7/10/2012

B005 and D008 pass Deputies


Both B005 and D008 passed the House of Deputies and are over in the House of Bishops. 

I spoke to B005 prior to the full debate.


Madam President:

Deputy Mark Harris, Delaware.

The Legislative Committee on World Mission on which I  serve could not be more dispersed in our views on almost everything about the Church and the Anglican Communion except in on one matter: We all serve and love the Lord in the context of both The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.

I came to this convention knowing what I wanted, I wanted to say no to this Anglican Covenant.  But in our work together I began to realize that the words of the song are right:

“you can't always get what you want 
But if you try sometime, 
you just might find  
You get what you need.”

We ended up proposing the resolution you have before you B005, substitute. This resolution is not about our wants, but about what we believe are the needs of the Church at this time.  What we need are some places of disagreement that are not met by immediate need for winners and losers, some place where we can continue to listen across the wide divides of this church and the Anglican Communion.

What we realized on the Committee is that we are under no compulsion, save our own, to give an immediate answer to the question of adopting the Covenant.

Why, in particular, must we provide an answer now?  Now, when we are in the midst of massive efforts to re-structure and re-vision the life of this Church?  Why now when we do not need more division?  What we may want is definitive answers, what we may need is time without this particular multi-faceted set of divisions.

The resolution on the Anglican Covenant at its core says, "as a pastoral response to The Episcopal Church, the General Convention decline to take a position on the Anglican Covenant.”

I urge the passage of Resolution B005, and more, urge time with all our companions in the faith, in and outside this Church of ours, whose wonder is that they differ from us in every way save one: the Love of the Lord.

1 comment:

  1. My take this morning on these resolutions, in the midst of comments on other sites that say we wussed out, is that we are under no compulsion AND to respond either yay or nay to the covenant, instead of what we have responded this week in convention, would give the covenant a credence not needed. It was ill conceived. A "we love you and we are not going to say yay or nay now, and maybe never" is the right thing to say.

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