Vol. 2, No. 2, March 2007

Council calls diocesan leaders to "go deeper"

The 103rd Diocesan Council, held in Corpus Christi, February 22-24, brought together diverse elements to highlight a theme that asked diocesan leaders to "go deeper" as the diocese considers its call to reflect the Kingdom of Christ.

Taking as the thesis for the Council Luke 5:4 -- "Let your nets down into deep water" -- Bishop Gary Lillibridge emphasized the passage in his sermon at the Thursday evening Eucharist, in his Bishop's Address on Friday morning, and in a "conversation" with delegates on Friday afternoon. Dramatic presentations that were peppered throughout the three days, reports from ministry heads, and music led by Scott Seely and the praise and worship band from Christ Church in the Hill Country further advanced the theme.

In his sermon at the opening Eucharist, held Thursday evening, Feb. 22 at the Corpus Christi Cathedral, Bishop Lillibridge said he wanted the theme to "be a metaphor for us to take seriously our calling to be God's hands and feet in this world."

Lillibridge asked the congregation to be aware of both The Word -- Jesus Christ -- and the word -- the collection of sacred writings in the Bible. As a parent, Lillibridge said he knew the power of reading stories to children and that stories open up a new world through words. The biblical writers, he said, also knew the power of a good story, "and letting down our nets into the deep water of the story enables us to appreciate and live it." People are able to say who Jesus was and is "because they have heard and experienced the story," said the bishop.

We remember the story, he said, each time we gather for Eucharist. In addition to breaking bread in the Eucharist, "it is equally important to 'break the word' so as to nourish, strengthen, and sustain one another," he said.

Lillibridge closed his sermon by saying, "the teaching and preaching of Scripture, and the breaking of the bread are at the heart of the Church's life. We must therefore tell the story in ways that others can hear it and understand it."

For the full sermon, click here.

Bishop addresses Anglican Communion issues

Just four days after the closing of a meeting of the Anglican Primates in Tanzania, Bishop Gary Lillibridge laid out for the 103rd Diocesan Council where he stands and the way in which he expects to lead the Diocese of West Texas. "We are being tested to the very foundations of what it means to be a communion of churches," he said. Although debate has been continuing since the events of 2003, when the Episcopal Church consented to the ordination of a partnered gay man as Bishop of New Hampshire, "very few minds seem to have been changed," said Lillibridge. "No matter how sincere the debate, the fruit of all of this has yet to be consensus."

Lillibridge spent considerable time discussing a communique issued by the Primates - the heads of the 38 autonomous churches that make up the Anglican Communion. He noted, first, that, in his opinion, the Primates' meeting "went about as far as anyone could expect in being gracious to one another and expressing hope in a future together." There was not a mass exodus of primates from the Global South in protest of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, as had been feared by some. All of the primates remained for the duration of the meeting.

However, the primates did request some specific actions from The Episcopal Church. The communique asked that The Episcopal Church House of Bishops, by September 30, 2007, state unequivocally that the bishops will not authorize any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions and that they will not consent to the election of any bishop living in a same-sex union. In this request, the primates sought clarification of Resolution B033, passed by The Episcopal Church General Convention in June 2006, which called for "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 on communion." The House of Bishops will meet twice before September 30 -- March 15 to 21 at Camp Allen near Houston and again September 20 to 25.

The primates asked that property disputes between Episcopal Church dioceses and congregations that have voted to leave The Episcopal Church be suspended. Eleven churches in the Diocese of Virginia, among others, have recently said they can no longer remain part of The Episcopal Church and are currently in litigation against that diocese to retain control of church property. Historically, courts have ruled that such property belongs to the diocese.

The communique reaffirmed that Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1.10 is the "standard of teaching" on human sexuality. That resolution upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and woman, rejects homosexual practice as "incompatible with Scripture," and states that it cannot support the legitimizing or blessing of same-sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same-gender unions.

At the same time, Lambeth Resolution 1.10 commits to "listen to the experience" of homosexual persons and assures them they are "loved by God" and "full members of the Body of Christ." The primates' communique reiterated that stance by calling for the church to take seriously the "listening process." Bishop Lillibridge admitted that while conversations in the Diocese of West Texas are characterized by "Christian charity and basic human decency," if we "look in the mirror and ask ourselves how well we have done" with the listening process, "we're likely to find we have some work to do."

He said that during the past year he has intentionally spent time listening to a broad spectrum of voices around the diocese -- those who are upset with The Episcopal Church, those who are parents of gay and lesbian persons and love them dearly, and to gays and lesbians who "want a safe church home" and have often been vilified.

He called members of the diocese to "find ways in your personal life and ministry" to actively participate in the listening process. "We are each other's brothers and sisters," he said, "because God is our parent and Jesus is our brother."

