Via VirtueOnline:
By Cheryl M. Wetzel in Dallas
The Anglican Voice
March 6, 2010
This morning, the Diocese of Dallas, meet in special convention, continued from the October, 2009 diocesan convention, in the nave of St. Michael and All Angels in Dallas.
An excellent sermon by the Rt. Rev. James Tengatenga, bishop of Southern Malawi, encouraged the congregation to think internationally about the spread of the Gospel. Specifically, the Church is about the business of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "It's not about a person, it's about God," Bishop Tengatenga repeated three times in his homily. I will have the full transcript of this excellent homily later this evening.
After Communion and a short recess, the Convention convened. In his introductory remarks, Bishop James M. Stanton cited 7 points of consideration. 1) Separation from the Episcopal Church is not a strategy, is not a fruitful use of resources and separation is not part of our business today.
2) Discussion on the Covenant is spiritually responsible as it involves us and our future. The past summer's General Convention passed resolution D020 commending the Covenant to all diocese for study and comment. Therefore this special convention is not a waste of time or resources as the resolution gives us the grounds to discuss the Covenant and report our conclusions to the national Executive Council.
3) Does the Anglican Covenant recognize the faith of the Communion we already share? Does it recognise Christ as Savior and Lord? Does it agree that we are a people who live by the Scriptures as the true word of God? Yes, it does.
4) I value your time and energy and your investment in the diocese. Is this necessary? Yes. We are facing a crisis moment. The Anglican Communion must discern the nature of communion that we will share and from where we have come. We are seeking to express the reality of our Communion. We can and must respond.
5) Will our response make a difference? Yes and No. It will not change our commitments in this diocese. The Covenant is not an alternate structure or jurisdiction. It simply gives us the opportunity to declare what our Constitution and Canons already say. It affirms that we are engaged and can continue to be with others around the world.
6) Our decision today will share with all the rest of the communion the way we live our faith. We will recognize and be recognized by others who also share this commitment to the faith.
7) People have asked me if it is possible for us to reject the covenant today. Yes, it is. We owe this discussion to ourselves, our church and the rest of the communion. We are here defending the faith of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now it is your turn to debate, amend, support or reject the resolutions put before us today by our Executive Council and our Standing Committee. It is your turn.
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RESOLUTION 2010SC R‐01: Endorsing the Anglican Covenant
The Standing Committee and Executive Council of the Diocese of Dallas moves and commends the following resolution for our Special Convention:
Resolved
The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, meeting in Special Convention on March 6th, 2010, endorses the Anglican Covenant and affirms our full membership and participation in The Episcopal Church and the world wide Anglican Communion.
Further resolved
That the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas urges the other Dioceses of the Episcopal Church along with Executive Council and General Convention to endorse the Anglican Covenant and commit the Church to full and active membership and participation in the world wide Anglican Communion And further resolved That this convention direct the (diocesan) Executive Council to form an Anglican Communion Commission to promote closer relationships with Churches, Dioceses and Congregations of the wider Anglican Communion for mutual sharing of the fellowship we have in Christ, for expanding our common mission and ministry as a worldwide Communion and for promoting active participation in the Anglican Covenant by this Diocese and its congregations.
And voted in the affirmative to adopt:
RESOLUTION 2009 R‐01: Dissociation from certain resolutions of the 76th General Convention
RESOLVED: This 114th Convention of the Diocese of Dallas, acting under Article I of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, dissociates itself from the following actions of the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church:
§ the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Resolved clauses of Resolution D025 (Commitment and Witness to Anglican Communion),
§ Resolution C056 (Liturgies for blessings and Pastoral Generosity in Addressing Civil Marriage).
Rationale
1. In its constitution, The Episcopal Church is defined as "a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, a Fellowship within the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, of those duly constituted Dioceses, Provinces, and regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer."
(from the Preamble). This language also is reflected in the Constitution of the Diocese of Dallas.
