Female Bishops Aren't the Problem

Certainly not in the Catholic Church, since we don't have them. But I'm talking about Episcopalian Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, the focus of Episcopal Protest of Top Bishop Increases by Alan Cooperman. The story makes a decent attempt to explain opposition to her election isn't based solely on her gender but falls short in the end, and simply overlooks the main event: Schori leads a splinter group. The Episcopalian Church--the American constituent of the worldwide Anglican Communion--is the faction likely to be expelled by the overwhelming majority, and not because of her sex.

As far as Schori's gender is concerned, not only isn't it the only problem; as an outsider looking in, I don't think it's even the main problem. Schori's crystal-clear support of gay rights in the life of the church is the real lightning rod, and partly because of something Cooperman left out: The Windsor Report.

After convulsions following the Episcopals' appointment of gay bishop Gene Robinson, the report, issued by an Anglican commission, asked the Americans to cool it for awhile. Instead, they named a leader who permits same-sex unions and says plainly that homosexuality is not a sin. As a man with gay friends that would make me very happy, but it's an exceptionally difficult argument for a historically minded Christian and most Anglicans don't argue it. The Windsor Report recognized passionate beliefs on both sides of this divide, asked the Episcopal Church for a moratorium on gay marriages and the appointment of gay bishops, and then witnessed the appointment of a leader in favor of both. Cooperman reports on Schori's support for gay rights, but without mentioning the Windsor Report there's no sense of the slap in the Anglican face her election represents.

And describing opposition to Schori by "conservatives" abroad doesn't do justice to the Anglican boots on the ground. Most of those boots are outside America and first-among-equals England, and are not only saying no to Schori but hell, no. Via Titus One Nine, here's the latest from the Nigerian Bishops:

A cancerous lump in the body should be excised if it has defied every known cure. To attempt to condition the whole body to accommodate it will lead to the avoidable death of the patient.

That's a harsh way of expressing the majority view. But there you are.

Tim Graham has more at Newsbusters, including comments about Schori's strange "Mother Jesus" remark.

Comments

[Jonathan W.]

Despite opposition to Bishop Jefferts Schori, I am hopeful of the optimistic tone she can bring to the church. If people take the time to listen to her message instead of attacking her views on same-sex blessings and Gene Robinson, I believe they will find someone they respect. Look at this post at News Fit to Post... it compares a few of Bishop Jefferts Schori quotes about gay and lesbian people with quotes from conservative religious leaders. I believe she will bring more people to the Episcopal Church while more conservative denominations see their numbers decline. Just a guess, but I'm hopeful.

[Christopher Fotos]

Jonathan, I truly wish all gays and lesbians well but it's pretty immature to go on about banning child-molesting priests (oh how droll) and placing the teaching of the Catholic magisterium next to some nutcase "God Hates Fags" website. The link is unserious so I won't address it.

As for where the Schori group and the larger Anglican Communion is heading, just as an observer of the scene it ain't in the same direction. It'll be the Episcopal Church that's the odd man out. And one reason I believe that is that conservative churches as a group are growing. One of my friend's daughters is an Anglican priest in the U.K. The churches are comparatively empty there (though the mosques are crowded--nor are they very liberal!). But many churches are bursting at the seams in Africa, for example, where you're getting communiques like the one cited above from Nigeria. The pattern is similar elsewhere, certainly in my Catholic Church. And specifically in America, while there must be local exceptions, the great old mainline Protestant denominations are shrinking collectively.

As I say, I'd sincerely be happy if the way could be smoothed for gays and lesbians in Christianity, but it's difficult to find that path with any integrity in the face of 2,000 years of teaching and tradition.