The Rt. Rev. Charles vonRosenberg
Yesterday’s Convention actions will result in significant consequences, but it is important for us to realize what was done and what was not done.
The proposed budget is nothing less than revolutionary. Amendments to the enabling resolution will probably be attempted in today’s legislative sessions. In any event, however, the end result will indicate some profound changes. For instance, there will be a step-down process, beginning in 2011, for the percentage askings from dioceses to support the General Church budget. I spoke last evening with a member of the Church staff who has some pastoral responsibility for contacting 35 – 40 staff members who will lose their jobs. Committees responsible for planning General Convention have been tasked with a shorter time frame for the 2012 event. Committees, Commissions, Agencies, and Boards will see funding for their interim meetings cut dramatically. And the list goes on. In fact, we will be living into a very different financial reality in the months and years to come, and I believe that our proposed budget presents a responsible picture for that reality.
Resolution C056, substitute, will go to the House of Deputies today for concurrence. This resolution, about which you may have read, involves same-gender blessings. A rite for such blessings was not passed. Rather, this resolution recognizes several factors: that some states have laws which authorize same-gender unions; that clergy in such places encounter significant pastoral challenges as a result of discrepancies between those laws and church policy; that there are liturgies for blessings in existence (but not authorized); and that significant differences of opinion on such matters exist in our church and in the Anglican Communion.
With those realities in place, therefore, this resolution does a couple of things (in addition to acknowledging the realities). It calls for a collection and development of “theological and liturgical resources,” which will be considered at the next General Convention. It requests further conversation in our church and throughout the Communion. And, it identifies the need for “generous pastoral response” on the part of clergy in dioceses whose state laws permit civil unions.
I believe this resolution to be an accurate depiction of the reality of our circumstances, as well as a way to move forward in the engagement of those realities. There certainly are differences of opinion about timing for such steps. However, the process as outlined is deliberate, and it allows for dioceses and churches to make plans for appropriate responses, in the variety of contexts in which we live and worship. Indeed, we have begun to do just that in East Tennessee, with the meeting of our “Bishop’s Committee for Pastoral Care of Gay and Lesbian People.” There is much study to accomplish, much conversation to have, and much prayer to offer, as we engage one another as people of God and as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. I call us all to faithfulness in those tasks.