Episcopal Press and News
Simmering Debate on Homosexuality May Boil over in Phoenix
Episcopal News Service. May 14, 1991 [91123]
Rev. Steve Weston
Like the high-pitched whistle of a boiling teapot, sounds of discord over sexuality are galvanizing the attention of the Episcopal Church on the eve of its 70th General Convention in Phoenix.
At the center is a simmering controversy that has embroiled most mainline American denominations for the past two decades and is now on the front burner for Episcopalians: the church's policy toward its gay and lesbian members.
Delegates to the bicameral legislative convention will join an already emotional debate on the issue of sexuality among those who believe that the church's credibility -- either as inclusive community, or as teacher of traditional sexual ethics -- is at stake.
For Episcopalians the debate on homosexuality has centered primarily on the question of the fitness of gay and lesbian candidates to be ordained to the ministry. On the table for discussion in Phoenix will be at least two proposals to set the terms for future discussion of homosexuality in the church. Both proposals appeal to some elements of the status quo, yet each would significantly move the church in a new direction.
One proposal would leave the question of qualifications of all candidates for the ministry -- including homosexuals -- in the hands of the local bishop and diocesan commissions that shepherd the ordination process. The other proposal would effectively prohibit the ordination of noncelibate homosexual candidates by affirming the church's traditional language about sexual morality in the form of a canon, or church law.
Yet, whether the convention chooses to adopt one or the other proposal -- or neither -- the tenor of the debate on the issue of homosexuality in Phoenix may have a lasting impact on all future discussion. According to one traditionalist bishop, the decisions on ordaining homosexuals "may well be the closest thing to a make-or-break issue for the church -- far more than any other issue." And some observers have described the controversy as "the most divisive issue facing American churches since slavery."
The current debate over the church's policy toward gay and lesbian members began in 1976, when a General Convention resolution acknowledged "that homosexual persons are children of God and have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the church." Yet, a 1977 statement from the Committee on Theology in the House of Bishops said that it was "crucial to distinguish between an advocating and/or practicing -- willful and habitual -- homosexual and one with a dominant homosexual orientation only." The bishops also adopted a statement that declared ordination was inadmissible for an avowed homosexual.
The 1979 General Convention followed the lead of the bishops with a benchmark resolution that affirmed traditional teachings of the church on marriage, marital fidelity, and sexual chastity as standards for Christian sexual morality and declared that it was "not appropriate" to ordain a practicing homosexual. However, 44 bishops subsequently signed a public statement of dissent from the resolution declaring that they would not be bound by the resolution as a matter of conscience.
It was not until the 1985 General Convention in Anaheim than an attempt was made to reexamine the question of ordaining gay and lesbian candidates. A change designed to eliminate sexual orientation as a criteria for "rights and status in the church" was approved by each house in slightly different language, but failed to become canon law because of a case of miscommunication between the two houses. A similar change designed to eliminate sexual orientation as a criteria for access to the ordination process was adopted by the House of Bishops but not by the House of Deputies. The convention did urge dioceses to "foster a better understanding of homosexual persons, to dispel myths and prejudices about homosexuality, to provide pastoral support, and to give life to the claim of homosexual persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral care and concern of the church."
At the 1988 General Convention in Detroit, the House of Deputies narrowly defeated a resolution eliminating sexual orientation as criteria for ordination. Instead, biblical and traditional teachings on chastity and fidelity in personal relationships were upheld, with exemplary standards of sexual morality accepted as normative. Open dialogue on the subject was urged in each diocese, with members of the gay and lesbian communities participating. The convention directed the church's Standing Commission on Human Affairs, headed by Bishop George Hunt of Rhode Island, to study the question of human sexuality and report to the 1991 General Convention in Phoenix.
The ordination of an avowed, noncelibate homosexual to the priesthood in December 1989 by Bishop John Spong of Newark (New Jersey) sharpened the questions regarding the ordination of gay and lesbian candidates. The ordination fueled heated reaction throughout the church and initiated attempts by some to bring charges against Spong for violating the spirit of the 1979 resolution. Although the 1990 meeting of the House of Bishops narrowly voted to "disassociate" from Spong's ordination of the gay priest, the question regarding the binding authority of the 1979 resolution was a major bone of contention.
At the conclusion of the 1990 meeting, the bishops adopted a "Statement on Homosexuality" that called for continued dialogue on the issue, noting that "no matter how deeply each of us may feel about homosexuality, there are other people of good faith who also take seriously the authority of Scripture and may conclude differently." The bishops urged the church to approach the continuing dialogue with patience, warning that "this may be especially difficult for those who expect early resolution, an up-or-down vote at the forthcoming General Convention."
Meantime, the Standing Commission on Human Affairs, also known in church circles as the Hunt Commission, continued to work on a report for the Phoenix meeting. The commission noted that only 28 of the 99 dioceses in the United States had submitted responses to its request for open discussion of human sexuality. Registering disappointment, the commission said that over half the dioceses "had not taken seriously the recommendations of General Convention" and appeared reluctant to engage in open dialogue.
