[March 15, 2019] The House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church met in retreat at Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville, NC. At their March 15 business meeting, they adopted the following Mind of the House Resolution and received a statement from the Bishops’ Spouses Planning Group which follows the bishops’ statement:
Bishops gathered at the Spring 2019 meeting of the House of Bishops are aggrieved and distressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision to exclude same sex spouses of bishops from participating in the Lambeth Conference, 2020. We appreciate that all of our bishops diocesan, suffragan, and assistant have been invited, and are concerned by the use of exclusion as a means of building communion.
At this time, the majority of bishops invited plan to attend the conference. Through our presence we will participate fully in the program of the conference, as well as seek to further the conversation around the various cultural expressions of marriage. We intend to build relationships and missional partnerships that will be inclusive vehicles for building communion across the Anglican world in all its beautiful diversity. We will seek to reflect our varied understandings of marriage, as well as our profound commitment to the dignity of all human beings, including the human rights of LGBTQ+ persons.
This week we have been in prayer and reflection on the Way of Love and how we as The Episcopal Church make that witness to the world as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. We affirm that all persons have been named by God as beloved and we commit to living more deeply into that truth.
A STATEMENT FROM THE BISHOPS’ SPOUSES PLANNING GROUP
We join our voices with those in The Episcopal Church who have expressed their disappointment and dismay at the exclusion of same gender spouses from the invitation to Lambeth Conference. We especially stand with our fellow spouse, Becki Sander, spouse of Bishop Mary Glasspool, who is one of the spouses being excluded.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has stated that the theme of this Lambeth Conference is “God’s Church for God’s World: Walking, Listening, and Witnessing Together”. The spouse community understands that the Anglican Communion is not of one mind with regard to marriage, and that, in the life of the Communion, this is a complex issue. Exclusion of same gender spouses, however, seems like a simplistic reaction to this complex issue. It saddens us that all are not welcome to walk, listen, and witness with us, and that all voices will not be heard at this gathering.
As Christians, we strive to live out our Baptismal Covenant and respect the dignity of every human being. A faithful expression of that Baptismal Covenant would be including same gender spouses to walk, listen, and witness with us at Lambeth.
“The spouse community understands that the Anglican Communion is not of one mind with regard to marriage, and that, in the life of the Communion, this is a complex issue.”
Erm, what is ‘a spouse community’ and are they available at Asda stores everywhere?
Seriously, what on earth is a spouse community!
Do I need to re-label my wife as ‘a spouse’ so that she can feel at one with others in a ‘spouse community’?
Will she even let me??
Or will I find myself caving in once more to her feminine charms and (if you value your life), unarguable common sense?
I love my wife.
No, really I do!
And because I love her, my infallible male sense of self preservation is always primed and ready to respond to any slight touch of frostiness in the conjugal household; such as my addressing her as “Spouse” as opposed to ‘Darling.’
See, an opposite sex wife is not the same as a same sex wife. I was always attracted to women as being delightfully different, cuddly and er, having excitingly different ‘equipment’ to my own…
In this case, your wife can only be in the spouse community if you are a bishop of TEC. If she is a bishop of TEC, then you are a member of the spouse community. You cannot both be members of the same spouse community, unless one or both of you is a transgendered bisexual, in which case, please forward your curriculum vitae to Justin Welby, so that he can appoint both of you as cathedral deans in the CoE.
Well if it’s a matter of tea parties and soirée inclusivity, or being cast into social outer darkness, we’re prepared to be fluid…
How are you? Sorry you left the blog after a misunderstanding. It was, you know. Wires crossed and all that. Lain has returned and was asking after you.
I was pretty rough after Christmas with some virus that impacted the asthma and COPD but now 80% recovered thank you. I hope that you are still in good health and playing the doting Grandad.
I/we continue our good relations with our Catholic friends and getting to understand their ways of worship..
As regards leaving the blog, there was no “misunderstanding or crossed wires.”
In fact I’m surprised at you swallowing that nonsense!
Yer man threw me out with no chance of a comeback or explanation. No one was more shocked than I to find I’d been blocked by the ‘blockmeister general.” without a chance to respond to those asking me to reconsider.
My only way back would have been by subterfuge, and we devout Nonconformists eschew such subtleties!!
And after reading some of the comments I could no longer respond to, I decided that trying to sort it out just wasn’t worth it, and perhaps Our Lord was telling me it was time to move on.
So I have.
Please give my kind regards to the community.
Bless you, Danny and I’m truly shocked to learn that you have been blocked. The blog isn’t the same without you.
I’m in good health and seemed to have escaped the various viruses floating around this year. Sorry to hear you were waylaid and great you’re on the mend.
Love to you and your good woman.
People here might wonder what I’m doing conversing with a Quaker grapefruit, but I can assure you he really does exist.
Very patiently and kindly, ( recognising my intellectual limitations), he helped me to a better understanding of some of the mysteries of Catholicism.
As a result my dear wife and I interact far more with our local Catholic community and have become friends with the parish priest.
In truth, despite a very solid Catholic education and pre-seminary training, this man only slowly came to a full realisation of the depth of what you call “the mysteries of Catholicism”. In part this has been the result of discussing the Christian faith with members of other ecclesiastical communities and traditions.
Don’t quibble Jack.
I am determined to recognise your contribution to my understanding of things Catholic..
(Even though I may yet remain unconvinced..;0)
Had it not been for the patience shown me I might never have realised that sometimes we approach eternal truths from different directions.
As a consequence of of our many and varied discussions on that blog whose name we shall not mention,, I find myself indebted to “Catholico citri fructus” wherever they may be found..
If only you knew it, but you have a Catholic soul. Why resist?
Told you before friend Jack, I regard you as brother in Christ, and taking our ages into account, by the grace of God I look forward to meeting you in Heaven.
…and now, back to the discussion of the spouse community…
Apologies for the digression, and what point were you wanting to make?
That’s it.
I think you’re being too modest.
You wouldn’t have commented on this thread if you weren’t interested in the issue, so come on let’s hear your thoughts.
It all depends on what kind of spice they are, in the plural.
“We…are concerned by the use of exclusion as a means of building communion.”
“It saddens us that all are not welcome to walk, listen, and witness with us, and that all voices will not be heard at this gathering.”
So I’m sure they’ll ask Abp. Welby to invite ACNA.
“Mind of the house resolution” What a wonderful word salad.
Topped with red whine vinaigrette.
Good follow up.
To the same-sex “spouses” all I can say is boo-frickin-hoo! But the real Idiot’s Prize goes to Welby et al for an amazing display of stupidity and hypocrisy.
What do these TEC bishops mean by “cultural expressions of marriage?” If they mean how a culture defines marriage, I guess they are trying to say the subculture of TEC within the general culture of America defines marriage as a union between the members of the same sex. In implying this, haven’t they betrayed the entire culture? Still worse that it is the “bishops” who are saying this. Have they forgotten that it is the Christian Cultural expression of marriage they should be upholding even if they are to act contary to it? It’s very interesting to see how these guys sugarcoat and generalize perversions and then package them with the Baptismal covenant. Baptismal covenant doesn’t cover all sins!!!