Twenty bishops of the Episcopal Church have issued a statement dissenting from the recent actions of the General Convention in passing resolutions A036 and A054.
News report from The Living Church here: The Salt Lake City Statement
Full text of the statement is copied below the fold. A PDF version is available here.
Communion Partners Salt Lake City Statement
The 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, in passing Resolutions A036 and A054, has made a significant change in the Church’s understanding of Christian marriage. As bishops of the Church, we must dissent from these actions.
We affirm Minority Report #1, which was appended to the text of Resolution A036:
The nature, purpose, and meaning of marriage, as traditionally understood by Christians, are summed up in the words of the Book of Common Prayer:
“The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored by all people.
The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God’s will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord” (BCP, p. 423)
The nature, purpose, and meaning of marriage are linked to the relationship of man and woman. The promises and vows of marriage presuppose husband and wife as the partners who are made one flesh in marriage. This understanding is a reasonable one, as well as in accord with Holy Scripture and Christian tradition in their teaching about marriage.
When we were ordained as bishops in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, we vowed to “guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church of God” (BCP, p. 518). We renew that promise; and in light of the actions of General Convention, and of our own deep pastoral and theological convictions, we pledge ourselves to
We are mindful that the decisions of the 78th General Convention do not take place in isolation. The Episcopal Church is part of a larger whole, the Anglican Communion. We remain committed to that Communion and to the historic See of Canterbury, and we will continue to honor the three moratoria requested in the Windsor Report and affirmed by the Instruments of Communion.
We invite bishops and any Episcopalians who share these commitments to join us in this statement, and to affirm with us our love for our Lord Jesus Christ, our commitment to The Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Communion, and our dissent from these actions.
Interesting to see who is in that list and who voted no.
Given the vote – 173-27, with the House of Bishops voting 129-26 Tuesday, with five abstentions, the twenty are both insignificant and might even be accused of sour grapes. Why does the right wing think that the Holy Spirit cannot work through a democratic process? I’m certain that had the vote gone the other way, they’d have had no problem.
So?
I am just a far away ancient Australian Episcopalian – priest in a Church that is in communion with Canterbury and the US Episcopal. I am conservative culturally (e.g. with regard to the use of traditional BCP liturgy or our constitutional monarchy or classical education) but otherwise am a broad, theologically and Biblically liberal churchman, not homophobic, and not opposed to legal, civil partnerships. Nonetheless, I certainly agree with these bishops (and with the minority reports of the US judges)and I hope the bishops’ words and wisdom will be pondered.
That’s what I call a score.
Usual suspects. I really despise living in Reactionary Hate Land.
JohnB, I’m sorry, but you cannot block the altar to Christian couples who wish to ***MARRY***, and at the same time say you are “not homophobic”. It’s 2015, and you have to choose one or the other. Let your yes be “Yes” or your no be “No”.
What does this mean in practice? Can these bishops stop church marriages in their dioceses?
So, JCF, what do you say to my Christian gay friends, indeed couples in civil partnerships, who remain implacably opposed to redefining Christian marriage and are happy to celebrate difference??? By your definition at 8.04am
“JohnB, I’m sorry, but you cannot block the altar to Christian couples who wish to ***MARRY***, and at the same time say you are “not homophobic”. It’s 2015, and you have to choose one or the other.”
you seem to be defining them as homophobic and therefore self-loathing.
The term ‘Communion Partners’ as used by the dissenting bishop, by the content of their statement, can surely only refer to their alliance wih the GAFCON Bishops and not to the rest of the Anglican Communion provinces.
Here is the tally of Bishops’ Roll Call vote on A036 http://www.scribd.com/doc/270218754/A036-Vote-Tally-Revision-3
“Homophobic” means “fearful of homosexuals” so it is nonsense to say that one must be either that or a supporter of “gay marriage”. If I am the only one who expresses a dissenting voice on this site, nonetheless I am in line with the largest and most active member Churches of the Anglican Communion and with the vast majority of the world’s Christians, let alone orthodox Jews, and Muslims. But one correction to what I posted : the Anglican Church of Australia is formally in communion with the Church of England but I think that its Constitution makes no reference… Read more »
“you seem to be defining them as homophobic and therefore self-loathing”
Yes.
It’s one thing not to want something for yourself, it’s quite another to insist that people who desperately want it should be prevented from having it.
“So, JCF, what do you say to my Christian gay friends, indeed couples in civil partnerships, who remain implacably opposed to redefining Christian marriage and are happy to celebrate difference???” John F
I think the expression you might be looking for is ‘dog in a manger’.
@JohnF ooh a gotcha! that’ll teach us LGBTs who the *real* bigots are!
I don’t know what JCF would say, but I’d say:
No one is going to force you to get married. Why should you try to force others not to?
Oh and John Bunyan, “homophobia” means more than just fear of us. The term was coined by George Weinberg in the 1960s, and he said that he most definitely meant it to include predjudice based attempts to restrict civil rights. Which would include not recognizing our rights to equal marriage. It is a fifty year old word that is based on Greek root words, not an Ancient Greek or Koine Greek word. Arguing about such a well defined and well understood word, coined to describe those who oppose equal rights, based only on the root word meanings is rather silly.
John Bunyan, it might behoove you to look at the vast numbers of bishops and deputies who voted FOR inclusive, sacramental marriage and take a more humble view. This “minority report” from the 20 dissenters, many of them retired, is hardly a work of brilliant theological insight. Is it homophobic to oppose inclusion? If you really unpack it and see how unhealthful the anti-gay rhetoric is, it’s hard to escape. LGBTQ teen suicide, hate crimes, discrimination and depression… The “minority report” writers, and their supporters, seem quite callous to the suffering LGBTQ people. So I’ll add barbaric attitudes towards gay… Read more »
Someone counted up the active bishops within the US, there are only 9.
Having just seen the photos of the first same sex marriage posted by the Danish Church in London on Facebook( one of those married was the son of a Lutheran minister) it would seem our communion partners in the Porvoo Communion seem less riven by this issue than us.
Just for accuracy’s sake: GAFCON understands itself as the sponsor of ACNA.
The Communion Partners Bishops are not in ACNA.
No, cseitz, but perhaps that’s where their orchestrated opposition to their own Church, TEC, should logically place them! Would it not be more logical of them to support ACNA by actually joining them. Just asking.
Accuracy still matters.
The Global South and the Communion Partners are the more obvious pairing.
Gafcon distinguishes itself from the Global South as a whole.
You keep associating all conservatives in TEC with Gafcon. This makes no sense. If they are in TEC, they have chosen not to be in ACNA and are defending what they understand as the faith and practice of TEC as set forth in the BCP and Constitution.
ACNA has its own c/c and prayer book, as I understand it.
re the last comment of cseitz; the ‘Communion Partners’ may very well be defending what they understand to have been the former stance of TEC on matters of human gender and sexuality BUT the prophetic call to liberate TEC from traditional sexism and homophobia has now been accepted by the rank and file of TEC marking that Church out as a beacon for the liberation of its adherents from perceived endemic prejudice and injustice. Deo gratias!