2. We understand the above resolutions to indicate TEC's intention to "walk apart" from the Anglican Communion. These resolutions pave the way for the future violation of specific Communion requests, namely, a "moratorium on the election and consent to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is living in a same gender union until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges"1 as well as a moratorium "on all such public Rites [of Blessing of same sex unions]." 2
3. We understand these resolutions to indicate a conflict between TEC and its own constitution, as well as with the understanding of marriage articulated in the Book of Common Prayer. Part of "the historic Faith and Order" of the Church is its received teaching on the matter of marriage, "the standard of teaching which is presupposed in the Windsor Report and from which the primates have worked," that is, "the traditional teaching of the Christian Church that 'in view of the teaching of Scripture' the Church must uphold 'faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage.'"3 Specifically, Resolution B012 is in direct conflict with the preface to the Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage in The Book of Common Prayer (1979) ("Christian marriage is a solemn and public covenant between a man and a woman in the presence of God," BCP 422) and the canons of The Episcopal Church state that "Holy Matrimony is a physical and spiritual union of a man and a woman, entered into within the community of faith, by mutual consent of heart, mind, and will, and with intent that it be lifelong," (Title I, Canon 18.2.b). Thus, we understand these actions to represent a departure from the "doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them." (BCP 526, 538)
4. The Archbishop of Canterbury has likewise spoken on this matter with great clarity in his most recent pastoral letter "Communion, Covenant and our Anglican Future," 27 July 2009:
"a blessing for a same‐sex union cannot have the authority of the Church Catholic, or even of the Communion as a whole. And if this is the case, a person living in such a union is in the same case as a heterosexual person living in a sexual relationship outside the marriage
bond; whatever the human respect and pastoral sensitivity such persons must be given, their chosen lifestyle is not one that the Church's teaching sanctions, and thus it is hard to see how they can act in the necessarily representative role that the ordained ministry,
especially the episcopate, requires." (§6)
5. We believe that the above resolutions were accomplished without adequate theological and biblical investigation. They stand in stark opposition to the witness of Scripture regarding the purpose of sexuality, the meaning of Holy Matrimony, and the way in which marriage signifies the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, born witness to both in The Book of Common Prayer (1979) and the Canons of The Episcopal Church.4
6. We believe the Church's clear, biblical teaching on this matter is crucial for the pastoral ministry of the clergy and people of our diocese, and to all who seek the health and holiness we are all called to
in Christ.5 We therefore offer this resolution in the context of a diocese that seeks to minister the grace, love, and power of Christ to all people.
7. We offer this resolution according to the first article of our diocesan constitution: "Moreover, the foregoing accession and recognition [of the General Convention] shall in no way be deemed to prevent or limit this Diocese from disassociating (as the word is used in Title IV, 3.21 b) itself from any actions of the General Convention by concurrent majority vote of both orders at any Annual or Special Convention.4 as well as a moratorium "on all such public Rites [of Blessing of same sex unions]." 2
Footnotes:
1 Windsor Report, §134 and reiterated in the February 2005 Primates Communiqué from Dromantine, §18
2 Windsor Report, §144 and reiterated in the February 2005 Primates Communiqué from Dromantine, §15
3 The Communiqué of the Primates' Meeting in Dar es Salaam, 19 February 2007, quoting the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10; both moratoria were reiterated in Resolution 14.09 at the Anglican Consultative Council 14, Kingston, Jamaica, May 2009; see also Lambeth 2008 Reflections Document, §145).and in direct violation of the Requested
4 BCP 423 and Title I, Canon 18.2.b. Comments such as this one from Wolfhart Pannenberg should be given careful consideration: "If a church were to let itself be pushed to the point where it ceased to treat homosexual activity as a departure from the biblical norm, and recognized homosexual unions as a personal partnership of love equivalent to marriage, such a church would stand no longer on biblical ground but against the unequivocal witness of Scripture. A church that took this step would cease to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church." (quoted in Christianity Today, November 11, 1996).
5 "The Church must be very clear in its public pronouncements so that she may be very pastoral in her application."----Archbishop William
Temple
END
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