March 1, 2019
To Our Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Diocese of New York,
Many of you will have learned by now that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has invited all active bishops in the communion, including gay bishops, to attend the 2020 Lambeth Conference. That is a positive development, since that was not true of the last Lambeth in 2008, when Bishop Gene Robinson was pointedly not invited to attend and participate. However, we are alarmed that at the same time he has said that spouses of bishops who are in same-sex marriages will not be invited. As of this writing that ruling affects a single bishop and spouse in the Anglican Church of Canada, and a single bishop and spouse in the Episcopal Church – Mary Glasspool and her spouse Becki Sander of our own diocese (though note that the bishop-elect of Maine is in a same-sex marriage, and when he becomes the bishop, this will apply to his spouse as well).
In two weeks the House of Bishops will hold our spring meeting in North Carolina, and we expect this matter to occupy some of our time. However, as so many of you have contacted us to know the response we will make from this diocese, we are writing this letter now to inform you of our thinking, understanding that we have not yet been in conversation with the full community of our fellow bishops.
Though this has only recently become public, we have actually been wrestling with this for some time. Archbishop Welby wrote a letter to Bishop Glasspool, and copied Bishop Dietsche, in early December, and the three of us have been in conversation on this matter for the time since. We have considered not attending, in protest over this extraordinary action. But in the end we have concluded that we cannot in conscience remove the voice of the Diocese of New York from the larger conversations at Lambeth regarding sexuality and the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the full sacramental life of the church. We certainly do not want to exclude the unique witness of Bishop Mary and her ministry from those debates and deliberations. So, not without mixed feelings, we the bishops of New York will be attending the Lambeth Conference.
From the start, it has been the conviction of the spouses of Bishops Andy and Allen that they would fully and unambiguously support Becki, their sister and friend. They too look forward to being in conversation with the fuller community of bishops’ spouses, but at this time it is the intention of Becki Sander to accompany Bishop Mary to England, though she will not be permitted to participate in the Lambeth conversations and activities. Margaret Dietsche and Clara Mun are also planning to go to England, to stand with Becki.
So much of our dismay over the Archbishop’s decision is that we are so blessed by the inclusion of members of the LGBTQ community in the full sacramental life of this diocese, including ordination and access to marriage for same-sex couples. We are graced by the lives and witness of the countless gay and lesbian priests, deacons and laypersons who have enhanced and magnified our common life by the depth of their faith, by their courage, and by the self-offering of their lives to the service to God and God’s children. We will be taking to Lambeth the lives and stories of the LGBTQ people of our diocese. We will be taking the hard histories and the holy graces of people who have asked only to receive from their church the dignity and love which they have received from their God. We will bear witness to the struggle and the triumph, and we will give voice at Lambeth to the voiceless many who will not be there. We will carry to Lambeth the spirit raised this year on the 50th anniversary of Stonewall in this our own diocese, and the celebration of World Pride Week. We go to Lambeth so that you will be at Lambeth.
We ask your prayers for the Archbishop of Canterbury, for our two hundred congregations and us your bishops, for the worldwide community of bishops preparing to gather at Lambeth, for those who love us and for those who do not, for the LGBTQ community in the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of New York, and for the gay and lesbian Christians across our communion who do not yet enjoy the fullest possibilities and promise of the church. May the Holy Spirit come to Lambeth, that the prayer of Our Lord Jesus that “all may be one, as the father and I are one” may be realized in our day. With every good wish, we remain
Yours,
The Right Reverend Andrew ML Dietsche
Bishop of New York
The Right Reverend Allen K Shin
Bishop Suffragan of New York
The Right Reverend Mary D Glasspool
Bishop Assistant of New York
Give me a break!
They considered their fury over being excluded against the opportunity to advocate for their LGBTQXYZ views, and realized they’ve almost successfully pushed GAFCON out of the Communion. By attending this Lambeth, they feel sure it’s the LAST Lambeth they’ll have to leave their spouses home for. For once, they’re playing the long game.
Though I wouldn’t put it past them to bring their spouses anyway and DARE Justin to send them away…
Groups in England have already extended invitations to all the spouses in question, and their accommodations and meals will no doubt be a substantial improvement over a university dorm room and cafeteria.
It should be noted that Welby’s decision to invite spouses and suffragans was announced only after Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda (300+, and more if you count suffragan and missionary bishops) had announced they would stay home. While he is making a big deal out of being inclusive, the cynical pragmatic in me says that he needs 1000 attendees at 5000 pounds per head in order to break even on the conference. Without the 3 large African provinces, even with the army of miscellaneous bishops from TEC and his own CoE suffragans, he is well short of 1000 bishops, so he needs spouses. If they stay home, the Conference is in the hole financially.
Frankly, Lambeth 2020 is beginning to look like the “one church plan” of the Anglican Communion.
Lambeth spoke against the One Church plan in 1998, and it arrived anyhow.
Didn’t V. Gene Robinson go to Lambeth anyway? Wasn’t there a considerable sideshow during Lambeth?
The bishops might start drafting their letters to Yahweh expressing their disappointment at the decision that awaits them regarding same sex marriages and the consequences of entering into them.
These bishops are in unrepentant violation of Christian teaching and they ought not to be there, not just the spouses. And the bishops who have tolerated or encouraged their violations of Christian teaching also ought not to be there.
The photo looks like a boy-bishop in a DIY mitre.
Not invited but going anyway.
All my adult life I have been a thoughtful and considerate Christian and a friend of the underdog. However, I am really struggling to understand these so-called bishops whom I call Wrong Reverends (not the Right Reverends, as they are titled) who are pretending to be the defenders and teachers of the Faith and symbols of unity. It’s extremly sad to see the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Least Reverend (not the Most Reverend, as he is titled) leading the Communion down hill.
I bet you, Lambeth 2020 is taking shape to be a conference about the rights and wrongs and rights of being gay-partnered “bishops” and not about the proclamation of the Gospel.
I rather wish this whole business of Lambeth Conference being called off. This would be a good damage control strategy to minimize the terrible damage that has already being done to God’s church
“We will be taking the hard histories and the holy graces of people who have asked only to receive from their church the dignity and love which they have received from their God.” Yes, don’t forget to include the drama.
[…] The inconsistency is obvious to all. Some in the American Episcopal Church (TEC) are now proposing that their Province’s generous financial support for the London based ‘instruments of communion’ should be reviewed, while a UK Member of Parliament has called for the Lambeth Conference to be taken to court for discrimination and it has been confirmed that at least one of the disinvited partners will come to England regardless. […]
[…] The inconsistency is obvious to all. Some in the American Episcopal Church (TEC) are now proposing that their Province’s generous financial support for the London based ‘instruments of communion’ should be reviewed, while a UK Member of Parliament has called for the Lambeth Conference to be taken to court for discrimination and it has been confirmed that at least one of the disinvited partners will come to England regardless. […]
[…] The inconsistency is obvious to all. Some in the American Episcopal Church (TEC) are now proposing that their Province’s generous financial support for the London based ‘instruments of communion’ should be reviewed, while a UK Member of Parliament has called for the Lambeth Conference to be taken to court for discrimination and it has been confirmed that at least one of the disinvited partners will come to England regardless. […]