Anglicans in Crisis
The United States: What are the Issues?This is the fifth in a series of articles on the looming crisis in the Anglican Church, brought on by attempts to promote homosexual clergy into the upper reaches of the Anglican hierarchy.
The first and second articles described the issues at the heart of the crisis and focused on the recent incident in England and the players involved. Articles three and four identified a different, yet equally divisive issue in Canada, examining the fallout and the players in that crisis.
This article looks at a third incident that clearly poses the greatest threat to the Anglican Communion. Decisions on the issues at the heart of this crisis are being made at a meeting of the General Convention of Episcopalians in Minneapolis, Minnisota, as this article is being prepared.
An Active Homosexual as an Episcopal Bishop
Episcopalians have been asked to decide both on a very similar issue to the one that created the crisis in England and a near identical issue to the one that created the crisis in Canada.
On Tuesday, 5 August 2003, the House of Bishops of the Episcopalian Church in the U.S. took what may well be the most egregious and divisive step ever taken in the Anglican Communion. It approved by a vote of 62 to 45, with two abstentions, the election of a practising homosexual, Canon V. Gene Robinson, to be Bishop of New Hampshire.
Characterizations of the Decision
Naturally, the characterizations of this action illustrate the extent of the differences in the two emerging and increasingly incompatible camps within the Anglican Communion. Here is a sample of the way various people are describing what happened:
- a desperately confused, errant and disintegrating Anglican province;
- a new diversity;
- me, me, me Christianity;
- a new understanding of compassion;
- climbing toward their own Calvary;
- a pastoral emergency;
- a major victory;
- a pyrrhic victory;
- a new, more understanding church;
- a bowing to Baal;
- a constitutional crisis; and
- torn-again Christians.
An Eleventh Hour Halt in the Proceedings
The vote on Canon V(icki) Gene Robinson was brought forward after eleventh-hour accusations against him were �investigated� and dismissed. The two accusations, made by independent sources, were: that a web site of an organization he helped to found for youth had clear links to pornographic material. That accusation came from several sources; that he had engaged in sexually improper behaviour on several occasions with a Rev. David Lewis, a priest from Vermont and editor of the Vermont News Guide.
That allegation reportedly was made via an e-mail message, which was sent to a number of Bishops by the Rev. Lewis himself.
An investigation was immediately initiated into both allegations and in less than 24 hours; it was announced that there was insufficient evidence to warrant further inquiry. Whereas the accusations against Rev. Robinson, coming as they did at the last minute, gave the appearance of a possible smear campaign, the rapid response clearing him of those serious allegations in so short a time gives all the appearance of railroading a vote through the Episcopal House of Bishops.
It was clear that Rev. Robinson had helped found Outright, the organization that maintains the web site in question. It also was clear that the web site has links to a considerable amount of pornography. For anyone who has visited the site, as did this author, it is a disturbingly indecent site. It is more disturbing that such an organization, with the kinds of links it supports, should be associated in any way with a Christian ministry, and allowed to influence its avowed target audience: youth from 12 to 22 years. It does not seem enough for Rev. Robinson to have said that he is no longer affiliated with the organization (a claim that needs further investigation, in this author�s opinion); he also should have repudiated and condemned its content in clear and unambiguous terms, disassociating himself from it completely.
Regarding the sexual harassment claim by Rev. Lewis, it was revealed, as a result of the �investigation� by the Rt. Rev. Gordon Scruton, Bishop of Massachusetts, that Rev. Lewis subsequently expressed regret that he had written the e-mail message, stating that the inappropriate �touching� he had referred to was no more than touches on the back and arm.
This is considerably different from the quoted passages from his e-mail, which state:
When I first encountered Gene at a Province 1 convocation a couple of years ago, he put his hands on me inappropriately every time I engaged him in conversation. If I were a straight woman reporting heterosexual harassment by a straight male priest, would you hesitate to take the matter seriously? Well, I am a straight man reporting homosexual harassment by a gay male priest from another diocese.
Although more yet may be heard about those accusations, they likely will pale when compared to the coming reactions of evangelicals and other conservatives to the act of Robinson�s election and approval as Bishop of New Hampshire. Still, there may be circumstances in which they will once again find a place in this rapidly developing drama.
As Crises Go�
The incident of the confirmation of Rev. Robinson is far more serious for Anglicans than either the incident in England or the one in Canada. In England, Canon Jeffrey John, who claims to be a celibate homosexual, was appointed as the new Bishop of Reading, but subsequently withdrew his name for the appointment, �in view of the damage my consecration might cause to the unity of the church.�
In contrast, Canon Robinson was elected Bishop Coadjutor by the Diocese of New Hampshire, subsequently approved for that position by a committee at the just-concluded meeting of the Episcopal General Convention in Minneapolis, affirmed by the House of Deputies at that Convention and accepted by the House of Bishops.
The differences, then, are a celibate priest versus one professing an active homosexual lifestyle; an appointment to the position of Bishop versus an elected one; and a withdrawal from that appointment versus an approval by a House of Bishops.
The Canadian Connection and the State of the Blessings Issue
In Canada, the appointment (or election) of a homosexual to the position of Bishop was not at issue. As discussed in the previous two articles on this topic, the issue was the blessing of homosexual cohabitants.
The fact that the U.S. Episcopalian General Convention is taking up the issue of blessings means that any approval likely will have implications well beyond what a single Canadian Diocese has done in Canada. The broader scope of an approval for such blessings, combined with the election of an active homosexual as a Bishop, clearly indicates that the Episcopalians� action has gone far beyond what was done in Canada and England combined.
The blessings issue moved through the General Convention process with a compromise resolution offered on Sunday by the cognate committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music. That compromise was to provide for preparing the rites for the blessings in a way that would allow for a local option.
The compromise resolution combined several other resolutions and directed the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music to prepare "rites for possible inclusion in Enriching Our Worship by means of which support and blessing may be expressed for same-sex relationships with the permission of the ecclesiastical authority". The resolution then went to the House of Bishops for their consideration.
Put simply, the resolution is intended to sanction the developing of rites for blessing homosexual cohabitants, while at the same time allowing those who oppose such rites to follow their consciences.
Late breaking news indicated that on Wednesday, August 6, 2003, the House of Bishops rejected the proposal to prepare an official liturgy for same-gender ceremonies. They seemed to have found a way to approve it, however, without giving official sanction. Their statement reads:
We recognize that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions.
The House of Deputies gave final approval, amid disagreement over the statement�s significance, on Thursday. In an attempt to clarify its intent, Rev. Francis Wade, chair of the Prayer Book and Liturgy Committee, stated:
�This resolution simply affirms and accepts the fact that blessings of same sex unions are taking place and are within the boundaries of the teaching and constitution of this church��
It was in a recent open letter 24 U.S. Episcopal Bishops stated:
�a desperately confused, errant and disintegrating Anglican province�. Dr. Jack L. Edwards, President
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August 5, 2003
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