It may be time for that old, old Episcopal joke, again. This is the version that I heard in the mid-1990s.
The year is 2012, as the joke goes, and two Anglo-Catholic priests in the back of National Cathedral are watching the Episcopal presiding bishop and her incense-bearing lesbian lover process down the aisle behind a statue of the Buddha, while the faithful sing a hymn to Mother Earth.
“You know,” one traditionalist whispers, “ONE more thing and I’m out of here.”
You can tell that the joke is very old, because the Episcopalians who told in a decade or more ago did not anticipate the advent of same-sex union rites. Thus, the joke should say that presiding bishop and her lesbian spouse processed down the center aisle. Times change.
Across the Atlantic, journalists are being a bit more blunt about the decision by the Episcopal Church to allow dioceses to openly make the decision to ordain gays and lesbians who are in committed, same-sex unions. This “local option” policy has been the norm for many years, but not with the details affirmed in a public vote.
Here’s the top of the BBC report, which is mild by British standards:
Bishops of the Anglican Church in the United States have voted to overturn a three-year moratorium on the election of gay bishops.
The decision seems likely to lead to the Episcopal Church’s eventual exit from the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Communion has been fighting to avoid disintegration since the Episcopal Church consecrated the openly gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003.
Yes, there is that timeline issue again, with a reference that, at the very least, fails to take into account that Southern Cone bishops began consecrating alternative missionary bishops for North America in 2000. Actually, that fails to take in account a whole lot of things. But we can’t linger there.
As you would expect, Ruth Gledhill’s story in the Times is a bit more blunt and global:
A worldwide Anglican schism now seems inevitable after Episcopal bishops in the United States today backed the consecration of gay bishops.
Episcopal bishops approved a resolution passed earlier this week by the laity and clergy that allows “partnered gays” full access to ordination. … They took the step towards schism in spite of a plea by Dr Rowan Williams, who addressed the General Convention in Anaheim, California, last week.
But as you would expect, the language was much calmer in the hallowed pages of the publication that matters the most to the Episcopal Church hierarchy, which would be the New York Times. Here’s that lede, which stresses that the liberals have not completely won the day (thus sharing quite a bit in terms of tone and quoted material with the official release from the Episcopal News Service.
In this telling, the old joke remains highly relevant:
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The bishops of the Episcopal Church voted at the church’s convention on Monday to open “any ordained ministry” to gay men and lesbians, a move that could effectively undermine a moratorium on ordaining gay bishops that the church passed at its last convention three years ago.
The resolution passed on Monday was written in a way that would allow dioceses to consider gay candidates to the episcopacy, but does not mandate that all dioceses do so.
In terms of the timeline issue, it is interesting that veteran Laurie Goodstein of the Times found a way to keep the focus on the consecration of New Hampshire Bishop Robinson (photo), without being inaccurate. Thus, note the “broken ties” language in the next quotation.
This focus on an event in 2003, and its aftermath, clears out the wider world of doctrinal fights over salvation, the Resurrection, the Virgin Birth and other basic, creedal issues — making this a fight strictly over sexuality. Read carefully:
The battle over homosexuality in the Episcopal Church has been watched closely by other mainline Protestant churches that are also divided internally on the issue. Many are looking to the Episcopal Church as a bellwether that could foretell whether their denominations can survive the storm over homosexuality intact.
Conservative provinces in the Anglican Communion, especially some in Africa, have broken off their ties with the Episcopal Church in recent years after the church consecrated Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the communion, who was elected in the diocese of New Hampshire six years ago.
The entire report is set up in journalistic fashion, switching back in forth between two camps of believers who simply read the Bible differently on this one issue. The mood is properly Episcopal, with an emphasis on compromise and dialogue between people of today and people of the past.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that the global clock is ticking, as traditionalists in the Global South get their act together in North America and elsewhere. This passage is especially blunt.
The debate before the House of Deputies voted on Sunday to overturn the moratorium on gay bishops sometimes grew emotional. Sally Johnson, a lay delegate from Minnesota, who had supported the moratorium three years ago, proclaimed that she had decided now to support D025, the measure to overturn the moratorium, because it is a more accurate reflection of where the Episcopal Church stands.
“I stand before you now asking us to give D025 to the church and the communion as a gift, reflecting our messiness in our church but an authentic, truthful statement about who we are as the Episcopal Church,” she said.
But speaking in opposition, the Rev. Ralph Stanwise, from the diocese of Quincy, said, “If we overturn the B033 moratorium we will in effect be urging many remaining conservatives and moderates among us and in our home dioceses, especially our most fragile ones, to search for the exit signs.”
As the Times stresses, all of the momentum is on the left in this General Convention. Many members of the church’s leadership are being very honest and candid — a stance that many conservatives will actually cheer behind closed doors.
Thus, the stress now is on the people who want to do everything they can to slow the train down, in the name of helping the Church of England keep the global institution together. They need another way to compromise, to give some traditionalists to hang on and wait for “one MORE thing” to happen.
Stay tuned.
Photos: The 2003 consecration. The center aisle of Washington National Cathedral.
 | Posted at 12:20 pm |  Print
| Permalink | Trackback |
Comments (18) |
July 14, 2009, at 1:33 pm
I can tell you just finished reading something in a London newspaper. I wonder how long it will take our newspapers to start using plural verbs with the subject/names of groups that have previously been treated as single nouns.
