wfn.org | Episcopal convention sets aside most sexuality resolutions

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

For more information:

Episcopal News Service
James Solheim
jsolheim@dfms.org
212/922-5385
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

GC2000-099

Compromise proposal sets aside most other sexuality resolutions

by David Skidmore and Joe Thoma

     (ENS-DENVER) The most intensely scutinized resolution coming 
into convention--a proposal from the Standing Commission on 
Liturgy and Music (SCLM) to hand off to dioceses the 
responsibility for authorizing same-sex unions--never came to a 
vote in either house. It ended up a casualty of the hearings held 
by Committee 25, the special cognate committee appointed to 
handle all sexuality resolutions coming before the convention.

     The SCLM had been mandated by the last convention to come up 
with recommendations "of future steps for the resolution of 
issues" related to the theological aspects of same-sex 
relationships. But having been given the job of researching the 
theological issues around same-sex relationships and making a 
judgment on how to resolve the impasse, the committee found it 
could not make a clear-cut recommendation one way or the other. 
Instead it turned the matter over to dioceses and bishops, a 
gambit quickly labeled "local option" by observers, but defended 
by the commission as in tune with the Anglican principles.

     Bishop Paul Marshall of Bethlehem, a member of the 
commission, summarized the commission's quandary in a reflection 
included as part of the commission's report to General 
Convention.

     "When we simply cannot agree that one view compels the 
allegiance of all faithful people, as is the case today," wrote 
Marshall, "the reverently ignorant thing to do is either to 
abstain altogether from making a decision, or else to allow 
dioceses to find their own way in the matter, and only much 
later, if ever, to come to some general agreement."

     Marshall's argument did not salve the concerns of either 
progressive or traditionalist witnesses testifying at three major 
hearings during the convention's first week, or any of the six 
deputies and six bishops on Committee 25. In short order the 
resolution was discharged along with 13 other resolutions 
addressing a range of issues touching on human sexuality. 

     The jettisoned resolutions covered such subjects as explicit 
directives for creating rites for blessing same-sex unions (C23, 
D010, D021, D038); a summary of Episcopal Church statements on 
sexuality (D018); an endorsement of the 1998 Lambeth resolution 
on sexuality (D100); and a resolution amending church canons to 
require clergy to abstain from genital sexual relations outside 
of marriage.

     The only resolutions to survive the committee's winnowing 
were measures addressing the policy of the Boy Scouts of America 
regarding gay leaders and scouts (C031a); a resolution from 
Bishop Charles Bennison (Pennsylvania) calling for a pastoral 
study on the sin of "heterosexism," which was appended to another 
resolution calling for continued dialogue on gay and lesbian 
relationships, C008; a resolution identifying parishes that could 
serve as safe places for gays and lesbians (A009); and the 
compromise resolution on recognition of committed relationships 
outside of marriage (D039) that generated the longest debate in 
both houses before its adoption. 

     While the heterosexism study was removed from the resolution 
on gay and lesbian dialogue, the other two resolutions reported 
out of Committee 25 (A009 and C031a) were adopted by convention. 

Convention calls for conversation with Boy Scouts

     The resolution (C031) that encourages the Boy Scouts of 
America to allow adult leaders to serve regardless of their 
sexual orientation received the bishops' concurrence on the final 
day of convention.

     In August 1999, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld a lower 
court ruling that said the Boy Scouts had violated state anti-
discrimination laws when the organization removed an assistant 
scoutmaster who openly declared his homosexuality. The Boy Scouts 
appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which then 
overturned the New Jersey decision, saying the BSA has the right 
to determine its criteria for leadership.

     The bishops' debate centered on the relationship between the 
scouting organization and the Episcopal Church, and whether the 
church should attempt to influence the internal policies of the 
BSA. 

     Bishop Arthur Williams, bishop suffragan of Ohio and chair 
of the committee that considered the resolution, said that 
bishops had brought him conflicting information about the Supreme 
Court decision. That, plus contradictory information from BSA 
representatives at the convention, made the official BSA policy 
on homosexuality unclear, he said. 

     The BSA policy "is not stated in their bylaws, their rules 
and regulations, or their procedures for maintaining standards of 
membership, nor in any leader manual or handbook that boys and 
parents use, nor in any training course or syllabus, nor in the 
application," Williams said. "They state that they support 
traditional family values, but they have not defined what they 
mean when they use the term family values."

