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In the past week, the Episcopalian Church in the USA took major steps at their Convention to move forward and affirm the development of liturgical material for same sex unions, and instructed local bishops to make their own decisions as they "determine what such a generous pastoral response might mean in her or his diocesan context" re performing same sex unions. Further they stated "that God has called and may call" gay and lesbian people "to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church."
Some History
The Episcopal Church has been in the midst of a storm since the 2003 ordination of the Reverend V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Bishop Robinson is an openly gay man who lives with his life partner. He was legitimately elected by his constituency and the election was approved to have been fairly conducted at the Episcopal church's annual conference.
Then, the storm began. It is a huge story, full of nuances and global intrigue. I will attempt to be as brief as I can, and encourage you all to read further articles should you need more detail. Here goes the condensed version.
1. Bishop Robinson was ordained as bishop.
2. Conservative American Episcopalians were furious. Among other things they cited a discussions that had been had in England with the Archbishop of Canturbury and other country-level bishops in which everyone had agreed to not proceed so much regarding GLBT issues. (Note: The Us church is not subject to Canturbury. The Archbisop of Canturbury is not like the Pope. He is the head of the Anglican Communion. a group of many national Anglican churches who share a common theology -- but almost more importantly very similar Books of Common Prayer. They had also vowed to stay out of each other country's church business.
3. Bishops in what is called "The Global South" became heated. This area includes Central and South America and Africa, primarily. While some Bishops were in agreement with the US (Desmond TuTu for example), others begn to try to get the US kicked out of the Anglican Communion. Most notably, Peter Akinola, Bishop of Nigeria, attempted to assume leadership of US churches who wanted to leave the Episcopal Church. He would be their Bishop. So a church in texas could become part of the Nigerian Church and not allow GLBT members to be ordained or wed. In Nigeria it is illegal to be GLBT. In some areas it carries a jail sentence of 14 years, in some a penalty of death.
4. The Archbishop of Canturbury holds many meetings and asks everyone to just not do anything more for a while. Pressure rises to kick America out of the Anglican Communion.
5. Some US churches leave; lawsuits are levied by US conservatives who want to take their church buildings/land/assets with them; bishops cross national borders and interfere; Bishop Akinola refuses to receive communion if a gay person is next to him -- and so on.
6. There are huge implications financially as North America in general, and the US in particular, have been the prime financial supporters of the Anglican Communion, and the leaders in contributions to foreign missions, especially in the Global South.
7. The most conservative wing of the US church leaves. to form a rival church body.
Briefly, it was an unholy mess.
Today
Now the ante gets raised by America, as in their General Convention they have done the following (taken from the ECUSA web site):
1. Resolution C056 calls for the collection and development of theological resources for the blessing of same-gender blessings and allows bishops to provide "a generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church."...It acknowledges "changing circumstances" that call for a renewed pastoral response from the church for considering same-gender blessings, including state laws on same-gender marriage, civil-unions and domestic partnerships. The resolution also authorizes the House of Bishops, in conjunction with the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, to devise an open process that will invite churchwide participation in collecting and developing theological resources and liturgies. The commission is to report its efforts to the next General Convention in 2012.
2. Resolution D025. In addition to underscoring the Episcopal Church's support of and participation in the Anglican Communion, that resolution affirms "that God has called and may call" gay and lesbian people "to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church."
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has written to all 38 global primates and to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canturbury, about
