RE: suffering

From: RFaussette@aol.com
Date: Thu Aug 07 2003 - 17:32:10 EDT

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    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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