Episcopal Press and News
Ordination of Gay Priest Stirring Nation-wide Reaction
Episcopal News Service. January 10, 1990 [90004]
The ordination to the priesthood of an openly gay deacon in the Diocese of Newark is stirring considerable reaction from different quarters of the Episcopal Church -- including a threat to seek action against the bishop.
When Bishop John Spong ordained Robert Williams on December 16, he had acknowledged in a letter to the other bishops of the church that the decision would "generate some debate and controversy." Spong told his colleagues in the House of Bishops that he regretted "whatever pain any of you might endure because of this action," but he said the diocese was acting "with integrity and with competence."
Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning said in a statement released the day before the ordination that he hoped the ordination would "encourage positive debate, rather than polarization." In a subsequent December 21 letter to the bishops of the church, after the reactions had begun, he said, "Many of you have shared with me your pain and anger, and I want to tell you that I am not without those emotions myself." Browning said it was his responsibility to uphold "the authority, mind, and voice of the General Convention" when it said in 1979 that it was "inappropriate" to ordain practicing homosexuals.
Much of the reaction over the Newark ordination seemed to center on the authority of General Convention resolutions. In a December 15 letter to the Episcopal Church, Browning noted that efforts to make a canonical statement on either side of the issue have failed. He contended that "how we behave toward one another in matters of controversy is a mark of who we are in Jesus Christ."
In his letter to the bishops (see Newsfeature section for text), Browning expressed a "special concern about backlash against our Christian sisters and brothers who are gay and lesbian." After consulting his Council of Advice and Bishop Frederick Borsch who chairs the Theology Committee of the House of Bishops, Browning said "the question before us is how we as a House can best begin to address these issues for our whole Church of boundaries, collegiality, and authority." Among the issues Browning identified were the interrelatedness of bishops and how their actions affect others, but also the "tension between the prophetic role of the bishop and the need to defend the faith and not scandalize the faithful." He invited the bishops to respond to such issues.
Bishop William Wantland of Eau Claire announced his intention to join other bishops in seeking to bring charges against Spong "for having violated his ordination vows to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the church." Wantland has publicly debated Spong on issues of sexual morality and said, "There is a clear intent on the part of a large number of bishops to bring this matter to a clear resolution."
Bishop William Folwell of Central Florida said in a pastoral letter that the ordination was "an act of arrogance which seriously challenges the integrity of General Convention" and also "jeopardizes the collegial unity of the House of Bishops, painstakingly maintained as we have dealt with other controversial and divisive issues." Bishop Francis Campbell Gray of Northern Indiana wrote directly to Spong, accusing him of being motivated by "publicity and little else." Folwell said he was angered both by the ordination itself and by the way it was handled, asking why Spong didn't share his decision and rationale with the bishops when they met in Philadelphia last September. Folwell said he believes the 1979 General Convention resolution against ordaining open homosexuals is binding and that he will join other bishops to present charges against Spong.
In a December 21 memo to his clergy in the Diocese of Texas, Bishop Maurice Benitez said the ordination was "an open and deliberate violation of the doctrinal position of the Episcopal Church as set forth by General Convention, as well as a unilateral and blatant disregard of the teaching of the Church Catholic on the subject."
Benitez said that some bishops are considering presentments against Spong but that he favored a special meeting of the House of Bishops to present "a resolution of censure of the Bishop of Newark and condemnation of his action."
Eight of the 13 bishops at a meeting of Province V in South Bend, Indiana, passed a resolution that said: "At stake in the Newark ordination is not the position of the Episcopal Church concerning appropriate persons for ordination, but the discipline of the Episcopal Church in addressing actions that violate the spirit of our common life. The richness of our tradition in part flows from the freedom of inquiry that it encourages and the diversity that it engenders. When persons move beyond the broad parameters of our common life as expressed through the General Convention resolution of 1979 and the House of Bishops statement in 1977, the seeds of anarchy are sown." The bishops condemned Spong's action as "a clear violation of the stated teaching of the Episcopal Church." Bishop Edward Jones said in an interview, "It was a time of honest sharing and open discussion of authority in the church, all done in a very good spirit."