The primates' communique acknowledged that there are a significant number of bishops in The Episcopal Church who are committed to The Windsor Report, notably those bishops who have gathered at Camp Allen twice since last fall. Lillibridge is among those, and he reiterated that he will continue to abide by the Report's call to refrain from consenting to the election of any candidate to the episcopate who is living in a same-gender union, he will refrain from authorizing Rites of Blessing for same-sex unions, and he will support the Report's call that bishops cease intervening in provinces, dioceses, and parishes that are not their own.

Elsewhere in his address, Lillibridge noted a number of items that reflect on the health of the diocese:

• Our camping program has experienced continuing growth both at Camp Capers and at the Mustang Island Conference Center. Camp Capers will celebrate its 60th birthday, September 14-16, with a weekend reunion.
• The diocese has received a gift of 140 acres of land along the Blanco River in Wimberley. This land will become our third camping center, with plans for it to be a wilderness camp. Lillibridge said he has no plans to relocate Camp Capers.
• The Commission on Ministry will undergo an examination of its role and will commence a study of the "vocational diaconate" for this diocese. A "vocational" or "permanent" deacon is one who is ordained to the diaconate with no further plans for ordination to the priesthood.
• Following the diocesan-wide study of the Book of Acts in 2006, members of the diocese are invited to read, study, and pray over The Gospel of Luke in 2007.

Guest Sundays have been designated for May 6 and September 23, Sundays on which parishes are asked to make an intentional effort to introduce others to The Episcopal Church and then to move them along the spectrum from guest to attender to member to disciple.

For the full bishop's address, click here.

Delegates consider questions of Scripture

On Friday afternoon of Council, Bishop Lillibridge continued a practice he began at last year's Council by engaging delegates in a "conversation." Following on the theme of "going deeper," the bishop asked Council participants to reflect on the Bible and the place of Scripture in our life together. The phrase "the authority of Scripture" can be misleading, said Lillibridge, and the confusion may relate to some of our current divisions within The Episcopal Church. The New Testament ascribes authority to the Triune God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- said Lillibridge. Thus, "the authority of Scripture, must be regarded as 'shorthand' for the notion of the authority of God exercised through Scripture." This distinction, he said "could be very helpful for people who are mired in the sense that the Word of God is confined to the Bible, and found only there."

However, he continued, the Bible has been woven into the fabric of Christian life at every point, and Scripture is the backbone of our Church's prayer book.

Lillibridge noted that there is not uniformity among Christians in the understanding of Scripture, and that while some see this as a gift, others see it as a weakness. He traced three categories of Protestantism and how each looks at "biblical criticism" -- that is, examination and analysis of biblical texts rather than adherence to a theory of the Bible's verbal inerrancy. Mainline Protestantism, which includes The Episcopal Church, tends to accept biblical criticism; Evangelical Protestantism can be characterized by a gradual and cautious acceptance of biblical criticism; and Fundamentalist Protestantism, which generally rejects biblical criticism.

Anglicans, said Lillibridge, "bring the tools of historical context, interpretation, and the author's overall message to our considerations. We use biblical commentaries and the wisdom of previous theological inquiry to understand the principles of what [a particular] passage is saying."

Increasingly, said Lillibridge, Protestants -- including Episcopalians -- are less likely to agree on biblical issues. The result is "an increasing use of 'labels' to define people."

In the midst of these challenges, he said, Church leaders are charged with studying and teaching Scripture and ordering the life of the Church accordingly. "We cannot shoot from the hip from one well-established point of view if we intend to do business with serious debate at its cutting edge."

Finally, said Lillibridge, we are called to bear the cross of loving our neighbor, not simply laying out some rules and regulations and demanding our "neighbors" follow them. This, he said, is a sacred responsibility that requires us to "let our nets down into deep water."

Delegates broke into small table groups twice during the bishop's presentation to respond to questions he put to them.

For the full Bishop's Conversation, click here.

For the Action Summary of the 103rd Council, click here.

More news from the 103rd Council will be covered in the March/April issue of The Church News, publication expected late March.

What the Primates' Communique Says

The Primates' Communique was issued at the end of a five-day meeting of the primates, February 15-19, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Thirty-five of the 38 primates attended the meeting. The full communique is available here; below are excerpts from the communique.

• The 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10 is the standard of teaching which is presupposed in the Windsor Report and from which the primates have worked. This restates the traditional teaching of the Christian Church that "in view of the teaching of Scripture, [the Lambeth Conference] upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage."
  

• The 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10, committed the Provinces "to listen to the experience of homosexual persons" and called "all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals."
  

• The Report of the Covenant Design Group was received for study; provinces are urged to submit an initial response to the draft through the Anglican Communion Office by the end of 2007. It is expected that a revised draft will be discussed at the Lambeth Conference (in 2008), so that the bishops may offer further reflections and contributions. Following a further round of consultation, a final text will be presented to the Anglican Consultative Council, and then, if adopted as definitive, offered to the Provinces for ratification.
  

