B033 Is Falling Down, Falling Down, Falling Down

This weekend my email lists went into overdrive. On Saturday, the search committee for the next bishop of the Diocese of Minnesota announced its slate of three candidates. On Sunday, the search committee for the next bishops suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles announced its slate of six. The Minnesota election will be held October 31, and the Los Angeles elections on December 4 and 5. Usually, the members of my mail lists respond by asking where the various candidates stand on lbgt issues. These two announcements elicited excitement because one of the Minnesota candidates and one of the Los Angeles candidates are out lesbians, and another of the Los Angeles candidates is an out gay man. All three of them are partnered.

Take a look at Episcopal Cafe's The Lead for more in-depth coverage of the news.

These nominations follow logically from General Convention 2009 Resolution D025, which, although titled "Commitment and Witness to Anglican Communion," was a compromise resolution merging the dozen or so submitted to General Convention in an attempt to repeal GC2006 B033, the infamous "manner of life" resolution. In spite of the fact that the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies insistence that D025 does not repeal B033 (see the Episcopal News Service story here), many people on both sides of the issue see it as a first step, if not as an actual repeal.

Even though the Minnesota and Los Angeles search committees did not make their final decisions until after General Convention, clearly they were already considering the lesbian and gay candidates that made their final lists. We will probably never know if either search committee intended to place those candidates on their final lists even if D025 had not passed in Anaheim.

Will any of the candidates be elected? There is a good chance, especially in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Once one, or more, of them is elected, there is the consent process. The Bishops will have the final word, this time. I am guessing that if any of the lesbian or gay candidates is elected, they will not receive the required consents. This time.

If dioceses in the Episcopal Church continue to raise up and elect openly lbgt candidates for bishop, and if the bishops with authority continue to refuse consents, there will be a backlash much stronger than any backlash the remaining conservatives inside the Episcopal Church will raise when lbgt candidates are elected and, finally, ordained.

It may take us another three years, until GG2012 in Indianapolis, or even another six, until GC2015, but we will have more openly lbgt elected and ordained bishops. B033 cannot stand in the face of the Church moving forward, even if it moves at glacier speed.

Peace,
Jeff