TEC House of Deputies Passes Pro-Gay Resolution

Read other IRD articles covering the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church here.

The House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church (TEC) on Sunday evening passed a resolution intended to end a moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops. In place since the passage of resolution B033 at TEC’s 2006 General Convention, the moratorium was a call to diocesan standing committees urging “restraint” in the consecration of any person as bishop whose “manner of life” challenged the broader Anglican Communion.

In the place of B033, Deputies adopted Resolution D025, which states that the election and consent of gay persons to the position of bishop is not in conflict with the constitution and canons of TEC for its consideration. Following committee testimony earlier in the week, in which 50 speakers offered comments in favor of overturning or in some way nullifying B033, and six speakers offered comments opposed to changing the status quo, the House of Deputies debated D025 by alternating pro and con speakers. This had the effect of providing more time for those opposing the changes to express their views.

Deputies from the dioceses of Albany, Central Florida and South Carolina were vocal in their opposition to D025. They were joined by individual deputies from Colorado, Springfield, Southwest Florida (Tampa), and the Convocation of American Churches in Europe in expressing concerns that D025 would further widen the rift between TEC and the broader Anglican Communion.

Deputies from Olympia (western Washington State), Atlanta, and Vermont joined others in favoring D025. The deputies encouraged the church to “move ahead” and work for what they termed the “full inclusion” of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons. A deputy from the Diocese of Olympia argued that an attitude of “fear” was keeping the church from consenting to the election of more gay bishops.

Deputies from the new dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy (known as “renewing dioceses” following the departure of most of their clergy and congregations to the newly formed Anglican Church in North America) spoke both for and against D025. A deputy from Fort Worth urged that D025 be adopted, recalling her former diocese’s recent separation from TEC and saying that efforts to placate traditionalists were ultimately futile. A deputy from Quincy (Illinois) emotionally argued the contrary position, expressing concerns that the church was “tearing yet more feathers” from its conservative wing, something that would “prevent this bird from flying” in the future.

Conservatives attempted to separate D025 into two separate resolutions, the first half reaffirming strong bonds with the broader Anglican Communion, the second half with the more controversial human sexuality language. The efforts to separate the resolution were defeated, and the final resolution went on to pass by a wide margin. In the final tally, clergy deputations voted 74 to 30 in favor of resolution D025, while lay deputations voted 77 to 31 in favor.

At a news conference immediately following the vote, the Rev. Gay Jennings of the Diocese of Ohio spoke about the adopted resolution. Jennings, Chair of the World Missions Committee and introducer of the resolution, played down the confrontational tone of the House of Deputies. He said that the resolution was simply a “statement of where the church is now” rather than a repudiation of B033 from three years ago. Jennings emphasized that B033 had merely been a “call for restraint” and said it did not have the same force as the church’s canons.

When questioned by reporters about how other churches in the Anglican Communion would respond to D025, Bishop Leo Frade of the Diocese of Southeast Florida (Miami) responded that he did not know how they would respond. Identifying himself as the former bishop of Honduras, and thus a “global south bishop,” Frade claimed that the global south was “not of one mind” on the matter of human sexuality and gay bishops.

Bishops from the global south represent the vast majority of the Anglican Communion’s population. They have repeatedly spoken against the Episcopal Church’s elevation of Bishop Gene Robinson as the first openly partnered homosexual bishop and questioned TEC’s commitment to the authority of Scripture.

Having passed the House of Deputies, D025 now goes to the House of Bishops for its consideration.