Daily Archives: July 12, 2012

General Convention is over!

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And now comes the commentary, picking up the pieces, and jockeying around various decisions. The fun won’t stop; it just won’t be quite as intense.

One of the last decisions made was on the controversial proposal for “communion without baptism.” The House of Bishops amended the resolution and passed it as follows:

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, that The Episcopal Church reaffirms that baptism is the ancient and normative entry point to receiving Holy Communion and that our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to go into the world and baptize all peoples. We also acknowledge that in various local contexts there is the exercise of pastoral sensitivity with those who are not yet baptized.

The italicized sentence was struck. After some debate (it was coming down to the final minutes of the final legislative session), the House of Deputies concurred with the Bishops, so that the resolution as passed reaffirms traditional teaching and practice. I doubt it will change anything in those parishes that already practice “communion regardless of baptism.” And no doubt this debate will return in three years.

I’ll have more of my reflections on General Convention at a future date, when I’ve had at least a few hours to ponder all that occurred.

Is there room for diversity in the Episcopal Church, cont.

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Among the news tidbits from yesterday at General Convention was word that the deputation from the Diocese of South Carolina departed. Their official statement is here:

Due to the actions of General Convention, the South Carolina Deputation has concluded that we cannot continue with business as usual. We all agree that we cannot and will not remain on the floor of the House and act as if all is normal. John Burwell and Lonnie Hamilton have agreed to remain at Convention to monitor further developments and by their presence demonstrate that our action is not to be construed as a departure from the Episcopal Church. Please pray for those of us who will be traveling early and for those who remain.

I won’t make comment on that action but I believe it does speak directly to the question I raised in a previous post. I don’t have an answer but I think it is crucial that we struggle with it on all levels of the church.

Two other pieces address the question in different ways. Rod Dreher quotes a commenter:

It’s more that the Episcopal Church looks to all three of those sources of authority, and is stuck in between them, and can’t decide which it trusts most. And, stuck in the middle, it flounders, without securely committing either to rely on tradition, on scripture, or on the personal guidance of the Holy Spirit. In too many churches, the faith isn’t presented in such a way that it provides a genuine challenge to the culture: not in terms of sexuality, not in terms of economics (which is much more important to me: capitalism seems like a much bigger violation of Christian ethics than homosexuality, contraception, premarital sex, etc.), and most of all, not in terms of the naturalistic, rationalistic ethic that too many people have nowadays. Too many Episcopal parishes no longer preach on the miracles of Jesus, on the spiritual realities underlying the material world, on the existence of the angelic and the diabolic, and most of all on the greatest miracle of all, the literal conquest of death.

And an open letter of apology from Katrina Hamilton to conservative Episcopalians:

I am honored by your presence. You are the faithful remnant. When others gave up, you stayed. I do not envy your position, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to walk into that room knowing you are the minority and will not win the vote. And now that we have passed this resolution, you have to go back to your diocese and explain why you couldn’t stop it. Explain that you did all you could. Explain the small victories you were able to accomplish. And I’m sorry.