     Some bishops have argued that if the BSA policy centers on 
scoutmasters' behavior, not orientation, the church should 
refrain from comment. But the organization does, in fact, show 
itself to discriminate on the basis of orientation, Williams 
said. "While their stance is apparently don't ask, don't tell, 
they do act on anonymous tips and common community knowledge," he 
said. "It's because of that that we wrote the resolution," which 
was approved by the committee and the House of Deputies.

Resistance to the resolution

     Bishop Peter Beckwith (Springfield), disagreed with 
Committee 25's interpretation of the BSA policy and spoke against 
the resolution: "If indeed the Boy Scouts have policies that 
Bishop Williams has described, I would not want to be part of the 
Boy Scouts." Beckwith also challenged the church's place in 
passing judgement on the BSA: "I find it incredible that this 
house, representing a church that is certainly not of one mind on 
a number of sexual issues, would presume to advise another 
organization on this particular subject." Finally, he posed a 
rhetorical question about whether church leaders would welcome 
policy direction from the Boy Scouts.

     As an "openly gay" bishop, Otis Charles (Utah) spoke in 
favor of the resolution, calling it "a non-confrontative, 
educational approach." Charles agreed that scouts uphold 
traditional values, but said the organization also contributes to 
society's lack of acceptance of gay people. "From my personal 
experience, the closet is destructive. The closet keeps people 
from being truthful. The closet keeps people from showing up as 
who they really are," he said.

Offering a substitute

     Bishop David Bena (Albany) proposed an amendment to remove 
specific references to the Boy Scouts and substitute a general 
reference to all organizations. "My purpose is that this 
resolution singles out one organization, a very fine organization 
that shares values with the Episcopal Church," he said. The 
resolution "looks like a bit of a paternalistic slap at one 
organization." 

     Bena echoed Beckwith's point that the BSA won its case in 
the Supreme Court. "There are many organizations that we are 
deeply involved with that do not share our values," Bena said. 
"So if this particular issue is important to us, this resolution 
should cover all those organizations." 

     But the BSA has a special relationship to the church, Bishop 
David Joslin said, in opposing Bena's amendment. Many churches 
sponsor scout troops, "and thereby assume a responsibility for 
them." He also said dropping the original resolution would be 
inconsistent with other General Convention resolutions that have 
been conciliatory toward gays. Charles, opposing the amendment, 
said congregations that charter troops have an "organic" 
relationship with the troops.

     Bishop John Rabb (Maryland), a former scout and scouting 
leader, voiced support for the resolution because it opens a 
dialogue with the BSA. "I think that's critical, that we dialogue 
with them regarding this position," he said, adding that the 
Supreme Court decision shouldn't absolve the church of its 
obligation to take a moral position. The BSA "was simply 
permitted, as a private organization, to establish their own 
policies," Rabb said. "I happen to think that those policies are 
not policies that I can personally support." 

     Others said the church's experience with growing inclusivity 
could help the BSA become more inclusive.

What about heterosexual relationships outside of marriage?

     Several reporters pressed representatives of the houses at a 
July 11 press briefing to interpret the statement in D039 on 
supporting lifelong committed relationships "other than 
marriage," including asking the SCLM to prepare rites for the 
Book of Occasional Services. The statement, which was the crux of 
debate, was removed by the deputies before adopting the 
resolution. An effort to restore the provision later failed in 
the House of Bishops.

     Asked whether the subtext supports blessing rites for 
heterosexual couples living outside of matrimony, Herbert Gunn 
(Michigan) said he thought the resolution "moves the church in 
that direction" by asking for rites in the Book of Occasional 
Services. 

     The notion that the committee might be endorsing such an 
arrangement was a surprise for Bishops Charles Duvall (Central 
Gulf Coast) and Clifton Daniel III (East Carolina). "That is an 
interpretation I had not thought of," said Duvall. "And it is an 
interpretation I am personally against." If that is what the 
committee intends, he added, then it "complicates" the 
resolution.

     Daniel said he would oppose extending such rites to 
unmarried heterosexual couples since they already have an option 
in the Book of Common Prayer, "and it is called holy matrimony."

--David Skidmore is director of communications for the Diocese of 
Chicago. Joe Thoma is director of communications for the Diocese 
of Central Florida.