Coming to an alter soon.
Posted on 04/09/2006 11:01:59 AM PDT by churchillbuff
An Episcopal Church panel studying the furor over the denomination’s first openly gay bishop proposed Friday that dioceses use "very considerable caution" from now on in electing bishops with same-sex partners, but stopped short of the moratorium critics demanded.
The commission also recommended that the American church offer "apology and repentance" for the turmoil its actions caused within the global Anglican Communion, and said dioceses should stop creating blessing ceremonies for same-gender couples, at least temporarily.
The suggestions are among several that will go before a June meeting of the top Episcopal legislative body, called the General Convention, which can revise or reject the proposals. The outcome of their debate will be critical, shaping not only the future of the American church, but also its role as the U.S. representative of world Anglicanism.
The Communion has been in disarray since 2003, when delegates to the last General Convention approved the election of V. Gene Robinson as New Hampshire bishop. Robinson lives with his longtime male partner, and his consecration was greeted by many Episcopalians as a triumph for gay acceptance.
The 14-member Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, comprised of American bishops, clergy and lay people, was formed to lay the groundwork for the church’s response to what is known as the 2004 Windsor Report.
That report came from Anglican leaders seeking ways the 77 million-member Communion could stay unified despite the rift over homosexuality.
The Episcopal panel will ask General Convention delegates to recommend that dioceses "exercise very considerable caution" in electing bishops "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church." The panel said in an explanatory note that some of its members had advocated for tougher wording, suggesting dioceses "refrain from" electing gay bishops.
The commission also proposed that the General Convention offer "our sincerest apology and repentance" for the pain the church has caused other Anglican provinces.
The panel also wants a moratorium on bishops authorizing liturgies for same-sex blessing ceremonies.
Coming to an alter soon.
.. the election of V. Gene Robinson as New Hampshire bishop .. was greeted by many Episcopalians as a triumph for gay acceptance..
That was the most newsworthy response? No mention of any possible objections?
No agenda here, of course ..
I thought you were referring to electrocuting gay bishops.
"Openly gay". Does that mean he still commits sin?
Where is the movement to having unmarried church leaders sleeping around or committing adultery?
It's all sin. We are all sinners so what is in the past is not as important as what is in the present. "Go forth and sin NO MORE." What kind of leadship continues to sin and celebrates their sin?
Much of the world does not have the same love affair with homosexuality as America does.
They run roughshod over you until they start to pay. THEN they start saying, hmmm, maybe we shouldn't have done that.
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler.
With such a man do not even eat.
....especially at the Lord's Table....
These people are scary stuff... not only disregarding the clear counsel of the Word....
But flauntung their disobedience even as they wear a collar and purport to preach the apostolic Gospel....
Appropriate distance is kept.... so the fire from heaven will spare the innocent bystanders
Have a nice day
I meant altar. Sorry. Slipped by.
So as long as you promise to think really, really, really carefully about it beforehand, you can do whatever you want.
"So as long as you promise to think really, really, really carefully about it beforehand, you can do whatever you want."
LOL. Great minds think alike. "Exercise considerable caution"--before you go ahead and appoint openly sinning bishops!
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