More Convention News

Today the House of Bishops took up Resolution D025, the resolution passed by the House of Deputies yesterday that reaffirmed our commitment to the Anglican Communion, and at the same time reasserted that all candidates for ordination - regardless of sexual orientation - would be tested by our Constitution and Canons rather than by the views of Anglicans overseas.  Amazingly, the House of Bishops concurred with our resolution, with some minor amendments.  The amendments mean that the resolution will have to come back to the Deputies, but I assume that we will be able to pass their amended version.  

The resolution is a moderate compromise between those who want a complete overturn of B033 (see my post from yesterday), and those who want to take a strict conservative stance.  The truly surprising part is how overwhelmingly this resolution passed both Houses - 99-45 in the Bishops, and about 75%-to-25% in both orders in the Deputies (I would explain the voting process in more detail, but it is quite arcane and it's more than you want to know).  Various proposals regarding same-sex blessings are in the works, but my understanding is that those have to go to the Bishops first before the Deputies see them, so I have doubts that anything substantive will come to us on this subject - but I could be surprised.  

The other big event of today was the approval of a new bishop for the Diocese of Ecuador Central.  Various members of that diocese had challenged his election on procedural grounds.  On the assurance of our committee on Consecration of Bishops that the election was conducted properly, we voted to confirm him, but it was a difficult decision, knowing what a conflicted and unhappy situation he will find himself in.  I pray for his ministry and that of his diocese.  

We have been working on other weighty matters such as a complete revision of the disciplinary canons for clergy, and a number of evangelism proposals that I helped draft in my legislative committee, which all passed the House of Deputies easily.  

I admit that I am fascinated by this legislative process.  The Episcopal Church's governing structure was formed at the same time as the US Constitution, and by many of the same people.  So it follows many of the same procedures - a two-house legislature, procedural rules, legislative committees, Robert's Rules of Order, etc.  It is very interesting to watch it unfold, with a process that is familiar to those of us who read national news - and yet it has a purity to it that I suspect our national government has lost.  People are earnestly, prayerfully, carefully trying to do the right thing.  It can be excruciatingly dull, when we sit through endless amendments and questions of order - but it also can bring tears of joy and inspiration to your eyes, when something truly momentous happens.  Everyone is civilized, courteous and kind.  And, I bet that in the US House of Representatives, instances of someone standing up to a microphone and proposing that we all stand and sing "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" are quite a bit rarer.  All in all, it makes me proud of our church.