Episcopal Bishop Jefferts Schori faces rebellion among liberal allies

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: New Criticism for Episcopal Bishop
Her Liberal Allies Wonder Why She Signed Ultimatum on Gays
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 11, 2007; Page A05

Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, is used to hostility from the right wing of her denomination. Now, she faces a rebellion among her longtime allies on the left.

With more puzzlement than rancor, liberal Episcopalians are questioning why Jefferts Schori signed an international statement last month that, in their view, demands a halt to 30 years of growing acceptance of gay men and lesbians....

The bishops of all 111 Episcopal dioceses will meet this week at a church retreat center near Houston to consider their response to an ultimatum issued in Tanzania on Feb. 19 by the primates, or heads, of the 38 national churches that make up the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the 77 million-member communion, which is still reeling from the consecration of an openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, in New Hampshire in 2003.

In an attempt to prevent a schism, Jefferts Schori and her fellow primates gave U.S. bishops until Sept. 30 to make an unambiguous, collective promise that they will not consent to the election of any more gay bishops and will not authorize blessings of same-sex couples. The primates also agreed to establish the post of "primatial vicar" to oversee U.S. dioceses unhappy with the Episcopal Church's recent course.

If the Episcopal Church rejects the ultimatum, it will face unspecified sanctions, such as a downgrading of its status within the Anglican Communion. But even before the U.S. bishops gather in Texas on Friday, more than a dozen of them, including Bishop John B. Chane of Washington, have indicated they are inclined to rebuff Jefferts Schori's recommendation and politely but firmly say "no" to the primates....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001179.html

[JerseygirlCT]

1. Has anyone assembled a "head count"? It would be interesting

to see who has already spoken out in support of inclusion.

I remember reading bishops in NY, CA, and CT right after Tanzania. We've heard from Gene Robinson, of course. Chane here.

I certainly do hope they reject this extortinate utlimatum. The African Primates have absolutely no power to force our choices. The ABC seems to be trying to give them that power, b/c he lacks the backbone to behave with integrity here. If we must walk apart in order to preserve justice, then so be it.

On procedural grounds, I agree with the article. I also think there's another issue that could be potentially larger down the road: this communique from Tanzania gives the Primates oversight in our church. That breaks the long tradition of provincial indepedence the AC has observed. They have no business meddling in our church. None. The communique also fails to take them to task for raiding ou dioceses, without invitation from TEC. Somehow that's continually glossed over by the ABC and others.

No, I do hope the bishops simply ignore the demands, and forge a statement renewing commitment to an inclusive, welcoming church. Let Akinola make of that what he will. I think we should force Williams' hand here. Time for us to stop playing defense. Enough.

[cosmik debris]

2. Is there any middle ground here

Any room for compromise? Is this a win-lose situation where a split is inevitable? What is your opinion on the possibility of a peaceful future?

[JerseygirlCT]

3. Oh there will certainly be a peaceful future (at least in the US

the Nigerian gov't is busy passing unspeakably odious laws against gay folk and anyone who associates with them). The questions are: will there be a break between TEC and the Anglican Communion? And will there be churches within TEC who leave TEC and look for oversight from foreign bishops?

The second is already happening. And will probably continue to happen. There will surely be court cases, state by state, in both civic and church courts, about the disposition of property. I'd like to hope there's a way around it (the presiding bishop has suggested appointing a more conservative vicar to report to her, but to offer pastoral oversight to those "conservative" parishes who otherwise would leave), but I think frankly it's hard for compromise to work when one side simply isn't interested.

On the first question, I think the jury's still out. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has seemed to have had his backbone removed in the past few years. He used to be quite supportive of gay rights, including full inclusion in the life of the church. He now appears to be bending over backwards to conciliate and calm the very primates causing the ruckus. They have the raw numbers, as the church is growing faster in the developing world. They want the power to go with it -- and see church hierarchy far differently than the democratically-run TEC does. I think it will come down to the willingness of other like-minded churches (Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, even the mother church in England) to stand by TEC. They're the next targets anyway.

If they watch TEC forced out, then we'll likely remain in some sort of "associate" status. The practical result won't be awfully dramatic for anyone in US pews.

Personally, I think its entirely possible that TEC is called to lead the church in this area. May take them all a while to catch up, but eventually this will be looked back on as so much ado about nothing.

[cosmik debris]

4. thnx n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. The clergy of my church have said that they will continue to bless

same-sex marriages, no matter what.

[JerseygirlCT]

6. Yes, I think Drew Smith's (Bishop CT) position is that

we will continue as we were. He had just allowed same-sex blessings, although there is no official rite. His reasoning was that CUs are legal here now, so the church ought to offer its blessing to committed couples.

[kwassa]

7. I recommend the following blog for following the story

The Daily Episcopalian

http://blog.edow.org/weblog/

because Jim Naughton does a great job himself, but also links to everyone in the Episcopal blogosphere. There have been many great statements from a variety of bishops, some quite eloquent, over the past weeks since the primates meeting in Tanzania.

Political Spaghetti is the blog following the political events in Nigeria most closely.

http://politicalspaghetti.blogspot.com/