wfn.org | Bishops meet in climate of reconciliation at Texas retreat center

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March 18, 2002

2002-065

Bishops meet in climate of reconciliation at Texas retreat center

by James Solheim and Carol E. Barnwell
jsolheim@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) Despite dire predictions of a confrontation over a range of sensitive issues in 
the life of the Episcopal Church, the annual spring retreat of bishops ended March 12 with 
general agreement that it had been one of the deepest and most honest encounters many of 
them had experienced. 

     The overall theme of the retreat was reconciliation -- and the way the theme was 
handled was credited by many bishops for creating a much better climate for dealing with 
tensions over the issues. Building on their earlier study of globalization at last fall's 
meeting in Vermont, the bishops used their time at Camp Allen near Houston to study 
different areas of reconciliation as both the mission of the church and as integral to the 
role of a bishop. 

     "We started with personal dimensions of reconciliation and then considered ourselves 
as a community of ministers of reconciliation -- bishops of the church," Presiding Bishop 
Frank T. Griswold said in a press conversation at the end of the retreat. "We asked who we 
are as people reconciled to God in Christ and, out of that reconciliation, how we are 
caught up in a context of continued reconciliation." 

     "Then we moved from personal to the communal or ecclesial level of reconciliation and 
in that context looked at some of the concerns in the life of the church. But we also 
recognized that the church is called to be a reconciling force in the world so we turned 
our attention to global matters such as world poverty, disease, disparity between rich and 
poor in this country, our relationship to the larger Anglican Communion," he added. "They 
are all interactive. We must engage all these dimensions of reconciliation at the same 
time." 

A house in transition

     On the day set aside for the small groups to identify and discuss ecclesial concerns, 
a statement signed by 20 bishops, called "An Appeal for the Preservation of Godly Union," 
was introduced and became part of the discussion. It pleaded that the bishops "not leave 
this gathering without an agreement about a meaningful and workable form of sustained 
pastoral care -- protecting the sensibilities, integrity and place of those whose 
'traditional orthodox faith' renders them unable to accept the innovations of the past 
three decades." 

     Griswold invited the groups to consider the statement and the issue in the context of 
whether the present Constitution and Canons of the church are sufficient to deal with 
issues such as supplemental episcopal pastoral care. The groups reported a general 
consensus that they were sufficient so a draft statement was framed, discussed by the 
Presiding Bishop's Council of Advice and presented to a plenary of the house as a 
"distillation" of the agreement that became the Covenant on Episcopal Pastoral Care. 

     Developed within a week-long theological study of reconciliation, the covenant 
encourages the "strongest possible pastoral relationship" between bishops and "all 
congregations." Griswold emphasized that use of the covenant provided a transitional 
process and that "any supplemental episcopal ministry depends on bishop of the diocese." 

     "There was no vote," Griswold said, but an "overwhelming majority" of bishops felt it 
not only answered concerns of a number of primates of the Anglican Communion, but was also 
a good description "of what we could already do," he said during the press conversation. 

     Griswold cited changes in the composition and style of the house as one reason the 
covenant emerged. Since he became presiding bishop in January 1998, 41 new bishops have 
been consecrated. "By that fact, it is clear that this is a body in transition," he said in 
an interview, adding that he senses a "new energy" in recent meetings of the bishops. "We 
have moved on -- and the character of the house has changed tremendously. The new bishops 
are accustomed to a more conversational style of deliberation, rather than debate." And he 
is convinced that the small groups quickly established "great truthfulness that opened the 
way for reconciliation. The bishops faced each other with great honesty." 

Reaction to covenant

     Griswold said it was important to see the covenant in context. "It's a pastoral 
response," he said. Arrangements can be made, he said, in places where "there is a desire 
for ministry beyond the diocesan bishop," with the approval of that bishop. 

     Many bishops doubted that they would need to invoke the Covenant in their dioceses. 
"We have three bishops who embody great diversity," said Suffragan Bishop Catherine Roskam 
of New York said. "We don't have occasion to use it." Bishop William Persell of Chicago 
agreed. "We have a variety of parishes with a variety of view points," he said, but "I've 
been welcome everywhere I've gone." He did express reservations that the document might be 
misused if it "were to take on a life of its own." 

