Today at 1:30 PM, the House of Deputies rescued the presiding officers of The Episcopal Church by voting to adopt a special resolution introduced this morning in a Joint Session of the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. Here are the details of how that happened:
JOINT SESSION HOB AND HOD 10:45 AM
Frank Griswold took the Chair and read the following resolution to the combined houses. Neither had a copy of the text prior to this moment.
B033:
Resolved: The 75th General Convention receive and embrace the Windsor Report’s invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation; and be it further
Resolved: The this Convention calls upon standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains of communion.
JOINT SESSION HOB AND HOD 10:45 AM
Frank Griswold took the Chair and read the following resolution to the combined houses. Neither had a copy of the text prior to this moment.
B033:
Resolved: The 75th General Convention receive and embrace the Windsor Report’s invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation; and be it further
Resolved: The this Convention calls upon standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains of communion.
"Joint session has now ended." With that, The bishops left the House of Deputies and went to their own chamber.
It is pouring here. After days of threatened rain, it is pouring. Through the roof of the convention Center, we can hear the rain as a background sound to the proceedings. It’s the Angels. They are weeping over the death of a once great body: The Episcopal Church.
The glacial pace of the HOD returned. Today’s announcements. Essential nominations and elections. Approval of yesterday’s minutes. IT has now been 40 minutes since the bishops left and dispatch hasn’t made it to the dais yet.
--Motion to suspend the rules of the House.
--Not at this time.
--When will B033 come to the floor?
--Dispatch: Let me give the House some sense of what is coming up so we can get through the day’s agenda. There is a list of resolutions: over 40: and if we can deal with these expeditiously, we can get to the next list.
[The young man at the mike who asked when B033 will come up, wanted to ask a follow-up question and those in the House yelled angrily, “sit down.”]
Ah, now they are considering X016: saying that any business the HOD does not get to address, that has already been passed by the HOB, goes to the Secretary for presentation to the Executive Committee. They are responsible for “mopping up” after the Convention and are the legal body representing the General Convention after adjournment. The Exec committee can deal with everything except changes to the Constitution and Canon Law. That has to be voted on during the General Convention. So, all of those resolutions will come first.
It passes with voice vote and one dissent.
Canon IV revision: Did not come out of committee. For those concerned about including laity in discipline, this is an important section and we will continue to work on it. They just voted more money for that committee to continue meeting and “perfect their resolutions.” It feels as if everything here is moving in slow motion.
Julia Duin from the Washington Times came to get me. HOB is working on B033 right now. We ran the block to HOB, found the only empty seats in Press and started taking notes:
--Griswold: “If we do not have something substantial by noon, we might as well forget it. It will be very difficult for the Archbishop of Canterbury to invite us to Lambeth 2008. I know the stress he is under.”
--Two amendments to the resolution came and were voted down.
--PB-Elect Schori rose and said, “We are one church with 2 minds, just as the bishop of Louisiana said yesterday. It is a challenging image. Ethically, one cannot separate two conjoined twins until you are certain that both can live. We are not certain that both of these offspring will live.
“The Original resolution is the best of the day. It has to leave the door open for reconsideration in the very near future. “ And she sat down.
--Griswold called for vote by show of hands on the original resolution. The Bishop of Springfield Peter Beckwith, tried desperately to get the chair’s attention. He was ignored. Vote passed by show of Aye hands. Then the chair recognized Springfield and denied his motion to roll call vote – which would put everyone on record for their vote.
We ran back to the HOD. Just about 35 minutes later, the HOD received the news from the Secretary that the HOB had voted to adopt B033 WITHOUT AMENDMENT and that under Rule 45, they could bring the resolution to the floor for immediate action. They suspended Rule 28, which governs reconsideration of a previously failed resolution. This
was denied by the chair, since the resolution had different wording than the two previous resolutions.
Debate started on B033. Many parliamentary maneuvers were quoted, hoping to get the chair to abandon vote on this motion. Each failed. Many tried to affirm, stating they were tired of being manipulated by the radical ends of the convention. It was time for the center – however mooshy that may be – to arise and claim their right to go home with a Windsor-compliant resolution on gay bishops. Two of the most passionate remarks follow:
--PB coming with the bishops to a joint session means they really feel strongly about this. It would be a slap in the face if we refuse to reconsider.
--you’ve talked about reconciliation for the whole week. I have been manipulated into a corner by parliamentary procedure. Quit messing with the rules to forward your own agendas. Do reconciliation don’t just talk about it.
