U.S. Episcopal Bishops Confront Pressure on Gays
NEW ORLEANS _ In a morning Eucharist for Episcopal bishops gathered here, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on Thursday called for church leaders to set aside an “abundant disdain” for those who hold different opinions.
But as the church faces a deadline from the worldwide bishops to respond to a call to stop ordaining gay and lesbian bishops, mutual respect may not be enough to ward off a split with the rest of the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the U.S.-based Episcopal Church is a part.
“This is obviously a tremendously important meeting,” said Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, who is moderator of the conservative Anglican Communion Network. “I wish my hopes were higher. We have a challenge from the communion worldwide. We’d love to see the American church come within the boundaries of the church. But we don’t have much expectation of that.”
A group of conservative bishops will meet later this month in Pittsburgh.
In New Orleans on Thursday, the bishops met behind closed doors to hammer out a response to an assertive and more conservative worldwide church in which African dioceses have begun ordaining missionary bishops to minister to breakaway American Anglicans.
At meetings set to last through Tuesday, the U.S. bishops began by spending 7 { hours behind closed doors Tuesday discussing how to respond to a directive from Anglican leaders to stop consecrating gay bishops and to ban blessings of same-sex unions until the global church reaches consensus.
Bishop William Persell of Chicago said the discussions began on a cautious note Thursday, but became more frank in the afternoon. Jefferts Schori has been discussing ways to meet the concerns of conservative diocese by appointing an alternative bishop that would head conservative dioceses but would report to her, Persell said.
“My guess is that they will not accept her proposal. But she is offering it in good faith,” Persell said.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the communion, led the discussion, meeting U.S. bishops at home for the first time since the 2003 consecration of openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Representatives of the world church also attended.
Speaking to a reporter after the service, Williams praised the worshipful mood that began the event but dodged a question about the visit of Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, who will preach in Wheaton, Ill., in the territory of the Diocese of Chicago this Sunday.
The diocese regards the visit as confrontational, and bishops in New Orleans discussed it as a violation of church tradition, Persell said. But Africans who are incorporating American congregations say they are responding to neglect of U.S. conservatives by the Episcopal Church.
The visit to the diocese by a foreign church leader without Persell’s permission would once have been considered unthinkable in a communion that has sought to accommodate theological differences. But the visit by the conservative leader comes at a time of historic tensions in the church.
Conservatives from the global south accuses the Episcopal Church of straying from its Biblical roots. American liberals say they are modeling Christian love and tolerance by accepting gays.
Persell added that the Episcopal Church, which includes dioceses in Taiwan, Latin America and Europe, is “itself is a world church,” he said.
In her homily, Jefferts Schori called for honest communication between rhetorical foes, “particularly when we are unsure or uncomfortable about what others are saying.”
In a statement that appeared to address the position of gays and lesbians in the church, Jefferts Schori said, “I assure you that there are some in our midst who feel quite unwelcome, who have not known here what it is to be beloved.”
She declined to discuss her remarks with a reporter after the service.
Persell said most members of the Anglican Communion Network planned to leave when Williams departs, rather than stay on for the rest of the conference.
The service ended with the bishops singing a jazzy version of the song, “There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place.” The church faces a historic challenge in seeking to sustain that spirit amid talk of a split.
“We have lived in this church and in this communion for a number of years, perhaps forever, with abundant disdain, violent words and with destructive actions for those who hold positions at variance from our own,” Jefferts Schori said.
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