From: RFaussette@aol.com
Date: Thu Aug 07 2003 - 17:32:10 EDT
The questions was posed who is suffering from the appt. of a gay bishop?
This is from the NYTimes. These people are suffering.
Episcopal Leaders Reject Proposal for Same-Sex Union Liturgy
New York Times, 3.8.7
By MONICA DAVEY
MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 6 - Only a day after approving the
election of the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop,
prelates of the church tonight rejected a proposal to begin
writing an official liturgy for the blessing of same-sex
unions.
In an atmosphere of tension and protest within their ranks,
and weary from days of debate over whether to approve the
bishop-elect, the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson, the bishops
here at the Episcopal Church USA convention seemed eager to
create no further controversy, division or pain. They said
unity - or at least agreeing that they did not yet agree on
what their religion says about homosexuality - would be
better.
"This is best because those of you who have reached a
further point of clarity can continue to do what you think
is right in your area," said Bishop Gethin Hughes of the
Diocese of San Diego. "For many of us who are still
struggling," he said, there will be more time for sorting
through the issues and coming to some answer together.
So by voice vote, the bishops instead overwhelmingly
approved a weaker resolution regarding the treatment and
pastoral care of gay and lesbian Episcopalians. It included
a provision recognizing that some members of the clergy
were already performing blessings for gay couples in some
dioceses around the country. Leaders of Integrity, an
alliance of gay church members, said the provision would
for the first time signal to bishops that they had the
broader church's permission to allow same-sex unions in
their dioceses if they choose to.
The resolution still requires approval on Thursday by the
House of Deputies, a body of both lay and clerical members.
But that approval is expected, and the Rev. Michael W.
Hopkins, the president of Integrity, said of the vote
today: "This is a major step forward. There has never been
an explicit statement that acknowledges that bishops can do
it."
Still, the bishops rejected the most far-reaching and
controversial proposal: creation of rites, to be included
in a liturgical book, that would have blessed the unions of
gay and lesbian couples. Some here said the rejection was
not surprising at the end of a day marked by messages of
protest by those upset with the approval of Bishop-elect
Robinson to lead the Diocese of New Hampshire.
Some of the protests were small, others more dramatic. A
dozen people wore ashes on their foreheads, as a sign of
penance and mourning. A few wore black armbands. Some seats
on the floors of the two decision-making bodies - the House
of Deputies and the smaller House of Bishops - stayed empty
all day.
A few blocks away, about 300 opponents of approving
Bishop-elect Robinson, some 20 bishops among them, prayed
together in a worship service at Westminster Presbyterian
Church. In the pews, several people wept. Some spoke of the
decision as a death.
"I feel betrayed," said Dorothy Spaulding, 74, a church
member from Virginia. Mrs. Spaulding said she did not know
whether she would go to church this Sunday or, if she did,
whether she would put anything on the collection plate.
"We have a lot of gays in our parish," she said, "and most
of them are nice people. They are still living in sin."
Some at the convention said it was time, after nearly 30
years of debate over such questions, to open up the church,
loudly and clearly, to gays. But Mrs. Spaulding and others
said the choice of Bishop-elect Robinson and any official
blessing for gays was in conflict with church teachings and
threatened to split the United States church, which has 2.3
million members, and the broader Anglican Communion, with
more than 75 million people around the world.
"We've been dealt a grave blow," Bishop Robert W. Duncan of
the Pittsburgh Diocese told the somber congregants gathered
at the Westminster church. "How do we go forward and forth?
I want to suggest to you, you already know the answer. It's
one word, five letters. Jesus."
Meanwhile, as Bishop-elect Robinson was introduced on the
floor of the House of Deputies - a standard gesture after
bishops-elect win confirmation - many of the 800 people
present stood to applaud.
But soon afterward one member of the house, Dr. Kendall
Harmon, canon theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina,
walked to a microphone and, as more than 20 others filed in
behind him, read a statement rejecting Bishop-elect
Robinson's approval. Half a dozen people dropped to their
knees to pray.
"This church will never be the same again," he said.
As
many as two dozen people said they were staying away from
the convention floor for the day, leaving Minneapolis or,
at least in one case, resigning from the House of Deputies.
"We have violated our own constitution, so I am doing what
I was called in my own heart to do," the Rev. David H.
Roseberry of Plano, Tex., said after walking off the floor
of the House of Deputies, turning in his resignation letter
to the leader of his delegation and sending a note saying
goodbye to his diocesan leader in the House of Bishops.
"What has happened is incredible. This is not the only body
that is listening. There are 70 million Anglicans listening
around the world."
The Rev. Canon Ephraim Radner, a deputy from Colorado, also
left. "It is with profound sorrow and trembling
reluctance," he told the House of Deputies, "that I inform
the house of my conviction that this convention's action of
consent to Canon Robinson's election as bishop in this
church is unconstitutional." Saying he was "no longer a
representative to anything," he left the building.
Despite the protests, meetings went on. On the floor of the
House of Bishops tonight, Otis Charles, retired bishop of
the Utah Diocese, pleaded with his colleagues to create a
liturgy for gay unions. He was once a closeted gay bishop,
he said, and told his colleagues the truth about 10 years
ago.
He recalled the pain of hearing similar debates then, when
he was still closeted. "I and every other gay and lesbian
person was diminished," he said. "I come now to this
moment, and I find that it is still the same experience."
Although few dioceses around the country have sanctioned
same-sex blessings on their own, such ceremonies are
quietly being conducted in many more, Bishop Charles said.
"They're already doing it," he said. "They would like to
have the same dignity that each one of you have."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/07/national/07BISH.html
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