Update: the final version adopted by Convention is found here.
Response to the House of Bishops’ Statement
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention affirms the unanimous decision of the Standing Committee to refuse to discriminate against partnered gay and lesbian bishops-elect in the consent process as called for in General Convention 2006 resolution B033; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention deplores the lack of access to adequate pastoral and ritual care for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in large parts of the Episcopal Church and the refusal of the majority of our bishops to make provision for it, and calls upon the House of Bishops to publish guidelines for such care analogous to those developed by the Canadian House of Bishops; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention calls upon our bishops, individually and collectively, to defend the baptismal dignity and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people with vigor equal to the manner in which the House of Bishops has defended diocesan and provincial jurisdictional boundaries; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention commends the House of Bishops for its call to increase implementation of the Communion-wide listening process, and calls upon the Presiding Bishop and her staff to develop such a process within the Episcopal Church, recognizing that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people continue to be marginalized in many parts of our Church; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention commends the House of Bishops for its call for the full participation of the Bishop of New Hampshire in the 2008 Lambeth Conference, and acknowledges the basic contradiction between support for Bishop Robinson and the implementation of B033; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention commends the House of Bishops for its support for the civil rights, safety, and dignity of gay and lesbian persons, and calls upon the House of Bishops to work to resolve speedily and justly the basic contradiction between such support in civil society and the absence of such support within the Church’s own pastoral and sacramental life.
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention affirms the unanimous decision of the Standing Committee to refuse to discriminate against partnered gay and lesbian bishops-elect in the consent process as called for in General Convention 2006 resolution B033; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention deplores the lack of access to adequate pastoral and ritual care for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in large parts of the Episcopal Church and the refusal of the majority of our bishops to make provision for it, and calls upon the House of Bishops to publish guidelines for such care analogous to those developed by the Canadian House of Bishops; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention calls upon our bishops, individually and collectively, to defend the baptismal dignity and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people with vigor equal to the manner in which the House of Bishops has defended diocesan and provincial jurisdictional boundaries; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention commends the House of Bishops for its call to increase implementation of the Communion-wide listening process, and calls upon the Presiding Bishop and her staff to develop such a process within the Episcopal Church, recognizing that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people continue to be marginalized in many parts of our Church; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention commends the House of Bishops for its call for the full participation of the Bishop of New Hampshire in the 2008 Lambeth Conference, and acknowledges the basic contradiction between support for Bishop Robinson and the implementation of B033; and
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention commends the House of Bishops for its support for the civil rights, safety, and dignity of gay and lesbian persons, and calls upon the House of Bishops to work to resolve speedily and justly the basic contradiction between such support in civil society and the absence of such support within the Church’s own pastoral and sacramental life.
5 comments:
Thank-you Father John and the courageous people of your parish.
Let the people of of God say 'Amen'
Amen I say to your proposed resolution, and again Amen
David@Montreal
John, It is an excellent statement which I would support. My one caveat is that paragaph 3 in my opinion is unnecessarily polemical and therefore counter-productive; moreover the gist of its concern you have covered very clearly and well in the last paragraph.
David Forbes
I think the resolution needs the following:
Resolved, That the 158th Diocesan Convention considers the actions taken by the House of Bishops at their New Orleans meeting to be non-binding. Such actions must be voted on by bishops, clergy and laity at General Convention in order to be binding.
The statement of the Canadian House of Bishops doesn't impress me all that much. It explicitly rejects offering same sex blessings, or the exchange of vows. It says nothing about the consecration of openly gay bishops.
Sounds good to me! Thanks.
Good work John. I appreciate the final resolve in particular. I get very weary sometimes of the church not practicing what it preaches, and the HoB statement is yet one more example of this disjunction. Good on you for calling it out.
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