Coming in Second

The election of a lesbian suffragan (assistant) bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles has unleashed the predictable firestorm of protest. Yet Mother Glasspool will be the second out-of-the-closet and partnered homosexual bishop—and surely the second in this case will be much less consequential than the first. In other words, the gay flag has already been flown.

Granted, there are two differences in the situation now. First, the Bishop of Los Angeles has launched a pre-emptive strike against anyone who would dare to oppose this election—including standing committees of the various American dioceses who must assent to the election for it to be valid. Bishop Jon Bruno has said he will file presentments against them—a kind of legal lawsuit—should they dare to challenge what he believes has become the new dogma in the Episcopal Church.

Second, if these committees consent, they will know how much their action will be resented in many quarters in the Anglican Communion. When Bishop Gene Robinson was confirmed in 2003, many of us thought the storm would blow over quickly. After all, there have long been practicing homosexual bishops in the Anglican Communion. Now we know that being public with one’s sexual preference and life causes scandal worldwide.

Nevertheless, while I resent the arrogant, in-your-face attitude of Bishop Bruno and other partisans of immediate change, I can’t see that the election of Mother Glasspool will make much difference, one way or the other. It was Bishop Robinson who broke through the barrier; the protest after his election notwithstanding, there is no barrier left for gay bishops in America. –J. Douglas Ousley

Rome and Canterbury, Enough for Now

Last week, the Vatican issued the formal requirements for receiving Anglican clergy, laypeople, and parishes into the Roman Catholic Church. Little was said in this "Apostolic Constitution and Complementary Norms" that wasn't hinted at in earlier press releases and conferences.

The responses continue to pour in from throughout the Anglican Communion, and they have been so varied that they are impossible to summarize. The Episcopal Church's ecumenical officer offered one of the more cogent, if critical comments. It remains hard to regard this papal initiative as a move forward in ecumenical relations.

Very few clergy or bishops or splinter groups have yet said they will apply for membership under the new regulations. Those who have are identified with extreme Anglo-Catholic positions, leading one observer to comment that Anglicans who used Roman rites and customs in the Church of England would end up following Anglican rites and customs in the Church of Rome.

Unless there are further developments, it may be time to move on to other topics. --J. Douglas Ousley

Rome and Canterbury, Continued

The Rev. George Rutler, Pastor of Incarnation's sister Roman Catholic parish, the Church of Our Saviour recently issued a scathing series of comments on the upcoming Vatican plan to receive Anglican clergy and laity. Father Rutler sees the plan as just the latest sign of the disintegration of the branch of Christianity of which he himself was once a prominent priest.

More temperate are the remarks of the Episcopal Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. Mark Sisk, who notes that there has long been movement back and forth between Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.

At the moment, my only additional thought is to wonder whether the controversy has become such big news only because there seemed that such a close relationship between the churches had been established in recent decades. Those who resent that relationship--especially converts to Catholicism--appear to be the people who are most excited about the prospect of an Anglican subculture within the Roman Mother Church. --J. Douglas Ousley

Vatican to Anglicans: Drop Dead?

From 1978 to 1985, I was fortunate to serve Episcopal Churches in Paris and Rome. During that time, I had numerous ecumenical contacts with Roman Catholics, ranging from shared baptisms at the high altar of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, to addresses to French bishops and communion from their hands, to audiences with Pope John Paul II. Such contacts have continued since my return to this country.

What is interesting is that at no time when I was in Europe did I hear anything like the recent proposal from the Vatican to receive Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church on what appear to be very generous terms, including allowing married Anglican priests to stay married.

The heads of the Church of England and of English Catholics immediately issued a response that is breathtakingly bland and unenthusiastic. Even Anglican conservatives have expressed some distaste for what the NY Times observes may be an attempt to revivify a declining Catholic Church in Europe.

