From the Living Church-
Twenty-nine bishops have endorsed affirming their desire to remain part of the Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church while being faithful to the calls for restraint made by the wider church.
Styled as the "Anaheim Statement," the letter of dissent to the actions of the 76th General Convention pledged the bishops’ fealty to the requests made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the primates' meetings and ACC-14 to observe a moratoria on same-gender blessings, cross-border interventions and the ordination of gay and lesbian people to the episcopate.
In the hours after its release, the statement drew support from 23 diocesan bishops, four suffragan and assistant bishops, and two retired bishops and included bishops who voted on both sides of D025 and C056 -- resolutions that rescinded the ban on two of the three Windsor Report moratoria.
Rising to speak on a point of personal privilege during the House of Bishops afternoon session July 16, the Rt. Rev. Gary W. Lillibridge of West Texas read a statement prepared by an ad hoc committee of concerned bishops.
“At this convention,” Bishop Lillibridge said, the house had “heard repeated calls for honesty and clarity” on The Episcopal Church’s stance on the contested issues surrounding sexual ethics. The attempts to “modify wording which would have been preferable to the minority in the vote were respectfully heard and discussed, but in the end most of these amendments were found unacceptable to the majority in the House.”
More here-
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/7/17/dissenting-bishops-issue-anaheim-statement
3 comments:
Well stated. Honesty, clarity, and the willingness in Christian charity to discuss issues on which we disagree...these are part of the beauty of the Episcopal Church.
As reported "The Episcopal Church should proudly wear the mantle of being known as the “gay church,” Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire told a lunchtime audience at General Convention July 8"......where does that leave the rest of us?
Mick, the rest of us heterosexual Episcopalians, including myself, remain as we have been. Now can we please get beyond all this emphasis on sex? Ours is not a gay church, nor is it a non-gay church. It is a church that is speaking honestly and clearly as to where we are. Period. Hope to see you in church someday!
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