wfn.org | Episcopalians: Bishops receive theology committee's report, 'Gift of Sexuality'

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

March 20, 2003

2003-064

Episcopalians: Bishops receive theology committee's report, 
'Gift of Sexuality'

by James Solheim and Jan Nunley

(ENS) In a voice vote at their annual spring retreat, the 
bishops of the Episcopal Church received a report of the 
theology committee of the House of Bishops on the "Gift of 
Sexuality," offering it to the church as grounds for discussion 
on a range of controversial issues.

"It was moved, seconded, and carried that we receive this 
document with thanks as a report of the theology committee. 
Though it does not reflect in all points the views of all 
members of the House, we offer it to the church for study and 
reflection, and thank the theology committee for inviting us 
into deeper reflection and for modeling collegiality," said the 
motion, introduced by Bishop Edward Little of Northern Indiana. 

The report is the product of an 18-month study by the committee 
of six bishops and seven academic theologians "who represent 
diverse theological viewpoints." In the preface to the report, 
the committee said, "It has been our special concern to 
encourage the church to think about how disagreement over issues 
of human sexuality may become open to God's grace."

"We believe sexuality is one of God's wonderful, complex, 
confusing, and sometimes dangerous gifts," the committee wrote 
in an introduction. "At the same time, we have been made freshly 
aware of how sexuality can be cheapened and exploited in human 
society and made an occasion of sin, hurt, and disorder, rather 
than the blessing God intends it to be."

Ordinations and blessings

Over the ages the church has struggled to address "the new 
spiritual and moral concerns that emerge in the experience and 
understanding of God's people. The right ordering of human 
sexual behavior has always been an aspect of the Jewish and 
Christian visions of the good for human life and society," the 
committee wrote. 

Two questions emerge from an attempt to address the experience 
of homosexually oriented persons: "Is it ever appropriate to 
pronounce the church's blessing on same-gender relationships as 
we do on heterosexual marriages and, if so, under what 
conditions? Is it ever appropriate to ordain non-celibate 
homosexual persons, and thereby commend them as 'wholesome 
examples' to the church and society, and, if so, under what 
conditions?"

The report carefully describes the theological context that 
informs answers to those questions, based on the conviction that 
"sexuality is a fundamental and complex aspect of human nature, 
which we both use and abuse. As Christians we believe it is part 
of God's good creation and intended to be a source of blessing 
and joy for human beings."

Recognizing that "there is a range of sexual identities among 
human beings," the report said that "as Christians we affirm 
that persons of all sexual orientations are created in the image 
of God, and they are full members of the human family," and the 
church "vigorously denounces discrimination and violence based 
on sexual orientation." Yet difficult questions emerge as to 
"what patterns of sexual intimacy are most congruent with the 
holiness of God's self-giving life."

The report noted that some in the church are asking, out of 
pastoral concern, "whether some forms of homosexual activity 
might be open to God's blessing in ways the church has not 
previously recognized. Does the church remain persuaded that all 
expressions of homosexual intimacy are sinful, or are there 
conditions under which we might be able to recognize that 
intimacy as a source of God's blessing, just as is true in some, 
though not all, expressions of heterosexual intimacy?"

Different minds

The report then explores the full range of possible answers to 
those questions, specifically addressing the controversial 
issues of blessing homosexual relationships and ordaining 
non-celibate homosexuals, urging respect for diverse opinions 
and concluding that "we do not believe these should be 
church-dividing issues."

The report warned, "The challenge we now face is how to maintain 
the unity of the church in the face of such intense 
disagreement. Despite the common faith that makes us one, we 
confess that on the issues surrounding human sexuality just now, 
we are of different minds." The report reminded the church that 
at the last General Convention it voted in resolution D039 to 
"support" those who are living in "relationships of sexual 
intimacy" other than marriage. "The question remains, does 
extending this support include pronouncing the church's blessing 
on such relationships?"

Answering the question, the report said "because at this time we 
are nowhere near consensus in the church regarding the blessing 
of homosexual relationships, we cannot recommend authorizing the 
development of new rites for such blessings." On the ordination 
issue, the report calls on bishops and standing committees, 
responsible for the ordination process in the dioceses, "to be 
respectful of the ways in which decisions are made in one 
diocese have ramifications on others. We remind all that 
ordination is for the whole church."

