The Bishops Talk About Their September Meeting

This post consists primarily of statements made by bishops of the Epsicopal Church reflecting on their September meeting in New Orleans. I have also included some statements from other bishops around the Anglican Communion. I have moved all of my comments and update notices to the bottom.

Peace,
Jeffri

Province I
Andrew Smith, Connecticut, in his Convention Address (see pages 5-6)
Childton Knudson, Maine
Gene Robinson, New Hampshire, posted on Susan Russell's An Inch At A Time
Geralyn Wolf, Rhode Island
Thomas Ely, Vermont

Province II
William Love, Albany
Mark Sisk, New York, has sent an email to his clergy, but it has not yet appeared on the diocesan web site (as of 6:30 p.m. October 3)
Mark Beckwith, Newark
Jack McKelvey, Rochester, posted on Walking with Integrity
Michael Garrison, Western New York

Province III
Paul Marshall, Bethlehem (see Section II, pages 5-7)
Nathan Baxter, Central Pennsylvania, and in this article on Pennlive.com
Wayne Wright, Delaware
James Shand, Easton
John Rabb, Maryland
Charles Bennison, Pennsylvania
Neff Powell, Southwestern Virginia
Peter Lee (Diocesan), Shannon Johnston (Coadjutor) and David Jones (Suffragan), Virginia

Province IV
Henry Parsley, Alabama; the link on the diocesan web site is broken, but as of now (9/30), it is the first thing on the bishop's pages
Neil Alexander, Atlanta
John Howe, Central Florida; Bishop Howe revised his letter, and both versions are posted on Stand Firm
Philip Duncan, Central Gulf Coast
Clifton Daniel, East Carolina
Charles vonRosenberg, East Tennessee, has posted nothing, but the diocesan web site has a "Windsor Process" page that gives a good overview--with links--of what has transpired since the release of the Windsor Report
John Howard, Florida
Ted Gulick and David Reed (retired), Kentucky
Charles Jenkins, Louisiana, coming soon, but in the meantime, his Canon to the Ordinary has posted his refelctions on The Bishop's Blog
Duncan Gray, Mississippi
Michael Curry, North Carolina,
Edward Salmon, Acting South Carolina, posted on TitusOneNine
Leo Frade, Southeast Florida
Dabney Smith, Southwest Florida
John Bauerscmidt, Tennessee
Dorsey Henderson, Upper South Carolina

Province V
William Persell, Chicago
Todd Ousley, Eastern Michigan
Cate Waynick, Indianaoplis, posted her response on the House of Bishops & Deputies listserv with permission to share. I've added it below under "October 5." There is also a Pastoral Letter posted on the diocesan website (for reading on Sunday October 20 [sic])--you may have to page down to find the link.
George Wayne Smith, Missouri
Edward Little, Northern Indiana
Mark Hollingsworth, Ohio
Thomas Breidenthal, Southern Ohio
Robert Gepert, Western Michigan

Province VI
Alan Scarfe, Iowa, posted on TitusOneNine
James Jelinek, Minnesota
Joe Burnett, Nebraska, posted on TitusOneNine
Michael Smith, North Dakota

Province VII
Larry Benfield, Arkansas, posted on Stand Firm
James Stanton, Dallas
Jack Iker, Fort Worth, posted on Katie Sherwood's Desert's Child
Dean Wolfe, Kansas
Edward Konieczny, Oklahoma
Don Wimberely, Texas
Barry Howe, West Missouri
Gary Lillibridge (Diocesan) and David Reed (Suffragan),West Texas; Bishop Lillibridge has a series of reports from the bishops' meeting here
Bruce MacPherson, Western Louisiana

Province VIII
Kirk Smith, Arizona, in an email posted on Nick Knisely's Entangled States
Robert Fitzpatrick, Hawaii
Barry Beisner, Northern California
Edward Konieczny, Oklahoma, click on the "News and Ministry" link
Greg Rickel, Olympia
Johncy Itty, Oregon
San Joaquin (the "Diocese" responds)
Carolyn Tanner Irish, Utah, in the Desert Morning News

