AN APPEAL TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
By the Bishops of Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, San Joaquin,
South Carolina, and Springfield (20 July, A.D. 2006)
1. We are concerned that the Presiding Bishop-elect embodies the majority's disregard of the Windsor Report:
2. We are concerned that the Presiding Bishop-elect does not represent our views to the Communion:
3. We are concerned that the Presiding Bishop-elect holds theological views that are at variance with the historic tradition:
4. We are concerned that the Presiding Bishop-elect has indicated a hostile attitude toward the minority's faith and witness:
Citations:
1. Disregard of the Windsor Report:
On consent to the bishop of New Hampshire
"I participated in the vote to
consent to his election. ... I believe that the people of New Hampshire have
the right to choose the person they believe is best suited to their particular
ministry needs. I recognize that this election will cause deep grief and pain
to a number of people in this church, and I deeply lament that reality." (Pastoral
Letter, Aug 2003)
On blessing same-sex unions
"The nature of blessing a relationship,
whether a marriage or a same-sex partnership, means that the community who stand
with the couple also promise to bless them." (2003 Diocesan Convention
Address)
"THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That the 33rd Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, desiring to support relationships of mutuality and fidelity which mediate the grace of God between those persons for whom the celebration and blessing of a marriage is not available, does hereby recognize that ceremonies to celebrate the relationships of such persons who are baptized members in good standing in this diocese may be conducted by clergy in the diocese, with the approval of the bishop, respecting their pastoral discretion." (Resolution adopted by Diocese of Nevada, 2003)
"I said that a parish wishing to do so would have to get the congregation to agree, to show that it was not an isolated event, divorced from the rest of its activities. The couple would also have to receive counselling, like anyone getting married." (The Guardian, Jun 2006)
On the Windsor Report
"The Windsor Report contains some
significant misunderstandings and errors of fact. It does not clearly recognize
how the polity of the Episcopal Church varies from that of most other parts
of the Communion" (Speech
in Seattle, Nov 2005)
On the present course
"I am fully committed to the full
inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the church." (Episcopal News
Service, Jun 2006)
On B033
Concerning the possibility of consents
for a partnered gay/lesbian candidate for the episcopate:
"[Louie Crew:] 'You
don't get much of a choice if a diocese elects a lesbian or gay bishop.'
"[Jefferts
Schori:] 'That's right, and if God brings us to that day, I think we will act
according to how the Spirit moves us. I am sorry
not to be able to be more direct.'" (The Witness Magazine, Apr 2006)
In the House of Bishops, she said, "This resolution will have to be reviewed very soon."
2. Concerning the Communion:
On the Instruments of Unity
"I don't think Jesus is as interested
in instruments of unity as he is in whether or not we're serving his brothers
and sisters or feeding the hungry. The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion
are going to survive if we manage to work together at healing the world." (Address,
Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Nov 2005)
On ECUSA being, as one reporter put
it, "thrown out of the Communion"
"It will be unfortunate if we don't
have partners, but the reality is lived at the level of local relationships,
at local levels: folks from Nevada going out and helping in Kenya."(The
Guardian, Jun 2006)
On the Anglican Communion
In an interview: “ … the Anglican Communion
is a gift to be cherished, and a gift that needs to be increasingly valued and
appropriated through our own sacrifice, albeit not at the cost of what this
church believes to be faithful response to the gospel."
