Anglican bishops seek restraint on same-sex clergy

by John McNeil
March 6, 2007

CHRISTCHURCH, NZ (ANS) -- New Zealand's senior Anglican bishops are quietly calling for restraint on the ordination of people in same-sex relationships, but believe they don't have legal authority to stop it.

In a meeting with Archbishop David Moxon and Bishops David Coles and Tom Brown, representatives of the two conservative arms - Anglican Mainstream and Latimer Fellowship - emphasised the serious state the church is in, that people are already leaving, and some parishes are considering whether they can remain in the church of the province.

Latimer warden the Rev Malcolm Falloon says the bishops acknowledged the difficult situation and a number had engaged one another "robustly" over the ordination by Dunedin Bishop George Connor last year of a person in a same-sex relationship.

"However, the bishops as a whole believed that they were unable to exercise any legal authority in this matter and had decided, as a group, not to make any public statement other than a general one that had been issued."

Mr Falloon said the bishops want restraint exercised by everybody, but don't want to go public about it.

"On our part, we would assume that this would include restraint by bishops in the matters of ordination and licensing, although this is not guaranteed," he said.

The period of restraint would last until the church's general synod could discuss the issue next year, and he hoped the synod would have the "good sense" to wait for the Anglican communion worldwide to finalise a covenant document before it made decisions about same-sex relationships.

Mr Falloon said that although the Mainstream and Latimer representatives appreciated the bishops' stand, they would have preferred a public assurance that there would be a halt to all licensing and ordaining of those in a sexual relationship outside marriage.

"We are disappointed that the bishops have not been able to say more clearly that the Dunedin ordination is simply wrong - wrong biblically, wrong theologically and wrong constitutionally."

Mr Falloon is further disturbed that the debate has been confined to the Pakeha (European) branch of the church.

"It's time that Maori and Pasifika [Pacific Islands] people stepped up to the plate to express their view. Maori have been dismissive of any concerns. They have just gone ahead and ordained people in same-sex relationships, which is insulting.

"We might have to respect people's culture, but the fact is that if the Pakeha bishops did some of the things that the Maori bishops have done, we would have been divided a long time ago. But because it's a different tikanga, it's swept under the carpet."

It is unclear at this stage how New Zealand will be affected by the results of a major meeting of Anglican bishops worldwide held in Tanzania earlier this month, which came out strongly against clergy in same-sex relationships.

Just when it appeared the consultation would fall apart through lack of consensus, at the 11th hour agreement was reached on a statement which called on the Episcopal Church of the United States to state unequivocally that it will not consecrate more gay bishops or authorise same-sex blessings.

The communique also set up a new structure for conservative Americans who have rejected their liberal Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, and it called for the cessation of property disputes between the Episcopal Church's liberal leadership and conservative parishes.

It called for an end to African primates intervening in the American Church, but set up pastoral oversight for conservative churches that do not accept the liberal leadership.

It gave the Episcopal Church eight months to show it has fully reversed its pro-gay agenda, or face expulsion from the Anglican Communion.

The recommendations came despite an official report by the American church to the meeting that it had largely complied with a similar previous directive, known as the Windsor Report, and helped to stave off fears that the consultation would end in schism.

But a number of liberal American bishops have indicated since the conference that they would prefer schism to rolling back their pro-gay policies.

And the Archbishop of Canterbury, in a frank article in the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph, has warned that the Anglican Communion may still fall apart over homosexuality in spite of the 11th-hour truce.

Dr Rowan Williams said: "Whether it can all come together remains to be seen."

But the effort to keep the worldwide church in one piece was worthwhile, even though it might look like a dysfunctional family heading for the divorce courts. He said there was a need for a worldwide Christian church that "could balance unity and consent" for the sake of human society.

© 2007 ASSIST News Service, used with permission.