While there was no consensus in diocesan responses received by the Hunt Commission, many did insist that, in the report's words, "the Episcopal Church needs to educate its members on sexual issues and exert leadership in this area."
The Rev. Anne Fowler, rector of All Saints' Church in Stoneham, Massachusetts, and cochair of the diocesan commission on human sexuality, said that the experience in more than 30 parishes in her diocese was a model she would like to see repeated throughout the church. "What we tried to do was unravel the roots of homophobia," Fowler continued. "We've had quite a uniform success, staying with it, talking with each other, fostering the feeling of openness."
"If other dioceses engaged the issue," Fowler said, "and if bishops were supportive and directive, we would find the basis for understanding. People aren't converted by reading books, but by incarnational experience."
One of the pressing questions faced by the 11 Hunt Commission members was how the church could maintain its commitment to diversity and try to come to some resolution on sexuality issues. Members of the commission cited the prejudice to which homosexuals are regularly subjected, calling upon the church to affirm them, to "acknowledge their presence, to repent of its exclusion of them from full participation," and affirm "their sexual orientation as God-given, and their experience in relationships with one another as holy, life-giving and grace-filled."
While members of the commission acknowledged that there is no scientific consensus about the causes of homosexuality, they agreed that "homosexual orientation is not morally culpable or inconsistent with being a committed Christian." The commission voted to recommend a resolution to the General Convention that would leave decisions regarding the ordination of homosexuals squarely in the hands of local dioceses and diocesan bishops. The commission urged the church to open itself to ordaining gay and lesbian candidates "otherwise qualified who display the same integrity in their sexual relationships that we ask of our heterosexual ordinands."
The call for continued openness was expressed by Bishop Frederick Borsch of Los Angeles, chairman of the House of Bishops committee on theology. In the April issue of his diocesan newspaper, Episcopal News, Borsch said that "these issues are part of our God-given world in which we all live, and which, I believe, God wants us to deal with faithfully and honestly. I am proud of a church that is able to do this."
Borsch also said that the commission's proposal that dioceses and diocesan bishops determine qualifications of candidates for ordination will ensure that "particular and pastoral aspects of consideration of qualified gay and lesbian persons for ordination be dealt with in the diocese where there will be close and personal knowledge of the evangelical circumstances and needs and opportunities of the local community of faith."
A majority of the commission also recommended that the church's Standing Liturgical Commission consider forms for the blessing of same-sex relationships. Members felt it appropriate to bless persons of the same sex "who are in faithful, committed relationships" in which sacrificial love is present. Doing so would not, the report said, jeopardize the support within Christian community for Christian marriage between men and women.
Bruce Garner, president of Integrity, a national organization of gay and lesbian Episcopalians, said that he believes the Hunt Commission report offers a reasonable approach. "We haven't had an honest discussion of the issues. It's seen as a legislative concern, but we are human beings."
Shortly after the Hunt Commission's report was completed, Bishop William Frey, dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambler, Pennsylvania, announced that he would propose a new canon on clergy sexual morality that would effectively eliminate the question of admitting noncelibate homosexuals to the ordination process.
Frey's proposal would place clergy "under the obligation...to abstain from sexual relations outside of Holy Matrimony." In a recent interview Frey said, "I believe that Holy Matrimony is the biblical sexual ethic. Anything else is outside the bounds of the church's position."
Although Frey's proposal is also aimed at setting a standard to hold clergy accountable in cases of sexual misconduct, some observers in the church have suggested that his proposal would effectively end the church's discussion of homosexuality. Frey denied the suggestion and is convinced that dialogue will continue.
Frey said that there is a great deal of unrest in the church over the current debate on sexuality, and a feeling that the church should move on to the consideration of other subjects. "The sexuality tail is wagging the dog. I'd like to see other issues come to the fore," he said.
Frey predicted that his proposal will gather widespread support throughout the church, and noted that he has received expressions of support from bishops who belong to the Iranneus fellowship, a study group of 60 bishops who support traditional teachings of the church.
Although the bishops of the Episcopal Church have had occasion to discuss the issue of homosexuality since the 1988 General Convention in Detroit, a true measure of the sentiment in the House of Deputies is more difficult to gauge. Whether the simmering debate on homosexuality will come to a boil will likely be decided by clergy and lay delegates to the Phoenix meeting.
One lay leader in the church described the ambiguity she faces between the difficult choices that now confront the wider church. "I don't believe the church at large is ready to accept the ordination of avowed, practicing homosexuals, nor is it ready to bless same-sex relationships," said Dixie Hutchinson, member of the deputation from the Diocese of Dallas and past president of Province VII.
Yet, Hutchinson doubted that changes in the current policy -- either way -- would advance the dialogue on the difficult issue. "Thoughtful and reasonable adherence to present canonical requirements serves the church well," she said.Hutchinson said passage of the Hunt Commission's proposed resolution with the intent of repealing the 1979 resolution "will not resolve current anxieties about human sexuality."