Fifteen Province VIII bishops meeting at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley tried to separate the issues, reconciling the church's present stand on the ordination of homosexuals and yet trusting the on-going process that continues to study the issue. "Spong himself is also a part of the issue because he has broken with collegiality," said Bishop William Swing of California. "We hope he will make a public apology and be reconciled with his colleagues in the House of Bishops. If that does not happen, then we would ask for censure," Swing said. "At a time when we are moving into a decade of evangelism, why are we making the Bishop of Newark the center of attention? That strikes me as a sad and mischievous turn of events," he added.
The Episcopal Synod of America (ESA), formed last June as a "church within a church" to oppose liberal trends in the denomination, called on Spong to cancel the ordination and then sent a representative to the ordination to protest that it was "contrary to the beliefs and will of the church." (See ENS 89260.)
Bishop Clarence Pope, president of the ESA, told Religious News Service that "many, many bishops" around the country are considering the possibility of charges against Spong but that it was not yet clear if traditionalist bishops were prepared to announce their support of such action.
The Prayer Book Society's Executive Committee passed an "emergency" resolution on December 20 calling the ordination "another in a lengthy list of conscious and deliberate violations of canon law and doctrinal principles of the church." The society called on the House of Bishops to censure Spong and "suspend his dominion and authority" over the Diocese of Newark, to remove Spong as bishop, and to declare the ordination of Williams invalid. The society has brought charges against Spong on two other occasions, but these were dismissed.
Bishop Spong, in an interview after his return from a Province II meeting, said the reaction from his colleagues has been "generally favorable." He said his office has received only one negative letter from within the Diocese of Newark.
Spong said he has received "lots of mail from all over the country" and that it seems to fall into two categories. "The positive mail comes from those whose lives are most directly affected -- and it is a deeply personal response." On the other hand, the negative mail comes from those who "are very angry and quote the Bible to me, as though I didn't know what the Bible says," Spong added.
Although some bishops have written critical letters, others have expressed support, "but that does not surprise me," Spong said. He admits that some of the letters have objected to the publicity surrounding the ordination, but Spong argues that the church should always do its business "openly and honestly." He said Integrity, the national organization for gay and lesbian Episcopalians offered him a list of at least 10 "out-of-the-closet priests, living in committed relationships, who have been ordained with the knowledge and consent of their bishops, and who are willing to go public."
In a January 8 press release, Integrity said Williams's ordination "was only the latest in a long series of ordinations of open, self-affirming, noncelibate lesbians and gays in the Episcopal Church" since the 1977 ordination of Ellen Barrett by the Diocese of New York. According to Integrity, the 1979 resolution against ordaining homosexuals "has been widely ignored."
"Since 1977 on average at least five open, noncelibate lesbians or gays have been ordained every year in dioceses from coast to coast," said Integrity president Kim Byham. "Other ordinations may not have received such widespread press and television coverage, but they nevertheless involved priests who were open about their sexuality with their bishops, standing committees, and commissions on ministry."
"I'm not particularly concerned about the possibility of charges being brought against me," Spong said, "because no canons have been violated. You can't try a bishop for violating a General Convention resolution." Spong said it is also curious that the church would allow some bishops "in conscience to ignore the canon which allows the ordination of women and yet object to including open, responsible homosexuals."
The Diocese of Newark spent four years struggling with the issue and came to a clear, reasoned decision, Spong argued. "Perhaps our experience would be valuable to other dioceses of the church who are trying to reach some decision on this issue," he concluded.
The church's Standing Commission on Human Affairs is conducting the formal dialogue on sexuality, holding open hearings and conversations with persons holding a wide variety of opinions. Bishop George Hunt of Rhode Island, who is chair of the commission, said he hopes the commission will have a report ready for the next General Convention, in Phoenix in 1991.