     Some were concerned that the covenant would not be used enough. "My fear . . .is that 
we will not use it in as many situations as it might be helpful in," said Bishop Robert 
Duncan of Pittsburgh, a member of the American Anglican Council and one of the 20 bishops 
who signed the "Appeal for the Preservation of Godly Union." As one who believes in the 
need for such a response, Duncan was pleased with the interpretation of existing church 
law. Citing the formation of "continuing churches" that have left the Episcopal Church in 
the last 30 years, he said, "There are tremendous pressures in our church that could lead 
us to more division." He said that the covenant, "when not interpreted in the extreme, one 
way or another, offers a better way forward than the last three decades have shown." 

     Allen Bartlett, retired bishop of Pennsylvania, said the covenant was nothing new, but 
rather "one tool among many," one that provides a "temporary arrangement." He pointed out 
that the ultimate goal is full restoration of the relationship with a congregation. 
Bartlett was one of the bishops who made an arrangement when he was diocesan bishop with 
several traditionalist parishes for visitations by other bishops. 

     As news from the retreat moved through the church, early responses from conservatives 
were positive. The American Anglican Council, for example, said that the Covenant 
"represents a significant act of grace at a time when grace is most needed in the church." 
The March 14 statement also expressed gratitude to Griswold "for providing the time 
necessary during the House of Bishops meeting for constructive discussion of Sustained 
Pastoral Care," and they commended the bishops "for committing themselves to the path of 
reconciliation and unity." 

     Griswold's leadership was cited by several bishops. Robert Ihloff of Maryland said 
that the presiding bishop "put things in a theological perspective, consistently leading us 
spiritually and theologically to think out our issues on a Scriptural basis." 

Retreat moves bishops to new place

     Reaction to the retreat was overwhelmingly positive among bishops across the spectrum. 
Roskam described it as important for "our formation as bishops, our formation as community. 
We do it because we are the spiritual leaders of the church and we can't expect the efforts 
of the church to move forward if we were not moving forward as reconcilers ourselves." 

     Bishop Coadjutor Duncan Gray III of Mississippi called it a "soul-satisfying" meeting, 
"because we were engaged in the reconciling work of the church and we were doing mission 
and being transformed as we did it." 

     Bishops considered how, as spiritual leaders, they give shape to the life of the 
church as it responds to the "confusion and sense of vulnerability" that followed events of 
September 11, said Bishop Arthur Walmsley, retired bishop of Connecticut, who helped the 
bishops implement the concerns expressed in their "Waging Reconciliation" statement at last 
fall's meeting in Vermont.. He said they also considered the Church's link to partners 
throughout the Anglican Communion and through them, to the larger issues of poverty, 
hunger, disease and the gap between rich and poor. 

     Several guest bishops helped make that connection more tangible. Desmond Tutu, former 
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, joined Bishop Iraj Mottahedeh, President-Bishop of the 
Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and Archbishop Peter Akinola, primate of 
the Church in Nigeria, and a group of consultants on some of the international issues 
"enriched our discussions and our lives," Persell said. 

     Griswold said that the presence of representatives from other churches and other 
contexts was very helpful, "a special gift because they serve as reminders of the larger 
fellowship and they present the Gospel from a variety of contexts." In reporting to the 
Church Center staff following the retreat, he related a story of how Akinola dealt with 
several dioceses caught in conflict. "He visited them, removing the signs of his episcopal 
authority, prostrating himself on the ground and asking them to accept his ministry of 
reconciliation." 

     During the press conversation, bishops expressed deep appreciation for what had 
happened. "There is a commitment to understand and respond to the fact that we are people 
of privilege living in a time of extreme challenge, that global poverty and the situations 
of our sisters and brothers around the world is critical for us is a continuing agenda," 
said Walmsley, who called this one of "the most remarkable meetings" he'd attended in 22 
years in the House of Bishops. 

     Bishop Claude E. Payne of Texas said he saw the bishops' discussions as an example 
that the Episcopal Church is adapting to cultural change. By seizing the opportunity for 
mission, he said, the church is reforming, using reconciliation to reach out to all people. 

     Bishop Theodore Daniels of the Virgin Islands feels less isolated after time with 
colleagues. He said that the retreat was "energizing," adding that "this particular meeting 
gave me hope as a leader of the church that we can set the tone. One can deal with issues 
that are not necessarily easy. We don't always have answers and we can say 'not yet' on 
things." 

     Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of Nevada, one of the newer bishops at the retreat, 
said that it was "an experience of the body of Christ in a different way than I or any of 
us can experience in our own diocese. We gather, we deliberate, we disagree in love and we 
grow to love our neighbors who may disagree with us from time to time." 

     Some bishops, looking to future meetings, expressed some eagerness and even impatience 
to move on to even larger issues. Bishop Chester Talton of Los Angeles, who chairs the 
planning committee, said that one of the most positive and important changes is that the 
meetings were beginning to focus on world issues. 

     The bishops shaped another covenant at their meeting -- committing themselves to a 
list of specific issues as "next steps in reconciliation." Included are a reduction in 
global poverty, hunger and disease; addressing the gap between rich and poor in the United 
States; candid dialogue among Abrahamic faiths; efforts to empower partnerships among the 
provinces and dioceses within the Anglican Communion. 

     Griswold greeted the commitment of the bishops to global issues. "Our reconciliation 
as a community of faith is not for ourselves but for the sake of the world. It was 
therefore important that having reflected upon our life as a church we turned our attention 
to the global issues that effect us all, remembering that Christ came not to save the 
church but the world," he said. "I think it is fair to say that the real energy came to the 
fore in our global discussions. Many bishops eagerly welcomed the opportunity to move on to 
matters that have significance beyond our self-preoccupation." 

A Covenant on Episcopal Pastoral Care 

     We believe that the present Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church are 
sufficient for dealing with questions of episcopal oversight, supplemental Episcopal 
pastoral care, and disputes that may arise between the bishop and a congregation We 
encourage that their provisions be used wisely and in the spirit of charity. 

     The provision of supplemental Episcopal pastoral care shall be under the direction of 
the bishop of the diocese, who shall invite the visitor and remain in pastoral contact with 
the congregation. This is to be understood as a temporary arrangement, the ultimate goal of 
which is the full restoration of the relationship between the congregation and their 
bishop. 

Possible next steps in Reconciliation 

The Reduction of Global Poverty, Hunger and Disease 

     Recognizing that those who are capable of relieving poverty are often also agents in 
its causation, explore a process for developing a conversation on the systemic causes of 
poverty and the ways bishops might lead the church toward its reduction. 

The Office of the Presiding Bishop 

     Provide bishops with information about initiatives already underway, particularly 
through Episcopal Relief and Development and the Episcopal Church's Office of Government 
Relations, so that bishops might encourage their dioceses to become involved in one or more 
of those initiatives. 

Episcopal Relief and Development and OGR 

The Growing Gap Between Rich and Poor Within the United States 

     Call together a task force of representatives of dioceses with credit union experience 
(Atlanta, Los Angeles, Mississippi) to assist interested dioceses in establishing diocesan 
Credit Unions, and explore the possibility of a national credit union. 

The Office of the Presiding Bishop 

Explore the possibility of the House of Bishops locating the Spring 2004 meeting in 
Washington, D.C. as an opportunity for public policy conversations with legislators. 

House of Bishops Planning Committee 

Provide information related to the extension of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families 
to all dioceses for action, and actively advocate for its extension. 

Office of Government Relations 

Development of Candid Dialogue Among Abrahamic Faiths 

Bishops to begin or continue interfaith relationships, and within the frame of those 
relationships, work collaboratively for peace and justice. 

Articulate a theology of the Missio Dei in a way that includes the mission of Jews, 
Muslims and others. 

Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations 

Pursue the development of an outline/guidelines for interfaith worship. 

Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations 

Empowering of Partnerships of Provinces/Dioceses within the Anglican Communion 

Bishops to encourage ongoing international interchange between dioceses, parishes and 
individuals, and to serve as resources to one another about the possibilities and benefits 
of such experiences. 

Explore forms of support and involvement for Anglican Congress 2008. 

Anglican and Global Relations 

Explore pension concerns of now-autonomous provinces that were formerly part of ECUSA. 

Anglican and Global Relations 

Church Pension Group 

Web Resources: 

Interfaith Education Initiative -- lmosher@episcopalchurch.org and 
interfaith@episcopalchurch.org; 

World Conference on Religions for Peace -- www.wcrp.org 

United Religions Initiative -- www.uri.org 

To reach all offices at the Episcopal Church Center and the Washington Office of 
Government Relations -- www.episcopalchurch.org 

--James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service. Carol Barnwell is director of 
communications for the Diocese of Texas.