Other TEC Bishops
Chris Epting, Eccumenical Officer for The Episcopal Church

Other "Interested Parties"
Statement by the Secretary General on behalf of the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council
Report of the Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates of the Anglican Communion to the Archbishop of Canterbury
Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), posted on Global South Anglican, see particularly items #4 - 7
Phillip Aspinall, Archbishop of Brisbane, Primate of Australia
Susan Russell, President of Integrity, posted on Walking with Integrity
Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of Ireland
Robin Eames, Retired Archbishop of Armagh, chair of the Eames Commission, which authored the Windsor Report, posted on The Episcopal Cafe
Mouneer Anis, Primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East, posted on Global South Anglican and as reported in Ruth Gledhill's blog
Benjamin Nzimbi, Archbishop of Kenya, reported in BBC News
Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria, posted on TitusOneNine
Benjamin Kwashi, archbishop-elect of Jos province in Nigeria, orgininally reported on IC Publications, but only an excerpt of the report is now posted on Stand Firm
Njongonkulu Ndungane, South Africa, in The Christian Post online, and in a statment posted by ENS on Episcopal Life Online
Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney
Henry Orombi, Primate of the Anglican Church of Uganda, posted on TitusOneNine, and also in an article posted on The Living Church's website
David Zac Niringiye, Kampala, Uganda, reported in BBC News
Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales, in the Church Times
The American Anglican Council, The Anglican Communion Network, and Forward in Faith North America, in a joint statement posted on the Anglican Communion Network site

October 26

Added links to: Andrew Smith's comments,

October 24

Added links to: Dean Wolfe's reflections.

October 23

Added links to: interview with Ted Gulik and David Reed, Peter Jensen's response, Catherine Waynick's pastoral letter, James Shand's pastoral letter, Philip Duncan's notes, Clifton Daniel's reflections, Diocese of East Tennessee's "Windsor Process" page.

October 17

Added links to: Njongonkulu Ndungane's interview

October 15

Added links to: Paul Marshall's Convention Address, an interview with Nathan Baxter

October 12 (From San Diego, where I am visiting friends)

Added links to: William Love's letter, Gene Robinson's "Open Letter to the Letter to the LGBT Community," Joe Burnett's reflection, Alan Scarfe's comments, John Howard's letter, Chilton Knudson's letter, William Persell's letter.

October 7

Added links to: Leo Frade's reflection.

October 6

Added links to: CAPA Statement, Susan Russell's statement on behalf of Integrity

October 5

Added links to: George Wayne Smith's impressions (thanks, Lisa!) , Henry Orombi's response, Charles Bennison's column, Barry Morgan's report. Posted Cate Waynick's letter, (below--thanks, Ann!).

==========
Dear Friends,

What an amazing turn of events!

The overall response of the Joint Committee to the House of Bishops message is positive – yet the Evangelicals in theChurch of England demand that the ABC denounce the church in the US over thepossibility of consecrating a partnered gay to the episcopate - and ourblessing of same sex unions! They threaten to divide the English church overthis - just as TEC is threatened.We simply have to be more vocal about this....the C of E blesses same-sexunions. The partnered homosexual clergy in the C of E are entitled, underBritish law, to register their relationships in order to gain the legal benefits accorded them. The C or E House of Bishops issued a statement to that effect in November or December of 2005. Following that C of E HOB statement a condemnatory letter issued fromNigeria - reminding the English church that TEC and others were being ostracized for that sort of thing. But outrage at the C of E does not seem to have anystaying power -- either in other parts of the Communion or in TEC. When Bishop Mark Sisk and I asked the ABC about same-sex blessings - aboutwhat the difference is between what happens in the Cof E and what happens insome places here he answered, "They ( in England) are not public."

They may not be public events, but they are certainly not secret. Our own Bp. Duncan was recently interviewed about the tensions within TEC and was asked if his decision to urge separation from TEC was a new thing. He said it was not - that during the Civil War several dioceses separated for atime over the issue of slavery - which he described as a social issue, not asalvation issue!!But the very fact that he would urge separation from TEC but not from the Cof E - where same sex blessings (non-public as they may be in nature) also take place - certainly raises questions. That C of E evangelicals wouldthreaten a split in their own church over what is happening here rather than overwhat is happening there -- again raises questions.