Bullied by the ends of this church who are not representative of the church we serve. Leave here saying that the church to which I made my ordination vows is willing to do this for a time. Anything less than midwife set before us is a choice of this House to enact Schism. I refute it and ask you to refuse it with me.
--call question. Terminate debate. Ayes unan. Suspend rule 28: aye with some dissent.
--Move special order for debate for B033: 30 minutes of debate. Each speaker 2 min no speaker more than twice; alternating views; approved as stated by voice vote
Bishop Schori has asked to join us. No discussion. Will this House Issue an invitation? Yes. By voice vote.
PB-elect Schori, “Thank you for invitation. Bishop of Louisiana said we are a church with 2 minds. As he said that, an image rose in my mind that is a challenging image. We have read many stories about conjoined twins. Two bodies united in one piece. Parents and medical officials wrestle with the decision about separation. They operate out of an understanding that is wrong to separate the twins unless both can live full lives. Church is much like that. The body of Christ is not wholly one and not wholly two. Resolution that stands before you is far from adequate. I find the language difficult. Exceedingly challenging. By sense it is best we can do today and at this convention. We are fully committed to gay and lesbian Christians in this church and are not slamming the door. If you do pass it, you nave to keep working with all of your might to find a common mind. Not easy to say but the best we are going to manage at this point in our history. Thank you.
Left the dais. No response from crowd.
--clark, Newark. Amend the resolution with the following: until general convention 2009.
Moved and seconded. This is frustrating for the many gay ladies who have given their excellent voices to this church. –Clark, Newark, continued: Can’t imagine what my diocese and parish would look like without those voices. Can’t imagine Lambeth without voice of TEC, the voice of our new PB and the voice of our gay brothers and sisters. Stilling these voices in nominating committees unthinkable.
--3.5 minutes left in debate.
--Chair: Terminate debate. Aye. wins. debate terminated on amend. Amendment say aye. No’s carry.
--Before vote on B033. Chaplain came forward and said some amorphous prayer to all that is good in man and the earth.
--1:30 PM Vote by Orders has just finished. Return at 3:00 from lunch for the rest of the afternoon session. Vote will be announced then.
--Challenge to chair: can’t we wait for 10 more minutes and get the results of the vote and then go to lunch. Motion before house is stay or go. Show of hands: Stay has it.
Secretary: I have electronic results. Official results can be announced after lunch.
VOTE ON B033: LAY ORDER: 104 dioceses. Yes 72 no 21 ; no + divided 32 carried in lay order
CLERGY ORDER: 109 dioceses voted. Yes 75, No 24 divided 10 No+ divided 34 carried in clerical order.
B033 becomes the voice of the General Convention on the election of gay bishops.
So, as you know, the refusal yesterday to comply was reported on evening and morning newscasts, both on local channels and CNN. It was also reported on British TV this morning and at noon. The Brits here say that this won’t hold. It may hold for the next two months, but Newark is scheduled to elect their new bishop in October and their Director of Communications refused to comment on my question about duplicity, as he instructed the deputation from his diocese that they could go ahead and elect a gay. That is their intent. This peace is a fragile one.
Holding a press conference directly after the vote in HOD, Gene Robinson said, “Before the vote, the extremists in our church [he meant the biblically orthodox - and considers himself to be ‘mainstream’.] said they were going to leave. We love this church. We have never threatened to leave if we didn’t get our way. [It is true. Since the fist rejection of the gay agenda in 1988, Integrity has grown stronger with each Convention and elected more of their members to deputations. The Orthodox have retreated. Many have left this church. This leaves the spots they vacated on deputations to gay and lesbian supporters. We have cut our own throats.]Now we have to see if they will work for reconciliation. The standing committees and bishops know that no one can bind them from denying election to gays….”
The Network bishops held a new conference at 3:30, with the Rt. Rev. Bob Duncan saying, “today’s vote in the HOB and HOD suggests a false sense of communion. The Mind of this Convention is known to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is our job now to guard the unity of the faith and stay within the Windsor Report. The choice of the HOB of the most radical candidate for Presiding Bishop and the HOD rejection yesterday of A161 gives the true picture of The Episcopal Church….”
This afternoon in the HOB, Jon Chane led a group of bishops in a minority report to B033.
So, this story is not over. The convention may be, but the story is not. As developments continue to unfold, we will keep you informed. The next issue of The Anglican Voice will be in your mailbox by the end of June. There will be a final post to the Email group and website tomorrow morning, as the statements issued today come in. Thank you for your kind comments on these efforts. It has been a privilege to work and speak at this General Convention on your behalf. Cherie Wetzel for Anglicans United & Latimer Press