Admittedly, Vatican authorities may resent the fact ath disaffected Roman Catholics have been joining the Anglican Communion in large numbers ever since the 1960's. Our church offers a similar liturgy and structure and the same sacraments while providing more freedom of biblical interpretation and ethical behavior. The jibe that we are "Catholic lite" is partly true.

Even so, we have never publicly endorsed sheep-stealing, nor have we gone out of our way to entice Roman Catholics toward Anglo-catholicism. The new Vatican policy is an affront--very nearly, a declaration of war. --J. Douglas Ousley

A = B = C?

This summer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America held a convention similar to our General Convention. The major news was consent to gay relationships, which has the effect of bolstering our own progressive position on that issue.

Less prominently reported was the ELCA's recognition of ministers in the United Methodist Church as interchangeable with Lutheran pastors. To me, a convert from the Methodist Church, this is perplexing and troubling. If Methodist ministers can lead Lutheran churches and Lutheran pastors can be rectors of Episcopal parishes, can Methodists take charge of our churches--even though they have a very different concept of ordination, the sacraments, the apostolic succession and many other traditional doctrines?

To me, this is a far more substantial issue than the private behavior of a tiny minority of Christian adults. --J. Douglas Ousley

The Good Old C of E

I am just back from a trip to London and Cambridge, and I am happy to report that there are still many signs of life in our mother Church of England.

For example, I was invited to attend a majestic service for the new Lord Mayor of the City of London, and the fine choral music, enthusiastically-sung hymns, and perfect ceremonial reflected the harmony between church and state there. I also preached at our link parish of St. Vedast, which is thriving and which mirrors the random diversity of small urban congregations in New York.

Perhaps most important, I asked many people whether they thought the American position on homosexuality would lead to our expulsion from the Anglican Communion. No one I talked to thought it would, and most members of my (admittedly small and liberal) group of churchgoers were surprised that I was even worried about schism. --J. Douglas Ousley

Quo vadis TEC?

As I prepare for a trip to England this week, I look forward to some first-hand observation of our Mother Church. According to a recent article in the Church Times, a soon-to-be-published history of Christianity by the brilliant English historian Diarmaid MacCulloch apparently will argue that change is inevitable in Christianity, that no orthodoxy remains so for long, and that developments tend inexorably in the progressive direction. I look forward to reading the book; it may take the full 1,200 pages to convince me that new ideas are always right.

Meanwhile, the President of the House of Deputies of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (TEC), Bonnie Anderson continues to expand her job-description, as she plans to convene a committee to evaluate the "governance" of the church.

How that will jibe with the Presiding Bishop's actual governance is not clear to me. And having spent many miserable hours serving on various governance committees for non-profit boards, I find it difficult to be optimistic that Mrs. Anderson's project will bear fruit. --J. Douglas Ousley

Second Class Citizens?

I am just back from vacation and haven't caught up on my professional reading, but the Anglican media seem most interested right now in the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent proposal of two-tier status for provinces in the Anglican Communion. One tier would be for those who accept the idea of a common "covenant;" the other for those who wish to be part of the communion but, in effect, make their own rules.

Admittedly, if this characterization is accurate, it would only formalize current reality. The U.S. church and Canada have been making their own rules for some time. On the other hand, some African and South American bishops have been making their own rules about interfering in North American provinces, and this hasn't been regarded with the same opprobrium attached to pro-gay resolutions of General Convention.

Moreover, there are indications that liberals in the Church of England will push for greater recognition of gay relationships. That might change the scene entirely. As the Pope is Catholic, so the head of the Church of England is most certainly Anglican. --J. Douglas Ousley

Convention Winds Down

It is not clear what the repercussions will be to resolution opening ordination in the Episcopal Church to partnered homosexuals. Those in favor of the resolution say it reflects that the church has "moved on." Some also see the controversy to come as a by-product of adventurous faith.

