If the angst-ridden global Anglican Communion is to hold together, it could do worse than looking to the Episcopal Church in Colorado and a series of conversations that took place in a hotel ballroom, a steak house and a hot-springs pool.
In October, a group of liberal clergy and laypeople sat down with leading voices of the church’s conservative wing at the Colorado diocese’s General Convention in Grand Junction. The surprising result was a unanimous resolution to work toward “the unity of the body both here and abroad.”
A similar spirit has spread to the eight clergy and laypeople elected to represent Colorado’s 35,000 Episcopalians at the Episcopal Church’s triennial General Convention, which opens Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio, with much anticipation.
The deputation’s members have met for the past year in an effort to understand their differences and build trust “as opposed to thinking someone is evil,” as one member put it. One meeting went so well, the conversation spilled from a steakhouse to the Pagosa Hot Springs, where unsuspecting soakers were educated in Episcopal policy.
Three years after the election of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire endangered the U.S. church’s standing in the broader Anglican Communion, Episcopalians are gathering to craft a response and head off schism. The challenge is to find a path agreeable to factions in the U.S. church and more conservative Anglican church bodies worldwide.
While some U.S. dioceses can be painted as conservative or liberal, Colorado has strong voices on both sides. So members of the state’s deputation say it’s not a stretch to draw lessons from Colorado, where Bishop Rob O’Neill has put a moratorium on same-sex blessing ceremonies and encouraged dialogue before action.
“If we don’t figure it out here, I don’t expect anyone else is going to figure it out, either,” said the conservative-minded Rev. Brooks Keith of Vail, chairman of the Colorado deputation. “We are a divided diocese on this issue, but the conclusion I draw is both halves need each other. If we can find a way here, then the Anglican Communion, I believe, can stand.”
O’Neill, who has won praise from conservatives and liberals for steering a middle course, will play a key role in Columbus. He will serve on a committee steering a series of 11 resolutions drawn up in response to the Windsor Report, an attempt in 2004 to mend rifts over human sexuality in the Anglican Communion.
After a collection-plate protest by conservatives in response to Robinson’s consecration, the Colorado diocese is in relative peace. Though O’Neill supports ordaining gay clergy and same-sex blessings, he convened a task force that urged a “period of restraint.”
“My sense is as a diocese, people are in many ways walking toward each other across different lines,” said O’Neill, who has crisscrossed the state talking to people about the General Convention. “I see a willingness for people to really listen to others and speak to each other. I think it’s a sign of health and grace.”
Shelley Brown, a steering committee member of the Colorado chapter of Integrity, which supports broader inclusion of gays and lesbians in the Episcopal Church, said that while she respects O’Neill’s position, it’s also difficult to live with.
“I have friends who are suffering personally because of this era of restraint,” she said. “It’s keeping friends of mine from being able to be ordained, and other people who have been hoping their relationships would get the blessing of the church.”
Jacqueline Scott, a deputation member who supports opening the church doors wider to gays and lesbians, shares the view of many liberal Episcopalians that branches of the Anglican family tree can take different stands on sexuality and remain connected.
“I think we’re a better orchestra when all the instruments are playing together,” she said. “I’m as interested in having a conservative part of the church as a liberal.”
Said Gary Thompson, who is heading into his sixth General Convention and voted against Robinson’s election: “There is an effort to try and find what is called the ‘via media,’ a middle of the road approach. The problem is, the two sides don’t talk the same language, and I don’t know what the outcome will be.”
The most-watched legislation in Columbus will be 11 resolutions crafted by a special commission meant to “maintain the highest level of communion with the Anglican Communion given the different perspectives” on sexuality issues.
“The intent is to send a message, first of all, to the rest of the Anglican Communion, to say, ‘We hear you, we are genuinely sorry we caused so much pain, and we value our membership in the communion,”‘ said Larry Hitt, chancellor of the Colorado diocese and adjunct professor at Denver’s Iliff School of Theology. “The U.S. church is indicating a willingness to slow down. Not reverse our course, but slow down.”
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-820-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