• The primates agreed that the Episcopal Church has taken seriously the recommendations of the Windsor Report, and for this they expressed their gratitude. However, the Primates believe that there remains a lack of clarity about the stance of The Episcopal Church, especially its position on the authorization of Rites of Blessing for persons living in same-sex unions. There appears to the Primates to be an inconsistency between the position of General Convention and local pastoral provision. Some of the Primates believe that Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention does not in fact give the assurances requested in the Windsor Report.
  

• The primates recognize that a significant number of bishops, clergy and lay people in The Episcopal Church are committed to the proposals of the Windsor Report and the standard of teaching presupposed in it.

• The interventions by some primates and by bishops of some Provinces, against the explicit recommendations of the Windsor Report, however well-intentioned, have exacerbated this situation. Furthermore, those Primates who have undertaken interventions do not feel that it is right to end those interventions until it becomes clear that sufficient provision has been made for the life of those persons.
  

• The Primates will establish a Pastoral Council to act on behalf of the Primates in consultation with The Episcopal Church. This Council shall consist of up to five members: two nominated by the Primates, two by the Presiding Bishop, and a Primate of a Province of the Anglican Communion nominated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to chair the Council.
  

• The Pastoral Council and the Presiding Bishop invite the bishops expressing a commitment to "the Camp Allen principles," (so-named from the meeting of Windsor-minded bishops at Camp Allen in September 2006) or as otherwise determined by the Pastoral Council, to participate in the pastoral scheme. In consultation with the Council and with the consent of the Presiding Bishop, those bishops who are part of the scheme will nominate a Primatial Vicar, who shall be responsible to the Council.
  

• The Presiding Bishop in consultation with the Pastoral Council will delegate specific powers and duties to the Primatial Vicar. Once this scheme of pastoral care is recognized to be fully operational, the Primates undertake to end all interventions. Congregations or parishes in current arrangements will negotiate their place within the structures of pastoral oversight set out above.
  

• The Primates request, through the Presiding Bishop, that the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church, by September 30
  1) make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorize any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention; and
  2) confirm that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent; unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion.
  

• The Primates urge the representatives of The Episcopal Church and of those congregations in property disputes with it to suspend all actions in law arising in this situation. They also urge both parties to give assurances that no steps will be taken to alienate property from The Episcopal Church without its consent or to deny the use of that property to those congregations.

For the full text of the Communique from the Primates' Meeting, click here

For the report from the Anglican Covenant Design Group, click here

Presiding Bishop meets with the Church through webcast

From Episcopal News Service

The recent Anglican Primates' Meeting and the Episcopal Church's mission in the world were the focus of a one-hour February 28 live webcast, in which Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori engaged in "A Conversation with the Church," from the studio facilities at New York's Trinity Church, Wall Street.

Jefferts Schori noted that three Episcopal bishops (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_82501_ENG_HTM.htm) were invited to speak to the Primates' Meeting to offer a broader context of the life of the Episcopal Church.

"[The Primates] heard the pain and anger of those in the minority in this church, who feel that their understanding of biblical morality is undermined by recent developments around human sexuality," she said. "The primates also heard that the bulk of our church, and our ecumenical partners, do not see these issues as centrally important to our understanding of salvation and the gospel. The majority of this church is willing to live with where we are in regard to human sexuality, or to continue to move ahead in recognizing the full and equal dignity of gay and lesbian Christians, and the appropriateness of serving in all orders of ministry in this church."

Access to the program is available for on-demand viewing through both the Episcopal Church's website at http://www.episcopalchurch.org and the Trinity Wall Street parish website at http://www.trinitywallstreet.org.

Briefly

From Our Churches

St. Helena's, Boerne, presents a special program on "being green" on March 8, 7 p.m. at the church. Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Interfaith Power and Light, will present a program on ways Texans can become energy efficient.

St. Christopher's, Portland, will celebrate its 50th anniversary March 16-18. The church has survived two major damage events - a hurricane and then a fire -- and the congregation's perseverance during these times is a testament to faith. For details on the anniversary weekend events, call the church at (361) 643-3514.

St. David's, San Antonio, will present its Second Annual St. Patrick's Day program on Sunday, Mar. 18, 7 p.m., in McAllister Hall at the church. Music will include Celtic tunes with The Foxes and Friends, featuring Jim and Maggie Fox, a presentation by the Shandon Irish Dancers of San Antonio, and a choral selection by the St. David's Vocal Ensemble.

On March 25, St. David's hold its annual Community Festival from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day includes a 5K run, worship, mission booths, live music, children's' games, fire truck, great BBQ, and Nintendo Wii Raffle. For details, contact the church at (210) 824-2481.

Richard McLeon of St. Matthew's, Kenedy, is the new warden master for Partners in Ministry of the Eastern Convocation. Also new on the PIM executive council are June Pearce (St. James', Hallettsville), junior warden master; Bonnie Reeves (Trinity, Edna), treasurer; and Connie Kruse (Holy Communion, Yoakum), secretary.

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