I myself am of two minds. Since 1970, I have been in favor of full canonical and civil rights for lesbians and gays; I don't see how I could have voted against the resolution. On the other hand, I see myself as an Anglican under the Archbishop of Canterbury and I don't know what I would do if the Church of England breaks off relations with the Episcopal Church.

Yesterday, extensive canon law revisions were passed affecting clergy discipline. I have not seen the final version that was passed but according to one article I read--non-partisan, by a canon law historian--that was published before the Convention, these canons deprive accused clergy of the right to remain silent or to have any civil defense or attorney. The conduct requirements are quite detailed and strict. For example, if a retired widower priest living but not serving in a retirement home ("congregation") took a widow from the home out for dinner and held hands with her walking back to the home, he could be defrocked!

One can safely predict that the Church has not yet reached a coherent understanding of the ethics of sex! --J. Douglas Ousley
This has got to be the worst convention since the '70's.

Most Important Vote of the Convention?

The General Convention has just voted to remove any gender-preference barriers to ordination within the Episcopal Church. The resolution is somewhat nuanced but it does beyond both previous Convention proposals and the wish for restraint expressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and many other Anglican leaders and governing bodies. Whether this will mean the end of the Episcopal Church as part of the Anglican Communion under the Archbishop of Canterbury remains to be seen. But schism is closer than it has ever been. --J. Douglas Ousley

General Convention Continues

So far, so predictable. The Episcopal News Service reports indicate that the progressive agenda is moving along and that the Convention will choose to be "prophetic" rather than conciliatory toward the rest of the Anglican Communion with regard to its rules on gay relationships. A bewildering number of new lesser feasts have been authorized despite much previous criticism that many of the honored figures are irrelevant to our church or of deserved obscurity. It is not clear yet what impact the budget crisis will have on other aspects of the church's ministry but the national church leadership seems firmly in charge of the Convention. --J. Douglas Ousley

General Convention Begins

The General Convention of the Episcopal Church has convened in Anaheim, CA. Special meetings are scheduled to discuss past decisions about blessing and ordaining homosexuals in relationships. Budget pressures will also provoke discussion. In the background, despite the hoopla, delegates and the many observers will be aware of the continuing and seemingly inexorable membership decline in the Episcopal Church. To get up-t0-date coverage from the Episcopal News Service, click here. --J. Douglas Ousley

British Politics and the Church of England

The explicitly racist British National Party fielded two winning candidates in the recent European Parliamentary elections. The BNP was successful despite being denounced by virtually every leading figure in Britain, including the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

Such denunciations of a specific political group are as rare in the United Kingdom as they would be in the United States. Yet the Episcopal News Service, in quoting a BNP leaflet, suggests the deep anger tapped by this party. The leaflet states, "All over the U.K. pews are emptying; churches are closing down and turning into mosques/temples. Our distinctive Christian heritage is disappearing as whole regions of Britain become Islamified ... The cowardly 'yes men,' functionaries and time-servers leading the Church of England have consistently failed to lift a finger in defense of Britain against those who would destroy it."

In order to eliminate the scourge of racism, the leaders of the Church of England will need to develop a strong and cogent response to such cries of frustration. --J. Douglas Ousley

Brand Erosion?

As summer approaches, we can expect to hear news of the controversies of the Episcopal Church as the General Convention meets in Anaheim, CA.

Preliminary reports and the Convention agenda suggest that politics and liturgy will have a prominent place in the debates, as they usually do—though finances may also have to be discussed. The leadership and the delegations appear to have moved further to the progressive side, so the votes will likely not be close.

One wonders, however, whether Convention delegates will give any substantial attention to the continuing decline in the number of parishes and members and in average Sunday attendance, as well as the aging of most congregations. Granted, these trends are long-standing and are present in most Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelical denominations.

But surely the clergy and lay leadership of the Episcopal Church should at least try to address the numerical fall. After all, it was the Emperor Nero, a notorious enemy of the early Christians, who was accused of fiddling while Rome burned…