The Diverse Center is in my Shower
The shower in my hotel room has chosen to ‘walk the middle way.’ In true Anglican fashion, the water is lukewarm.
This reminds me of the letter to the church in Laodicea in the third chapter of Revelation. "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."
It is inconceivable to me that the Marriott Courtyard hotel here in Columbus could be out of hot water at 5:30 on a Saturday morning. I reminded the front desk manager that this was the second morning in a row, and he promised that he would remedy the situation. We'll see.
I have a 7:00 a.m. meeting of the Human Sexuality Subcommittee of Social and Urban Affairs, and when I arrive, they are still rearranging the deck chairs, but now they are out of cucumber sandwiches…
This morning, the resolution under consideration is A167: “Full and Equal Claim” for All the Baptized. This is one of the Windsor Report resolutions from the Report of the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion (SCECAC), which has been referred to Social and Urban Affairs. Reaffirming that “gay and lesbian persons are by Baptism full members of the Body of Christ and of the Episcopal Church,” A167 asks that this Convention apologize once again for “years of rejection and maltreatment” of lesbians and gays, and commit ourselves to communion with one another.
The proposal before the subcommittee this morning is to insert as a third resolve pledging “to include openly gay and lesbian persons on every appointed committee, commission or task force developed for the specific purpose of discussing issues about sexuality.” In addition, the amendment requests the same of “our sister churches in the Anglican Communion and Anglican communion bodies,” and herein lies the problem.
It’s one thing to require this of ourselves, and it’s quite another to mandate this sort of inclusion throughout the Communion. The subcommittee ends up striking that last bit about telling the Anglican Communion what to do. Probably a good idea in light of the pickle we find ourselves in.
When we discussed this in the full committee, Bishop "Bud" Cedarholm of Massachusetts said that, while he had no problem with making this request of other parts of the Communion, rather than deleting this portion, we might consider ‘urging’ this inclusion. Committee member, Michael Barlowe, a priest from the Diocese of California, noted that, as the Windsor Report requested specific things of the Episcopal Church, he has no problem asking the same of them. In the end, we decide to retain that portion of the resolve, and “request the same of our sister churches in the Anglican Communion and Anglican communion bodies.”
The floor debate on this resolution will be interesting. (I'll leave it up to you to interpret what I mean by that!)
We hear testimony on a few other resolutions, and adjourn at 9:30 a.m. On Monday morning at 7:30 a.m., we will hear testimony on D063: Membership in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and a related resolution, C048: Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC).
Included in this hearing will be Resolution B026 proposed by the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, which would “develop a policy governing [the] procedure for affiliation with organizations outside the Episcopal Church. This resolution is a direct result of Executive Council’s decision earlier this year to officially partner with RCRC.
But that’s another story.
This reminds me of the letter to the church in Laodicea in the third chapter of Revelation. "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."
It is inconceivable to me that the Marriott Courtyard hotel here in Columbus could be out of hot water at 5:30 on a Saturday morning. I reminded the front desk manager that this was the second morning in a row, and he promised that he would remedy the situation. We'll see.
I have a 7:00 a.m. meeting of the Human Sexuality Subcommittee of Social and Urban Affairs, and when I arrive, they are still rearranging the deck chairs, but now they are out of cucumber sandwiches…
This morning, the resolution under consideration is A167: “Full and Equal Claim” for All the Baptized. This is one of the Windsor Report resolutions from the Report of the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion (SCECAC), which has been referred to Social and Urban Affairs. Reaffirming that “gay and lesbian persons are by Baptism full members of the Body of Christ and of the Episcopal Church,” A167 asks that this Convention apologize once again for “years of rejection and maltreatment” of lesbians and gays, and commit ourselves to communion with one another.
The proposal before the subcommittee this morning is to insert as a third resolve pledging “to include openly gay and lesbian persons on every appointed committee, commission or task force developed for the specific purpose of discussing issues about sexuality.” In addition, the amendment requests the same of “our sister churches in the Anglican Communion and Anglican communion bodies,” and herein lies the problem.
It’s one thing to require this of ourselves, and it’s quite another to mandate this sort of inclusion throughout the Communion. The subcommittee ends up striking that last bit about telling the Anglican Communion what to do. Probably a good idea in light of the pickle we find ourselves in.
When we discussed this in the full committee, Bishop "Bud" Cedarholm of Massachusetts said that, while he had no problem with making this request of other parts of the Communion, rather than deleting this portion, we might consider ‘urging’ this inclusion. Committee member, Michael Barlowe, a priest from the Diocese of California, noted that, as the Windsor Report requested specific things of the Episcopal Church, he has no problem asking the same of them. In the end, we decide to retain that portion of the resolve, and “request the same of our sister churches in the Anglican Communion and Anglican communion bodies.”
The floor debate on this resolution will be interesting. (I'll leave it up to you to interpret what I mean by that!)
We hear testimony on a few other resolutions, and adjourn at 9:30 a.m. On Monday morning at 7:30 a.m., we will hear testimony on D063: Membership in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and a related resolution, C048: Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC).
Included in this hearing will be Resolution B026 proposed by the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, which would “develop a policy governing [the] procedure for affiliation with organizations outside the Episcopal Church. This resolution is a direct result of Executive Council’s decision earlier this year to officially partner with RCRC.
But that’s another story.
posted by Anglican Feedbag | 10:02 AM
1 Comments:
These resolutions having to do with RCRC are of great concern to many of us - thanks for keeping us up to date and your faithful service at the Convention.
--Spud
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