The report cautions against attempts to resolve controversial 
sexuality issues by legislation. "For a season at least, we must 
acknowledge and live with the great pain and discomfort of our 
disagreements," exercising "sensitive restraint and mutual 
forbearance" rather pressing for a vote. 

Grace-filled process

"We shared a series of papers and responses from which a draft 
was edited and adopted unanimously by the committee," said 
Bishop Henry Parsley of Alabama, chair of the theology 
committee. "We found in the process an enormous grace, working 
through our differences, helping us describe to ourselves and to 
the church the theological matters we were asked to deal 
with--and we were led to a deeper place of insight and 
communion."

He said that the committee "tried to be comprehensive, in the 
Anglican way, looking at all points of view."

Bishop Robert Ihloff of Maryland agreed. "The experience of 
thinking and stretching was grace-filled," he said, "with a 
group of diverse people committed to the church and each other. 
It took a long time to reach consensus and not everyone will be 
pleased but we went as far as we could at this time." He 
expressed surprise and gratitude that the report was so 
well-received, "that the bishops felt we had put our finger on 
the pulse of the church."

Allowing for differences

"We understood that our paper would be read throughout the 
Anglican Communion, and it attempts to disabuse people of the 
notion that those people who support blessing of same-sex unions 
don't believe in the Resurrection, don't use Scripture--in other 
words, it was a statement that we're really all operating from 
the same foundation, and operating from the same foundation in 
good conscience, we end up in different places on this issue," 
said Bishop Catherine Roskam of New York, a member of the 
committee.

"Difference does not necessarily mean division," she added. "We 
believe that our polity allows for difference. We recognize that 
some people will want division out of this, but theologically 
there are not really grounds for it." 

Roskam said that the issue of blessing same-gender relationships 
is "one we need to keep dealing with. This is not a backing away 
from the issue, but rather looking at ways we might move forward 
as a whole church, in accord with the directives of Lambeth to 
continue the conversation." 

"A lot of bishops felt very strongly that we should not pre-empt 
making a decision legislatively, and that was not our intent," 
Roskam said. "That was where we saw it from the standpoint of 
the theology committee, but the bishops may have by the end of 
the day come up with something quite different. There is no 
pre-emptive agreement among the bishops." 

Balanced, fair, comprehensive

Bishop John Howe of Central Florida said, "The first thing we 
did was develop a statement about the task of theology and we 
developed what we called a theological method which we've used 
on several occasions for studying Scripture. It's a much richer 
and fuller method than any that I've ever had before and it's 
been very helpful to us. It's a really good method that involves 
Scripture and tradition and meditation and personal prayer, and 
then putting it all back together in a group dynamic."

"What we did in the paper on issues of sexuality was, we took 
the statement about theology that we began with 18 months ago 
and we reworked that and said this is the framework or the 
context within which the whole discussion is taking place," Howe 
added. "We're Christians--we're Nicene Christians, we're creedal 
Christians, we're orthodox Christians--it restates that and 
says, within that context, we hold really divergent opinions 
about matters of sexuality. Our present conclusion is that 
equally orthodox Christians who are equally committed to the 
Scripture can come to very different opinions about these 
matters," he said.

"We discovered we are absolutely all over the board as far as 
issues of sexuality are concerned. Among us, you would find just 
about every position that is responsibly held in the Episcopal 
Church represented. To our surprise, we discovered that we were 
of one mind that we should not legislate," Howe said.

Howe was also grateful for the reception of the report. "Many 
people felt that it was the most balanced and fair and 
comprehensive statement that they had ever see on the subject. 
They did not endorse or adopt the paper, but they commended it 
to the church for study."

(In addition to Parsley, Roskam, Howe and Ihloff, the committee 
included:

Bishop Theodore Daniels, Bishop William Gregg, Prof. Michael 
Battle, Prof. Ellen Charry, Prof. Ian Douglas; the Rev. James 
Griffiss, the Rev. Mark McIntosh, Dr. Russell Reno, and Dr. 
Kathryn Tanner.)

------

Full text of the document is on the church's Web site at 
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/presiding-bishop/.

--James Solheim is director and Jan Nunley is deputy director of 
the Episcopal News Service.