(The Living Church, 2006)
On what she will say to Peter Akinola
"I will ask him what encourages
him to see some of God's children as less than human and less worthy of the dignity
that our liturgy believes is the right of all human beings." (The Guardian,
Jun 2006)
On the decisions of General Convention
on sexuality
Interview:
"[But] these decisions were made because we believe that's where the Gospel
has been calling us. The Episcopal Church
in the U.S. has come to a reasonable conclusion and consensus that gay and lesbian
Christians are full members of this church and that our ministry to and with
gay and lesbian Christians should be part of the fullness of our life."(Time Magazine,
Jul 2006)
On the Covenant idea
"[The Archbishop of Canterbury
is] very clear that we're not going to see an instant solution. He's also clear
about his role: it is to call people to conversation, not to intervene in diocesan
or provincial life—which some people have been asking for." (Time Magazine,
Jul 2006)
On the Windsor Report
"All of this is a very long way
of saying that neither this [Lambeth] commission, nor the Archbishop of Canterbury,
nor the gathering of primates, can make rules or laws that bind the Episcopal
Church." (2004 Diocesan
Convention Address)
3. Theological Views:
On Jesus
"We who practice the Christian
tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that
God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small
box." (Time Magazine,
Jul 2006)
On the message of Jesus
"The Bible tells us about how to
treat other human beings, and that's certainly the great message of Jesus - to
include the unincluded." (CNN,
Jun 2006)
On her reference to "Mother
Jesus" in her sermon after election
"Our mother Jesus gives birth to
a new creation - and you and I are His children." (Episcopal News Service,
Jun 19, 2006)
"It was very deliberate and conscious. I was wrestling with the image of blood on the cross, the image of labour. It's medieval imagery actually, Julian of Norwich. It seemed appropriate to the text and the hard work we are trying to do in this place." (The Guardian, Jun 2006; NB: she did not cite the reference of any sort to this phrase in her sermon.)
On the Reign of God
Integrity (reporter): "Can you
tell me about the reign of God?"
Schori:
"I think of the scripture from Isaiah read by Jesus in the synagogue, the
blind see, the lame are healed. ... Our vision
is one of social justice like the vision enshrined in the Millennium Goals. The
Millennium Goals are our vision of the reign of God."
(ENS News Conference, Jun 18, 2006)
On Revelation
We believe that revelation continues,
that God continues to be active in creation, and that all of the many ways of
knowing — including geology, evolutionary biology, philosophy, and arts such
as opera, punk rock or painting — can be vehicles through which God and human
beings partner in continuing creation.
On the place of doctrine
"[Q] 'What is your prayer for the
church today?' [A] 'That we remember the centrality of our mission is to love
each other. That means caring for our neighbors. And it does not mean bickering
about fine points of doctrine.'" (Time Magazine,
Jul 2006)
On doing theology
"Our heritage and context shape
our theology. The ways in which we understand scripture and appropriate gospel
response to social realities are shaped both by our roots and our current circumstances."
(Speech in Seattle, Nov 2005)
On making faith decisions
"Making any kind of faith decision
is based on accumulating the best evidence one can find - what one's senses and
reason indicate, what the rest of the community has believed over time, and
what the community judges most accurate today." (The Witness Magazine,
Aug 2005)
4. Hostile attitude toward the minority:
On characterizing the minority
"I think it is the Evil One who
is at work here, distracting us from our central focus, which ought to be on
feeding the hungry, relieving the needs of the poor, healing the sick. This
obsession is keeping us from doing that. To focus on issues of sexuality when
people are dying is a distraction from our mission."
On the minority in the House of Bishops,
called 'dissenters'
"I think they need to be challenged,
more so than they have been. I see signs of hope in the House of Bishops, an
unwillingness to continue to put up with bad behavior. We haven't seen any
action yet, but I think it is coming." (The Witness Magazine, Apr
2006)
When asked if that would be a 'verbal
rebuke'
"It won't be enough in some cases,
I am sure. But I have the sense that there is some desire to hold each other
accountable for actions that are not canonical, for actions that have the appearance
of being downright schismatic." (The
Witness Magazine, Apr 2006)
Sources:
CNN Live program, June 19, 2006.
The Guardian, UK, Jun 2006:http://wwAv.guardian.co.uk/religion/Storv/0.. 1804908.00.html
Jefferts Schori, The Rt. Rev. K., Pastoral
Letter, August 5, 2003;
http://www.stpaulssparks.org/GENCONVENTION03/Schon.html
The Living Church, 2006.
http://www.livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp
PID^OO?
ENS News Conference reported at Stand Firm, http://www.standfirminfaith.corn/index.php/site/sr_article/the_presiding_bishop_s
Time Magazine Interview, July 17, 2006: http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0.10987.1211587.00.html
The Witness Magazine, Interview, April 18, 2006; hup://www.thewimess.org/article.php?id=1068#JEFFERTS_SCHORL
The Witness Magazine, Article, August 2005;http://thewitness.org/article.php?id=io.^4
The Witness Magazine, November 2005, Address to Church Divinity School of the Pacific; http://thewitness.org/article.php ?id=l 034