Example: Manchester United are going to play this Saturday.
July 14, 2009, at 1:48 pm
Where is Quincy? There are several cities with that name.
July 14, 2009, at 1:53 pm
Appalled at your joke.
Shall we all sit around here and diss each others religions, then?
July 14, 2009, at 2:42 pm
Sabrina,
I think you may have missed the point of the joke. It is poking fun at the seemingly infinite patience of the “conservative” priests, not at the syncretism nor the sexuality of the liberal lesbian clergy.
July 14, 2009, at 2:43 pm
[…] rather it’s selective inclusion that causes de facto exclusion. Most of the talk is about sexuality, especially since Integrity USA, a group of GLBT members of the church, has a very strong presence. […]
July 14, 2009, at 3:05 pm
If I read one more story like this about the Episcopal Church, I’m going to seeriously have to consider leaving… .
(Actually, I’ve been gone 10 years.)
July 14, 2009, at 3:41 pm
Sabrina:
Chris is right. This is a joke that conservative Episcopalians (early versions said the two priests were from Nashota House) tell about EACH OTHER. It’s the right that is the ultimate target of the joke.
July 14, 2009, at 3:42 pm
JULIA:
Ouch. Thanks for the correction. I changed it.
July 14, 2009, at 4:00 pm
Chris, TMatt,
No — I got it. Snark and snide may be GR’s new motto, but I find it distasteful.
July 14, 2009, at 4:05 pm
There’s some real funny business in that New York Times story. Every single quote in that story was lifted from press releases and/or ‘news’ stories written by the public relations department of the Episcopal Church. Having been at the General Convention Wednesday through Sunday night, I can tell you the Times was not there when many of the quotations took place. Times employees never spoke at any of the press conferences and an Episcopal Church spokeswoman told me late Sunday that no one from the New York Times had traveled to the convention. This story appears to violate the Times’ own ethics policies post-Rick Bragg.
July 14, 2009, at 4:11 pm
Two quick things
The Quincy being referred to is Quincy Illinois
I left the PCUSA because of the culture war fights. As a gay man, I’m not keen on being in a church where I’m the problem. As a liberal I’m not keen on being in a church where those on the left and right can use the machinery of the church against folks because of conscience. I raise this to suggest that it’s not always conservatives who leave mainline bodies.
July 14, 2009, at 4:12 pm
And take a look at paragraphs 3 and 4 in the Times’ story.
The times makes assertions, in both graphs, about what will “probably” happen next, but doesn’t attribute the statements to anyone in the Episcopal Church or the Anglican Communion.
The claims are unattributed because they were based on guess work instead of actual interviews.
July 14, 2009, at 5:49 pm
Frank:
The NYTs report ends with:
Rebecca Cathcart contributed reporting from Los Angeles.
It is more than possible that the story was written based, in large part, on audio recordings from public forums and press conferences which were then either transcribed or emailed to New York.
I have covered MANY an event through similar digital recordings made for me by someone on the scene. It’s amazing how fast this kind of information can be shipped around.
The third and fourth paragraphs seem to me solid statements based on how the General Convention and Anglican Communion work.
In all, the story doesn’t bother me that much — other than the usual issues about defining the time frame and scope of the conflict so narrowly.
July 14, 2009, at 7:57 pm
Yes,
But this reporting was not done in Anaheim and, hence, it is unethical to slap an Anaheim dateline on it. Other than failing to attribute where some of the information came from, there’s no problem with this story if the NY Times is honest and admits it is based on reporting that was done outside of Orange County.
P.S. I have posted Ms. Goodstein’s response on my blog.
July 14, 2009, at 8:12 pm
The joke rocks, Terry.
July 14, 2009, at 9:11 pm
But a NYT reporter was on the ground, it just wasn’t Goodstein. And she was in Anaheim when she wrote the story, based on reporting done by a NYT contributor who was in Anaheim. ….
July 15, 2009, at 7:10 am
Lockwood has posted links to his email dialogue with Goodstein of the NYTs.
http://biblebeltblogger.com/index.php/religion/new-york-times-again-ignores-own-ethical-policies
And Goodstein’s response here:
http://biblebeltblogger.com/index.php/religion/nyt-reporter-admits-she-did-dateline-toe-touch-asks-bbb-to-take-down-post
We now know that the Times had a reporter there at the events in Anaheim. We also know that Goodstein says that she wrote the story after arriving in Anaheim.
As for the quotes that came from press releases, I am not convinced that the quotes did not come from public press conferences — THEN were used in the press releases. That happens all the time.
OK, reporters: If a group hands out a statement (or posts it online) to all reporters from its leader — like the Integrity quote — you quote that as a press statement.
But what if its used in a press conference AND in the release? Doesn’t the publicly aired quote stand on its own?
July 16, 2009, at 1:37 pm
As an ex-Episcopalian, now North American Anglican, I loved the joke because it is so true. When do you bail on your church family? Lots of us stayed too long and we should be honest about it. Our family left some ten years ago, but there was so little for us in other churches. Where do you go when you are a traditional christian? We tried the Catholic Church (no Mary prayer please), Non denominational church (Jesus in Jeans), Baptist church (they never have communion),Reformed (just ten years or so behind the Episcopalians) and others. The American church at large is very seeker oriented and there is no place for traditional Christians who are also very conservative politically and biblical.
Now with the North American Anglican we finally have a real church home and family.