Concerning: House of Bishops

I am writing this sitting on a van, being driven from Pellston to Marquette. My plane from Detroit couldn't land at KI Sawyer because of fog, so (naturally) they dropped us off in Pellston. So it goes!

I know that Kevin has forwarded some notes from the Episcopal News Service about major actions taken at the meeting, and I won't try to repeat all of that information, but I would like to describe in some measure the experience from inside (I guess you'd say).

The meeting was held at Camp Allen, the massive conference of the Diocese of Texas, located about an hour's drive from Houston. I actually arrived a day early for the meeting of the full House, so I could participate in a special meeting held for about 30 bishops who are forming a new network to focus work in the Church on doing and making justice through Public Policy. We are calling ourselves Bishops Working for a Just Society, and a wonderful vision was shaped for this work, which will unfold over the coming months and years. There are several dimensions to it, but a good deal of energy and resources will be to respond to issues stemming from economic injustice - particularly as it impacts the poor: health care, education, and housing. Many other issues stem from those concerns, of course, and they will be explored as well, but there was some sentiment expressed that we should focus on two or three issues, rather than spreading the work of the coalition too thin. In all we do, we will draw upon the staff support of the national Church's Government Relations Office in Washington DC. Watch for more on this as our Coalition takes fuller shape.

On Friday, the House of Bishops meeting itself began. As a "Core Group" Leader, I was involved in a preliminary meeting, setting out the process for the days which would follow. Coming in, there was growing anxiety about the need to respond to the Primates of the 34 Provinces of the (world-wide) Anglican Communion. When that group met last October, they asked for the Episcopal Bishops to develop a process for providing what they called "Adequate Episcopal Oversight" for congregations in dioceses who disagree with certain decisions related to homosexuality made by General Convention last summer. There is concern for conservative congregations in dioceses which support those actions, and also for progressive congregations in dioceses which are opposed to them. In some cases, congregations are saying to their Bishop: "We feel alienated from the positions you have taken" and feel strongly enough about it that they do not want their bishop to visit and perform Episcopal Acts (such as Confirmation, Ordinations, meetings with Vestries, and so on). The plan developed with extended conversations from throughout the Church over the past eight months is called "Caring for All the Churches" (based on the scriptural phrase by St Paul). There was great debate as to whether the word "Oversight" should be used. Some suggested replacing "Episcopal Oversight" with "Episcopal Pastoral Care". The concern is whether, when a Visiting Bishop would have "jurisdiction" over the congregation, or whether the regular Diocesan Bishop would retain legal jurisdiction, even while the Visiting Bishop would provide Pastoral Care until such time as the broken relationship with the Diocesan Bishop could be reconciled. It is agreed that the purpose for this arrangement is not to lead the congregation away from relationship with the Diocese and the Episcopal Church, but to create a bridge by which a traditionalist bishop and a progressive bishop could work in partnership to hold relationships together until healing can some day take place. The confusion is that in England, the word "oversight" does not include "jurisdiction", but in this country, it usually does. So, when the traditionalists in this country saw the statement by the Primates last October which asked us to create "adequate episcopal oversight" for dissident congregations, some thought the use of the term "delegated episcopal pastoral care" was not going far enough. In this, they are mistaken, as we learned even from the traditionalist bishops present at the meeting, including one from England who explained that their "flying bishops" plan (instituted for those congregations opposed to the ordination of women) does not grant jurisdiction to the flying bishop (one who flies in to provide Episcopal Acts).

In typical Anglican compromise, the final document approved uses the phrase: "Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight" - thus incorporating both terms. There is also an explanation in the text about these differences in meaning for the word "oversight" in England vs. in this country.

There are other features to this agreement which I won't go into here, but I will be happy to answer any questions that may come my way.

Another issues which generated a lot of energy was how the House of Bishops would respond to the five retired American bishops who (along with one from Brazil) presided at a confirmation service in the Diocese of Ohio a week and a half ago (just days before the House of Bishops convened). This service was done without the permission, or even the knowledge of the Bishop of Ohio, Clark Grew. (Clark is about to retire, and the new bishop, Mark Hollingsworth, will be ordained on April 17th). This is a clear violation of the Jurisdiction of a Diocesan Bishop. That is an offense our Church has stood firmly against since the Council of Nicea in the year 325 (the same Council which produced the Nicene Creed). The canons are clear that any bishop who commits this offense can have charges brought (or presented) against him or her. The House of Bishops had every right to initiate that process against these bishops, but chose instead to denounce the action, to call them to meet with the Council of Advice (made up of the bishops who are President or Vice-President of the various Provinces of our national church). The resolution passed also states clearly that any bishop who repeats this action will have charges brought against him or her. It was a strong and firm statement, calling for accountability and mutual respect, but also a remarkable degree of charity.

I am sure that some who were not present for the deliberations and conversations around these two actions could miss the nuances and characterize them one way or another. The truth is that literally hours were spent in conversation amongst groups of bishops, carefully designed to help bishops with very different points of view listen to one another and to come to consensus. There is still a lot of pain and anger out there in the Church, as evidenced by the fact that several traditionalist bishops chose to boycott the meeting altogether, and some came for only one day (or even part of a day). That makes it hard, if not impossible, to discover Christ's healing reconciliation in our midst - but the degree of conversation and communication amongst those who did commit to the gathering really was something quite powerful to experience.

There were, of course, other matters discussed. Global Mission was a major theme. We had the Primates from Central America, from Sudan, and from the Solomon Islands, as well as the Bishop of Liberia. It was tremendously moving to hear them describe the problems of violence, disease, and poverty with which they contend on a regular basis. They also expressed strong support and affection for the Episcopal Church. Theirs was a powerful witness.

I also helped lead an evening discussion of the Title III Ministry Canons, passed at the General Convention last summer. Now that the new canons are in effect, we are all learning from one another about how to implement them, and to plan ahead for further revisions in the future.

I also sang in the Bishops' Choir, and there were various other small group meetings and conversations. During the time I was there, Mary was in the Dominican Republic with a group of about 60 bishops' spouses. And then we found out that our youngest son, Amos, landed in the hospital with complications resulting from his Diabetes - so in between sessions, I spent almost every minute trying to get through to Amos, to Mary, to the hospital, to Amos' brother and sister, and so on. Whew! Luckily, Lydia was able to drive over to be with her brother's bedside, since neither Mary or I could get there.

Every meeting of the House of Bishops is a remarkable mix of very gifted folk from every corner of our Church. As usual, I find myself profoundly grateful to all of you in our diocese who have asked me to play this role on your behalf. We are a part of a vibrant and faithful Church, in an exciting and important time in our history. It is indeed a difficult season for some in our community. It is also a time in which we are moving ahead in the mission and ministry to which we have been called.

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                          from Jim Kelsey
   in the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan
                   <jimkelsey@dionomi.org>
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