I can only say what I have said before. The issue is not really homosexuality. It is not about what is "repugnant to Scripture." If it were, Bp Duncan would be calling for his followers to disassociate themselves from the C of E because of its permissive stance about same sex blessings even among their ownclergy! It is rather about what has become repugnant to some of the clergy and members of this church who have become willing to use sex as a wedge to gain support from others around the Communion. The issue is about the dramatic shift in power and authority over the lastforty years within TEC. We have a catechism which clearly states that theministers of the church are lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons. We began admitting all baptised persons to the sacred eucharistic meal - including children. Women began serving on Vestries and Bishop's Committees, as chalice bearers, as convention delegates and Deputies. And we began ordaining women as priests and bishops. The C of E has gone through similar changes, and with new conversations about women in the episcopate...well, something must be done.

The list of offenses has become intolerable, but none of those issues would provide the frenzy of support our dissenters require to gain their ends. But for churches in places where there are very few cracks in the solid patriarchy of social, political or religious life, homosexuality provides the wedge. Even the notion of homosexuality is emasculating in some cultures - we heardthis very clearly from the Chancellor of Ghana - a woman who described herself as having learned to work within their system, and who has no intention of making the waves required to push her province into a "listening process" about homosexuality.

As a member of the writing group I will confess that I am not satisfied with the statement from the House of Bishops. I was also not satisfied with B033. We said nothing new in that portion of our NOLA statement. There simply cannot have been anyone in this church who didn't already know that B033 includes non-celibate gay and lesbian persons. About the blessing of same sex unions we repeated ourselves. They keep asking for a guarantee that we will not provide public liturgies, and we keep telling them that we have no public liturgies. We have agreed not to produce them until a "consensus emerges around the Communion" OR until the GC acts. One might happen far sooner than the other.....and we remain adamant that responses to individual pastoral situations is a local matter. Of course the last paragraph of our statement speaks of where our hearts arer ather than the reality of our common life. I can only imagine what St.Paul was thinking when he wrote that "when anyone is in Christ there is a newcreation...." clearly not completely true, but certainly the hope of faithful hearts. We included it because we simply had to reiterate our desire to come to that place, and to make it clear to others that it is where we know we ought to be.

I sincerely hope that someone will call the evangelicals in the C of E on their hypocrisy, and that many more of us here at home will start calling our own struggle what it is - a fight to regain power and control in order to return TEC to its even more deeply flawed past..... though even “back in the day” we came to recognize slavery as a moral evil.

Sorry this posting is so long -- I don't chime in that often.

A bit of good news; I look forward to a diocesan convention at which a group of folks are petitioning to become a mission congregation of this diocese. They want to be Episcopalians!

Peace to you,
+Cate Waynick
==========

October 4

Added the following links: Mouneer Anis' response, Edward Konieczny's reflections, Neff Powell's update, reflections by Louisiana's Canon to the Ordinary

October 3

Added the following links: Report of the Joint Standing Committee, Ruth Gledhill's report on reactions to the Committee's report

October 2

Added links to statements by the following: Robin Eames, Michael Garrison, and Nathan Baxter.

October 1

Updates Added links to new statements.

September 30

I spent four days at a conference with no internet access, and I return to find not much has really happened. Well, other than that the "usual suspects" took one step closer to attempting to move their shadow church forward--like we didn't know that was coming! My favorite comment on the ongoing reactions to and spin of the bishops' statement is this one, which appeared on epiScope:

...and behold, how many competing interpretations can be made of one document that is only one day old and written in the contemporary language of those reporting on it, with the authors nearby for clarification! Now do you see why the interpretation of a set of 66 books in several different languages at several thousand years' remove is such a challenge for mere human beings?

I have added a few more statements from bishops. Now I think I will go finish my mystery novel.

Peace,
Jeffri

September 26

Well, it did not take long. Statements started appearing yesterday when Gene Robinson and Bruce McPherson were quoted in this Reuters article. As I did with their March meeting, I'll try and find as many of their statements and reports as I can. They will be listed by province. After tonight, I will not have computer access until Sunday evening, so there will be no updates until then. By then I also hope to have been able to gather my own thoughts and put them in some sort of coherent form for a separate post. Until then, pray for the Church.

Peace,
Jeffri