WHERE DO WE STAND? – A Background Paper on Gay & Lesbian Inclusion in the Episcopal Church (Compiled by Susan Russell; updated 10/05)
SOME HISTORY: The Episcopal Church has been officially debating the issue of human sexuality, particularly as it applies to gay and lesbian people, since the General Convention of 1976 when resolutions passed by the Bishops and Deputies began to frame the parameters of the debate. In the intervening years resolutions have been passed and then amended as the church's position has evolved in response to the dialogue. In 1976, the General Convention asserted in a resolution that "homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance and pastoral concern and care of the Church." But there continues to be a wide divergence of opinion on just how we live out that understanding in the Church.
In 1991, at the General Convention held in
While resolutions from General Convention are important aspects of our polity - the process through which we govern the church - they are generally perceived to be recommendatory and therefore lacking the force of a canon or law. The only canon to deal with the issue of homosexual orientation in any specific way was adopted in 1994:
"All Bishops of Dioceses and other Clergy shall make provisions to identify fit persons for Holy Orders and encourage them to present themselves for Postulancy. No one shall be denied access to the selection process for ordination in this Church because of race, color, ethnic origin, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities, or age, except as otherwise specified by these Canons." -- Title III, Canon 4, Section 1 of the Constitution and Canons for the Government of the Episcopal Church in the
In 1996, the Court of Trial for a Bishop refused to hear charges filed against Bishop Walter Righter for ordaining a gay man living in a relationship. The court said there was no doctrine against such an ordination and that there is no canonical bar to gay and lesbian ordination in the Episcopal Church.
ACTIONS OF RECENT GENERAL CONVENTIONS
In 1997, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Philadelphia, APPROVED HEALTH BENEFITS FOR DOMESTIC PARTNERS, to be extended to the partners of clergy and lay employees in dioceses that wish to do so. It also voted to APOLOGIZE ON BEHALF OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH to its members who are gay and lesbian and to the lesbians and gay men outside the Church for years of rejection and maltreatment by the Church and affirm that this Church seeks amendment of our life together as we ask God's help in sharing the Good News with all people.
Meeting in Denver in 2000, General Convention approved the following resolutions: The IDENTIFICATION OF “SAFE SPACES” (A009), establishing a formal process for congregations to identify themselves as safe spaces for GLBT people; urging congregational CONVERSATION WITH YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS ABOUT SEXUALITY (A046); promoting DIALOGUE ON FIDELITY IN HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS (A080); and recommending that congregations engage in dialogue with the BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA REGARDING THEIR POLICY ON HOMOSEXUALS (C031).
Arguably the most influential resolution adopted in
GENERAL CONVENTION 2003
What exactly was approved at General Convention 2003 regarding the Blessings of Relationships?
No comments:
Post a Comment