The Lead

Our thanks to everyone who read our General Convention coverage. Visits to the site were up about 50 to 60% over our average, and more than doubled our average on the day of the vote on the resolution D025, which acknowledged that God calls gays and lesbian Christians to all orders of ministry in our Church.

My thanks again to Richard Helmer, Rebecca Wilson and Otis Gaddis III, without whom our coverage would have consisted of the live blogging. My thanks , too, to Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies, and her chancellor Sally Johnson; Herb Gunn and Dan Webster, my media relations colleagues on the deputies side, and all of the deputies who gave media briefings over the last two week.

I am about to head off on a vacation for a bit--In fact I am writing in a break from packing--but The Cafe will keep humming along. I did want to make four quick points before I left, and I hope to come back to them in more detail on my return.

1. Passing the resolutions on human sexuality was an act of self-definition. We can't maintain honest relationships with our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion without stating honestly where we stand on the issues that divide us. This honors neither them, nor the God whom we believe has moved us to these positions.

2. As Rebecca Wilson makes clear in her essay on Daily Episcopalian today, if we do not proceed attentively, and with a particular eye for transparent processes, as we develop resources for same -sex blessings (and, I would add, as gay and lesbian candidates make their way through diocesan search processes) then we will squander the progress we made in Anaheim.

3. The point closest to my own heart. I worked with a number of committed theological conservatives in Anaheim, and came to value their friendship. These folks are bearing with our Church in the wake of choices that they wish it had not made. I want to find a way to bear with them when it is necessary. It is essential that we find ways to honor the sacrifice they are making. I don't yet know what that means in practice, but I am taking the idea on vacation with me.

4. The cuts in our Church's budget were deep. Acknowledging the necessity of making such deep cuts, I am not inclined to read political agendas into the kinds of cuts that were made. But I am inclined to say that the cuts put some distinctive aspects of the way in which our Church discerns the will of God (you can say "polity" if you like, but I try not to) in some jeopardy. If the interim bodies that help govern the Church (Executive Council and various Commissions, Committees, Agencies and Boards) are unable to find ways to do their work, and if the journalistic component of the work of the Office of Communications is dramatically de-emphasized, then lay people and the clergy will have fewer opportunities to participate in our governance, and less information on which to base their opinions. It has been suggested that the budget crisis has been used to increase the authority of the Church's bishops and staff at the expense of the laity and clergy. I am not making that case. Fresh from the wonderful atmosphere of Anaheim (a phrase that for many reasons I never expected to write) I want to believe that we will find creative ways to make sure that the great gift of our governance system will be preserved. So, consider this is a call to vigilance and experimentation, rather than a call to arms.

Although a different day may require a different call, if I find that I have been naive.

Comments (6)

"The point closest to my own heart. I worked with a number of committed theological conservatives in Anaheim, and came to value their friendship. These folks are bearing with our Church in the wake of choices that they wish it had not made. I want to find a way to bear with them when it is necessary. It is essential that we find ways to honor the sacrifice they are making. I don't yet know what that means in practice, but I am taking the idea on vacation with me."

Having grown up among many conservatives who stand in opposition to GLBT persons, I completely understand what you are saying. I almost want to reach out to all the conservative members of this church and say to them, "You too have a calling in this church. Perhaps by providing a balance? You too are valued." I don't know how this can best be articulated, but I think it needs to be in these coming times. Thanks for the coverage. As a gay Episcopalian teenager, I am very excited to see my church be bold, and I am thrilled to see where the Spirit will take us.

-Gregory Stark

Posted by Gregory Stark | July 19, 2009 5:42 PM

"3. The point closest to my own heart. I worked with a number of committed theological conservatives in Anaheim, and came to value their friendship. These folks are bearing with our Church in the wake of choices that they wish it had not made. I want to find a way to bear with them when it is necessary. It is essential that we find ways to honor the sacrifice they are making. I don't yet know what that means in practice, but I am taking the idea on vacation with me."

I appreciate so much that you made this point, but may I just point out that are GLBT Episcopalians and heterosexual Episcopalians who support the full inclusion of GLBT Christians in the church who are in fact committed theological convervatives. So, we in fact rely on the presence of our conservative brothers and sisters who disagree with us on issues relating to human sexuality, because they speak with a voice with which we long to speak, but find too often silenced by those who label us as heretics simply because of our progressive social views. I personally find it frustrating that some assume that I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ or the Virginity of the Mother of God, or the importance of Holy Scripture just because I agree that the union of a gay couple should be blessed by the church and because a lesbian could be called to be a bishop.

Many of us are struggling in different ways regarding theological innovations in the Church, both those related to human sexuality, and those related to other issues, so an intentional reflection on how to bear one another is critical to our ongoing quest to find communion and unity. Thanks, Jim, for leading us in these reflections.

Posted by Rob Laws+ | July 19, 2009 8:29 PM

In church today, Christ Church, Hudson, NY, there was palpable joy and new energy as we allowed ourselves the luxury of stating that we are now part of the mainstream of The Episcopal Church. Then, in the same moment, we had to acknowledge that our parish did not magically move from the Diocese of Albany. At the very least, it would be a cause for celebration twice as great as that for the outcome of Anaheim, were our Diocese and Bishop to embrace D025. We are not planning such a celebration.

Your caution, Jim, about the potential for a shift of power in our polity from the laity to the Bishops is not a hint of distant rumblings but an immediate, gathering storm for those of us inside this walled diocese.

I very much hope I am wrong. Your instinct to extend our fellowship to those conservatives who wish the votes had gone another way speaks for many of us who look to the possibility of remaining in communion with those with whom we disagree.

Some of us in TEC, though I would not change a word in D025, won't be going to the party in its honor. In fact, as a consequence of D025, life could be much harder. We could use some outside understanding and support, and we are stymied to know what form that would take within the current structure of TEC.

Thanks for a wonderful job following the proceedings.

Don Moore

Posted by dmooreny | July 19, 2009 8:44 PM

Jim, I am deeply grateful to you and your team for the coverage you gave us from Anaheim.

The GCHUB was a total flop. (Even tonight, I cannot get it to load, and it crashes my browser.)

You were amazing. Without the news you reported here, I would have had no "near-time" reports. And I certainly would not have had anything but news from Pravda Central.

God bless you and your team! Now, go take a well-earned vacation.

Posted by Lisa Fox | July 19, 2009 10:23 PM

It is essential that we find ways to honor the sacrifice they are making. I don't yet know what that means in practice, but I am taking the idea on vacation with me.

Always invite them to our weddings&ordinations, but don't raise a big "Look who didn't show up!" stink if they don't come? Perhaps add, on the invites, "Feel free to come to the reception, even if you can't attend the liturgy" (Knowing that by "can't" we really mean "choose not to"---but not stick that in their faces)

[Just my first thoughts]

JC Fisher

Posted by tgflux | July 20, 2009 1:35 AM

concentrate on the many things we can do together and less on the few we disagree - though maintain our truth.

Posted by Ann Fontaine | July 20, 2009 8:10 PM

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