An opportunity

by Lisa Hunt

The Diocese of Tennessee is faced with an opportunity (another word for crisis) in the aftermath of our 74th General Convention and the subsequent ordination of Canon Gene Robinson to the episcopate in the Diocese of New Hampshire.

This moment gives us the opportunity to witness to the radical love of God by maintaining our oneness in the face of deep divisions and by trusting that, with time, healing and reconciliation will come through our efforts and through grace. On the other hand, we also have the opportunity to live out of the contemporary ethics of our culture by demonizing and dehumanizing one another, by playing power politics, and by seeking to win through financial means what we fail to achieve through prayer and persuasion.

We may covenant with one another today to work toward a common life. I believe, however, that we can only move forward by recognizing our mutual need for repentance and amendment of life. Events and actions have occurred which must be acknowledged in order for us truly to move into the future in concert.

1] We are the Episcopal Church. We are accountable to each other through our constitution, canons, and common ordination and prayer life. Decisions reached at the General Convention followed the order and discipline of our Church. We are not congregationalists; every communicant of a local congregation does not get to vote on decisions of ordination or the stewardship of financial resources. These ministries are delegated within our polity to duly elected persons of all orders of ministry. Bishops are bound by canons; priests are accountable to ordinaries; dioceses are accountable to this province of the Anglican Communion. If congregations or clergy choose to abandon the Episcopal Church, they are no longer part of the Diocese of Tennessee, nor are they the responsibility of our bishop. They will have chosen to leave the Church.

2] Threatening to withhold money from the diocese or the national church reflects nonbiblical values. Such action is grounded in a faulty theology of stewardship and is a symptom of powerlessness and marginality, not strength. How can Scripture justify such behavior?

I can certainly empathize with feelings of being on the outside and being ignored, as my opinions have often been in the minority over the past decade, but I cannot endorse policies or canonical changes that would seem to allow us to seek to gain sway over one another through the power of the purse. The current proposed policy of the Bishop and Council and the subsequent plan to author canonical changes to permit designated giving, even when we disagree vehemently, deny our responsibility to one another.

Over the course of 16 years in the Diocese of Tennessee, I have never known our parishes to use extortion to win hearts and minds; we must not allow such behavior now. We have all contributed to the mission of the Episcopal Church through our financial gifts to the Diocese of Tennessee, and I expect us all to continue to do so.

3] The mission statement of our diocese calls us to "restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ." I think that Bishop Herlong, as our leader, must be at the forefront of embodying this ministry. I commend him for extending his pastoral sensitivity to those who have theological disagreements with the elevation of a gay man as bishop. I understand that he has sought to serve these Episcopalians by signing the Truro statement and the objection to Gene Robinson's consecration, by participating in a prayer vigil which sought to object to Bishop Robinson's ordination, by attending the American Anglican Council meeting in Dallas as a participant, not as an observer; and by using our diocesan newspaper, The Cross and Crozier, to give extensive coverage to this perspective.

I trust, then, that in his wisdom, he will now begin to minister also to the needs of those who supported the decision taken at the General Convention. As the symbolic incarnation of the Church's unity, I expect that he will ensure that all groups of the baptized will be served. I trust that The Cross and Crozier will commence and maintain an editorial balance, presenting attitudes and events of the whole church. I expect that diocesan commissions and committees will be chosen based on the gifts of persons, not on theological litmus tests. I pray that at our next diocesan convention he will model listening to all God's people in a spirit of reconciliation, leading us to do likewise. I hope that he will continue to call his clergy to be one, refusing to meet with separate groups of us, but will hold us accountable to each other as he has today.

4] The media have portrayed the conflict within our diocese as deep and broad. We, together, have not acted sufficiently to calm the waters and to reduce the anxiety within our congregations. Clergy and lay leadership have used inflammatory language in the various media to heighten division, rather than to build community. Our diocesan office has failed to communicate a message of hope and reconciliation. I invite us all to speak words that build up and do not destroy.

5] I am aware of legal measures that are being taken throughout the Episcopal Church to lay the foundation of "realignment." My understanding of stewardship holds us accountable for keeping in trust the assets of the Diocese of Tennessee for future generations of Episcopalians.

6] The Lambeth Conference in 1998 called on the whole church to study the issues surrounding homosexuality. This diocese has yet to begin that process. My parish and I welcome an opportunity to engage in this ministry and to move forward.

In order for us to thrive as a diocese, we must not view one another as enemies. We will elect a new bishop in two years, and we must be able to reach a canonical two-thirds majority to elect our next spiritual leader. I commit to investing the time required to weave the relational fabric of our diocese so that true reconciliation and unity may be created. This process will not be accomplished by edict, canonical changes, or lawsuits. Reconciliation may only be borne of forgiveness, love, and repentance. I commit to the biblical admonition to work out our salvation together in fear and trembling.

[COVENANT, Number 16, December 2003]

The Revd Lisa Hunt is the rector of St Ann Parish, Nashville, TN

Ed note: Not until over three months following last summer's Minneapolis convention did the Bishop of Tennessee call together his fellow presbyters on the topic with the caveat that the meeting was not to talk about sex or certainly not about how we feel about it. That said, he recognized the division among us that was increasingly and dysfunctionally already out of his control and asked the two "camps" each to select a spokesperson for whatever was left we might talk about. There was to be no questioning of the speakers, only some 1960s style T-groups selected by random count-off to meet and "report back." The cover article in this issue represents one response to his request. The other response is too long for our space limits, but suffice it and to put it mildly, took a much less conciliatory approach. If you wish a copy, please send a self-addressed, postage-paid (a buck should cover it) 8x10 envelope to Covenant at Box 121384, Nashville 37212. -- JLD