No fireworks at Episcopal bishops’ debate in North Dallas
[Ed. Note: As I said in my post of this event, this was a different Presiding Bishop than I have seen repeatedly in the past. Her comments were carefully tailored to this audience and her chief advisor, the Rev. Canon Charles Robertson, was always near by. It was not a debate, although initially it was advertised as one. The Presiding Bishop and Bishop Bill Frey each presented position papers on "Who Christ is for me?" and "Who Christ is for the world?" There was no attempt to debate or refute each others comments. The cordiality continued in the press conference. Dallas is an orthodox diocese and was at odds with many of the resolutions passed at last summer's General Convention. So, this carefully scripted appearance by the Presiding Bishop was, I believe, intended to win converts to her as the PB and "soothe the waters." Cheryl M. Wetzel P.S. I found Bishop Frey's "folksy little tales" to be like the parables of Jesus. Each one had a kernel of Christian faith and practice that is difficult to explain any way but by story.]
10:46 PM CST on Saturday, December 12, 2009
By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
samhodges@dallasnews.com One bishop spoke deliberately, professorially, with flashes of droll humor and poetic phrasing. The other told stories from his long ministerial career, rounding them off with insights into Christian faith and practice.
But what had been billed as a debate between the Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, and the Rev. William Frey, retired Episcopal bishop of Colorado, yielded much common ground and no outright conflict on the identity and meaning of Jesus.
“I heard a great deal of convergence,” Frey said afterward.
The three-hour Saturday morning event packed the 700-seat sanctuary of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in North Dallas, which brought the speakers in as part of a lecture series.
Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal Church’s first female presiding bishop, has been criticized by theological conservatives on a number of fronts, including for refusing to say that belief in Jesus is the only way to heaven.
The Rev. Robert Dannals, rector of Saint Michael and All Angels, sought to balance the program with Frey, a longtime leader of the Episcopal Church’s traditional wing.
That wasn’t enough for one local Episcopal priest, who said he and five colleagues wrote a letter to Bishop James Stanton of the Diocese of Dallas, protesting his decision to allow Jefferts Schori’s visit. (Under Episcopal law, a diocesan bishop must give permission for a working visit by another bishop.)
“She hasn’t guarded the faith. She has attacked the faith,” said the Rev. Canon H.W. Herrmann, rector of the Church of Saint David of Wales in Denton.
But at times on Saturday, Jefferts Schori sounded like a pitch-perfect voice of orthodoxy.
“Jesus is the ultimate sacrament of God in human flesh – that’s what we’re getting at when we say he’s the only son of God. He’s the unique demonstration of divinity in human flesh,” she said.
Other times, Jefferts Schori took risks, including referring to Jesus as the “green savior” who requires that Christians protect the environment as part of God’s creation.
She also wasn’t afraid to get topical.
“The challenges of our current age include the ancient human desire to find a scapegoat, with the familiar targets in this society right now being Muslims and immigrants and gay people,” she said. “Jesus’ own witness is to continually reject that kind of response, for it always ends in violence and diminution of life.”
Frey, much more anecdotal, also noted the requirements of Christians to work for justice and help the poor and marginalized.
But he stressed fidelity to the Bible, the personal transformation offered by faith in Christ and the importance of sharing the gospel.
“The church that doesn’t evangelize will be evangelized by the culture in which it finds itself,” he said.
During questions and answers, the bishops took on abortion, the role of faith in healing and whether non-Christians can get to heaven.
“It’s not up to us to say this person’s out” of heaven, Jefferts Schori said. “It’s up to God.”
At the event’s conclusion, the bishops embraced and drew a standing ovation. Among those who were pleased was Stanton – the Dallas bishop and a well-known conservative who has differed with Jefferts Schori on church issues.
“I thought it was a very constructive dialogue,” Stanton said. “It was nourishing to everyone, I think.”
At a news conference afterward, Jefferts Schori would say little more than that “prayer and discernment” were needed as Episcopal Church leaders decide whether to approve the recent election of a lesbian as bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles.
The question of gay bishops has roiled the Episcopal Church and exacerbated its tensions with the worldwide Anglican Communion.