House of Bishops roundups

...and behold, how many competing interpretations can be made of one document that is only one day old and written in the contemporary language of those reporting on it, with the authors nearby for clarification! Now do you see why the interpretation of a set of 66 books in several different languages at several thousand years' remove is such a challenge for mere human beings?

Episcopal Bishops Reject Anglican Church’s Orders
By NEELA BANERJEE
The New York Times
September 26, 2007

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 25 — Bishops of the Episcopal Church on Tuesday rejected demands by leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion to roll back the church’s liberal stance on homosexuality, increasing the possibility of fracture within the communion and the Episcopal Church itself.

After nearly a week of talks at their semiannual meeting in New Orleans, the House of Bishops adopted a resolution that defied a directive by the Anglican Communion’s regional leaders, or primates, to change several church policies regarding the place of gay men and lesbians in their church. But the bishops also expressed a desire to remain part of the communion, and they appeared to be trying to stake out a middle ground that would allow them to do so.

Still, up to five American dioceses led by theologically conservative bishops may try to break with the Episcopal Church and place themselves under the oversight of a foreign primate in the coming months, said the Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon, a conservative Episcopal strategist.

It’s all here …

Episcopal bishops promise 'restraint'
In an effort to hold their church together, leaders say they will try to not pick another gay bishop or authorize rites for same-sex couples.
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
September 26, 2007

Episcopal leaders, who are struggling to hold together their increasingly divided church and maintain its place in the global Anglican Communion, pledged anew Tuesday to "exercise restraint" in consecrating another openly gay bishop.

In the final hours of a crucial meeting in New Orleans, Episcopal bishops promised not to authorize official rites for the blessings of same-sex couples and asserted that a majority of bishops do not allow priests to bless such unions.

The statement, which largely affirmed earlier pledges by Episcopal leaders, came at a time when the church, the American branch of Anglicanism, is under intense pressure from conservatives in the worldwide communion to reconsider the U.S. church's relatively liberal stance on homosexuality and scriptural authority.

It’s all here …

Episcopal bishops stand their ground
They reconfirm old decision on gays
By Bruce Nolan
New Orleans (LA) Times-Picayune
September 26, 2007

Episcopal bishops meeting in New Orleans declined Tuesday to give powerful conservative Anglican primates overseas the new, unequivocal guarantee the primates demanded to end the ordination of partnered gay bishops.

But the bishops said the vote was not an act of defiance. Rather, they said they reconfirmed the same moratorium on new gay bishops the Anglican Communion sought and received last year after the ordination of Bishop V. Gene Robinson shocked the Anglican world in 2003.

In addition, the Episcopal bishops pledged "not to authorize public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions," another flash point in the Episcopal church's collision with the primates, or heads of churches in 37 other autonomous Anglican provinces around the world.

It’s all here …though +KJS has made it clear the term "moratorium" is inaccurate.

US Anglicans reject gay bishops
BBC News    
26 September 2007

Leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States have agreed to halt the selection of gay priests as bishops to prevent a split in the Anglican Church.

The Church will also no longer approve prayers to bless same-sex couples.

Many African Anglicans threatened to leave the worldwide Anglican Communion after the ordination of the first openly gay bishop four years ago.

The American Church was told to meet the conditions by 30 September or lose membership of the communion.

It’s all here ...and stunningly inaccurate: start with the assertion that the Episcopal Church ever had approved such "prayers," then move on to the non-existent ultimatum, which the  Archbishop of Canterbury clearly dismissed last week ...Was anybody at the BBC actually paying attention to the meeting, or did a computer cobble this together from bad headlines?

Comments

[Mike]

The wide variety of interpretations probably bodes well for the via media. If the pundits can't pin it down maybe we have found a middle way out of this zoo. I do wish the document had a little more of the fervor of the letter from the House from March, but all in all, I think this will keep as many of us as possible at the table long enough for those who want to leave to self select out.

[Mary Beth]

The BBC's on-air report last evening (I recorded at midnight, but it airs "live" at 8 PM Pacific) also had us agreeing to "stop ordaining gay clergy."

The Beeb broadcast I watched on PBS this morning at 6 AM ("live" at 3 AM Pacific) mentioned the agreement to "maintain unity in the Anglican Communion" as one of the stories, but it was bumped to accomodate very good coverage of the protests in Burma.

Despite some insomnia this morning, I managed to miss the in-depth BBC World Service stories overnight on the radio. The top and bottom of the hour headlines sounded as though they got it right.

[Jackie]

Well, Jan, I guess that just proves the HoB statement lacked Divine guidance.