wfn.org | NO APPEAL SOUGHT IN BISHOP RIGHTER CASE; ISSUE MOVES TO G

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TITLE:NO APPEAL SOUGHT IN BISHOP RIGHTER 
June 26, 1996
Episcopal News Service
James Solheim, Director
(212) 922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

96-1495
NO APPEAL SOUGHT IN BISHOP RIGHTER CASE; ISSUE MOVES TO GENERAL CONVENTION

BY JAMES H. THRALL AND HELEN PARMLEY
           (ENS) In the aftermath of an ecclesiastical court decision
dismissing charges brought against Bishop Walter Righter for ordaining
a non-celibate homosexual, the struggle to resolve the issue of homosexuality
and holy orders in the Episcopal Church has moved out of the
legal arena to the legislative.
           The 10 bishops who in January, 1995, charged Righter with holding
and teaching false doctrine under the so-called "heresy"
canon, and with violating his ordination vows, announced that they would not
appeal the court's decision, but would propose a resolution to
the 1997 General Convention that would bar clergy from "sexual relations
outside of holy matrimony." General Convention, which meets
every three years, is the church's chief legislative body.
           Righter, the retired bishop of Iowa, was serving as an assistant
bishop in the Diocese of Newark when he ordained the Rev.
Barry Stopfel, a homosexual in a committed relationship with another man, as a
deacon in 1990. A panel of eight bishops ruled May 15 by
a seven-to-one margin that Righter's actions had not violated the "core
doctrine" of the church and could not be prosecuted under existing
canons.
           At a press conference at a Dallas airport hotel, May 28, the 10
bishops released a four-page statement calling the decision to
dismiss the charges "flawed and erroneous," and presenting their proposed
General Convention resolution. They called on those who share
their opinion to express their "commitment to biblical faith and practice" to
their church leaders, and to "direct their personal resources, as a
matter of stewardship, to those ministries that proclaim the historic and
biblical Christian faith." 

WELCOMING AN END
           Initially withholding any decision about an appeal, the bishops,
represented by A. Hugo Blankingship, Jr., the "church advocate"
or prosecutor, announced on June 11 that they would forego their right to ask
for a review by a second court. Noting that an appeal would
require additional trial proceedings that could continue past the next General
Convention, Blankingship and his assistant, the Rev. Charles
G. Flinn, said that through their resolution the bishops have instead
"proposed to give the 1997 General Convention the opportunity to
affirm its acceptance of the authority of Holy Scripture that this court has
refused to accept."
           "I'm really on top of a mountain now," said Righter, who has
retired to New Hampshire. "I'm glad it's over." The 18-month
legal process that included appearances before three sessions of the
court--one in Hartford, Connecticut, and two in Wilmington, Delaware--
was "an awful exercise," he said. An appeal would have simply meant "more
pain."
           Righter said he was "delighted that they're asking General
Convention to look at the issue, even though I disagree with the way
they are proposing to revise the canons. It seems to me it belongs in General
Convention rather than a court. It's legislative rather than
judicial."
           The majority opinion of the court had strongly indicated that
General Convention was the proper forum, he noted. Presumably,
he added, other resolutions to permit the ordination of non-celibate
homosexuals would also be offered. "I'm sure there will be other voices
represented there as well," he said.
           Resolutions on both sides of the ordination issue, including
canonical changes essentially identical to the language proposed by
the 10 bishops, have been considered and rejected by past conventions.
           In his statement announcing the advocates' decision not to appeal,
Blankingship nonetheless claimed that an appeal would have
been justified and warned about the effect of the court's ruling as it stands.

           "The net effect of the decision will be to allow local option on
all matters of faith and morals," he wrote. "In some dioceses of
the American Episcopal Church the decision will be hailed as a license to
violate other teachings of Holy Scripture. In those dioceses which
adhere to traditional teachings of the Christian Church, the decision may be
ignored or rejected."

TAKING THEIR OWN PATH
           The 10 bishops have stated that they will "refuse to ordain, admit
or license clergy" who do not subscribe to the requirements of
their proposed canon, no matter what General Convention decides. They also
proclaimed that they would be creating a "fellowship of
Episcopal parishes and dioceses which uphold scriptural authority" to support
congregations in dioceses where "the bishop has departed
from the standards and norms set forth by the church's teachings."
           The American Anglican Congress, proposed as such a network, was
scheduled to hold an organizational meeting in Chicago in
mid-June.
           Bishop William Wantland of Eau Claire maintained that the 10
bishops' call for donations to support "ministries that proclaim the
historic and biblical Christian faith" was not a punitive diversion of funds
from the national program of the church, but only the exercise of
good stewardship. At least one diocese, however, Central Florida, has
expressed its intention to send about $100,000 that would have
supported the national church mission to other missionary causes.
           And while the arena has changed, the bishops made it clear that the
issue would not disappear. That questions of human sexuality
are dominating the agenda of the Episcopal Church, as well as other mainline
denominations, is "no surprise in a culture that is obsessed
with sexuality," said Bishop James Stanton of Dallas, a spokesman for the 10
bishops. "It is an issue the church had to face."

--JAMES H. THRALL IS DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE EPISCOPAL
CHURCH. HELEN
PARMLEY IS THE RETIRED RELIGION EDITOR FOR THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS.