, Confessing Anglicans, -Duncan, -Iker, -Scholfield, Quittsburgh, Uganda, Nigeria, Truro Parish, it should come as no surprise that we are sick and tired of being told to hold off in delivering justice in the spirit of the Lord, while our property is stolen and countless funds are wasted on litigation (when it is surely needed elsewhere). And there have been many careers trashed through B033, as I know of at least two individuals (one a Dean of my cathedral) that were denied in a Reading-like dismissal… Read more »
I am rapidly reaching the point where I think the Lambeth Quadrilateral is no longer operative, so long as the other provinces of the Communion insist on telling the North American provinces what they can and cannot do regarding internal matters.
There never was a moratorium. All B033 did, contrary to the Gospel, the doctrine of the Episcopal Church, and the non-discrimination canons of the same, was to “urge restraint” by not consenting to election of bishops whose manner of life posed a challenge to the wider church. It is a recommendation (and a bad one), not a moratorium. D025 calls on the Episcopal Church to maintain our relationships with other Anglican Christians and calls us back to the discernment process called for in the canons pertaining to the ordained ministry, including the non-discrimination canons. Archbishop Rowan’s regret is well known… Read more »
Dr. Williams regrets that there is not the will to observe the moratorium in such significant numbers … when has he ever publically regretted the continued crossing of diosesan borders by bishops from other provinces? When has he ever regretted the attempts to steal TEC property? When has he NOT met with ‘archbishop’ Dunkin’? I was glad to read elsewhere that his imperialist designs on the C of E were thwarted. If he wants to be that kind of archbishop, he should strip off and swim the Tiber.
Thank goodness for the House of Deputies. At least someone in in Anglicanism is talking sense–not before time.
Whether the US bishops will have the courage to endorse their work, remains to be seen.
Why does nobody have the political wit to counter Dr Sugden’s cross questioning of Dr Williams by asking about the moratorium on border crossing? TEC is extremely compliant there and Dr Sugden’s ‘friends’ are not.
I regret that the Archbishop regrets our House of Deputies living into what is our witness here in the United States. The LGBT community, as baptized Christians, are among the faithful who God is likely to call upon to become members of the priesthood and the episcopate. I bet the same exists in England.
Hhhhhmmmm…I do not recall him ever expressing “regret” over the bigoted actions and pronouncements of the Southern Cone or their blatant disregard for the listening process. Did I miss a memo?
PIMF: I wrote Southern Cone when I meant Global South…
I am sick to death of having ABC Rowan break my heart with his heartless pronouncements of “regret” over TEC and his absolute, heartbreaking silence in the face of Duncan et al, ACNA, Nigeria and all those listed above by choirboyfromhell. I’m just sick of it. i was sickened by his virtually dismissive acceptance of our election of Katherine as our Presiding Bishop. I was sickened by his failure to acknowledge the deep heartbreak that went into our Deputies being coerced by threats from across the pond into passing the abomination that was B033. I’m sick of the fear Rowan… Read more »
when am I allowed to say oy vey?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/jul/13/general-synod-york-anglican
I fail to see in the text of D025 the ideas to which the Archbishop objects. He must be looking at some other resolution or reading someone else’s gloss.
While I still don’t believe that RW is anything other than fully accepting of gay relationships in his heart of hearts, I think all the above comments are absolutely right: the asymmetry is disgraceful.
Simon: in the latest update to Ruth Gledhill’s blog, she says “A private member’s motion put down this weekend at the General Synod calls for the Church of England to be ‘in communion’ with the new province. It has already received 121 signatures… Of these, four, Blackburn, Winchester, Rochester and Europe, are diocesan bishops and two more are suffragans.” Can we see the text of this motion (and the names of the suffragans) please? It would really be a quite extraordinarily maladroit action if the Bishop of Gibraltar-in-Europe, whose diocese covers a parallel geographical area to an Episcopal Church jurisdiction… Read more »
I regret that the Episcopal Church still seems worried about staying in “communion” with this man! Let’s get on with building stronger relationships with communities like the Church of Sweden and stop worrying about Canterbury.
Can we see the text of this motion (and the names of the suffragans) please? It would really be a quite extraordinarily maladroit action if the Bishop of Gibraltar-in-Europe, whose diocese covers a parallel geographical area to an Episcopal Church jurisdiction (as also Spanish and Lusitanian ones) should be announcing that he is not in fact in communion with the people who are supposed to be his current Anglican Communion mission partners in Europe. Posted by: Fr Mark on Monday, 13 July 2009 at 8:25pm BST This has signatures from over 100 synod members including these bishops: Blackburn Winchester Europe… Read more »
“Let’s get on with building stronger relationships with communities like the Church of Sweden and stop worrying about Canterbury.”
Come to think of it, why *aren’t* we (ECUSA) in full communion with the Church of Sweden?
Archbishop Rowan may like GLBT people personally, but he acts like he’s decided the only way to hold the Communion together is appease the conservatives and treat GLBT people and their allies with benign neglect. Has Archbishop Rowan ever publicly rebuked any of the provinces that are so busy tearing apart the TEC province? Has he ever publicly rebuked those people and provinces that are flagrantly ignoring the alleged moratorium on province poaching? And now, conservative bishops in his own backyard want the CofE to have communion with FOCA. Will he finally step in when cross-border poachers poach the CofE… Read more »
Maybe the ABC would like to go in to a church full of GLBT people and say, “I’m sorry but for the good of the communion you’ll just have to go!” We could give him stones and he could throw them at us and call us terrible names. He’s to me that’s what he’s saying. Maybe he’d be happy if we just give our money and stay in the closet while our GLBT family members around the communion continue to be persecuted and just be quiet, like naughty, dirty children! I’ve tried to give this man the benefit of the… Read more »
Is it possible to join the Church of Sweden while based here, or become one of its clergy?
Here, the official spiritual process simply mirrors a nineteenth-century parliamentary charade, in which procrastination is transformed into ‘waiting in obedience on the Holy Spirit’.
Hello, the Church is dying on its feet and this is how we still deal with things?
Bishops, awake!
I am rapidly reaching the point where I think the Lambeth Quadrilateral is no longer operative, so long as the other provinces of the Communion insist on telling the North American provinces what they can and cannot do regarding internal matters.