July 8, 2003

Sunday's news of Jeffrey John's request to withdraw from being considered as Bishop of Reading is worthy of great reflection by Episcopalians within less than a month of our General Convention. A clearly gifted man, Canon John was unfairly made the focus of a huge international furor. His decision to step aside in a critical hour was one of deep courage and grace. Along with others we deplore the undue intrusion into his personal life, and the personal suffering that he endured. We also regret the way in which some opposition to his ministry was expressed, and the pain this has led to throughout the church, especially for those who supported Jeffrey John. He has our continued prayers.

We were particularly helped by the comments of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams who wrote: "I hope that there will be proper opportunity to reflect on all this in depth. We have to grasp that Canon John's appointment has brought to light a good deal of unhappiness among people who could by no means be described as extremists, many of whom have willingly testified to their personal respect for Canon John. They are convinced, however, that there is a basic issue at stake relating to the consistency of our policy and our doctrine in the Church of England - and that this issue has arisen in this particular case in a way for which there are no obvious parallels."

Indeed, "a basic issue is at stake," the issue of the church's theology of human relationships. The Church of Jesus Christ has carefully taught that the only proper context for the expression of sexual intimacy is between a man and a woman who are married to each other. Dr. John contradicted that teaching. It is worth restating that the bishops of the Anglican Communion assembled at Lambeth in 1998, in accord with the undivided tradition of the churches both Eastern and Western, resolved by an overwhelming majority that homosexual relations are contrary to Holy Scripture.

More was going on here than simply theology, however. Archbishop Williams has stated that this decision by Canon John can in no way be seen to foreclose discernment on the matter. The crucial issue is that the discernment is still ongoing; to have consecrated Jeffrey John would have changed the church's teaching without the church meeting and prayerfully agreeing to change its teaching. As James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, observed: "the Bishop of Oxford is perceived by many to have acted unilaterally in breaching the line by appointing an openly gay priest and to have undermined the bishops' collegiality." No community is helped by the unilateral action of some of its members. However, when a leader seeks to settle a debate by making an end run around the debate, the destructive impact is huge because it shows disdain for those who disagree and is a complete violation of due process. That Jeffrey John personally became a victim of this end run is particularly to be deplored.

The degree of the radically divisive nature of Canon John's prospective consecration was also recognized by Archbishop Williams: "There is an obvious problem in the consecration of a bishop whose ministry will not be readily received by a significant proportion of Christians in England and elsewhere. For the divisions we have seen do not exist only at diocesan and national level but internationally as well. The perspective of the Anglican Communion demands careful consideration here. The estrangement of churches in developing countries from their cherished ties with Britain is in no-one's interests. It would impoverish us as a Church in every way. It would also jeopardize links with other denominations, weaken co-operation in our shared service and mission worldwide, and increase the vulnerability of Christian minorities in some parts of the world where they are already at risk. Any such outcome would be a very heavy price to pay."

It is astonishing to us that so many Americans still appear blind or insensitive to this "heavy price." As the Bishop of Winchester noted in the July 5th Guardian, "We owe it...to our fellow-Christians to remember that what a western bishop says about sexual behavior may be reported in the press in Cairo, Karachi or Kaduna in ways that may place Christians there in danger." All those who blame US/UK policy for world ailments, whether in the Middle East conflict or in any other global situation, need to be consistent and understand that what Western Christians say and do in public contributes no less directly to the persecution of Christians in other locations throughout God's earth.

The Episcopal Church should see in all this the implications for the approval of the consecration of Canon Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Contrary to the letter from the Presiding Bishop to the bishops of the Episcopal Church, in the vote on Gene Robinson a "basic issue is at stake," the church's teaching on human sexuality and relationships. In addition, to approve the election is an end run around an ongoing debate and undermines due process. We need to be quite clear. If the General Convention votes to approve Bishop-elect Robinson the Convention will vote to do something the Episcopal Church has never agreed to do. Such a result would not only be wrong theologically, but decided dysfunctionally. The consequences for the Episcopal Church's common life will be devastating.

Finally, approval of this election will be a vote to rupture the Anglican Communion. Already 17 Primates, representing the population of more than half of the Anglican Communion, have made clear that this step is utterly unacceptable in their eyes. To lose our communion with them, in the words of Rowan Williams, "would impoverish us as a Church in every way."

Again and again in recent years the Presiding Bishop has rightly called us into conversation on these vital matters; we hope and pray that our fellow Episcopalians are listening.

(The Rt. Rev.) Robert Duncan
Bishop of Pittsburgh

(The Rt. Rev.) Edward L. Salmon, Jr.
Bishop of South Carolina

For Further Information Contact:
The Rev. Dr. Kendall S. Harmon
Communcations Director, Diocese of South Carolina
P.O. Box 2810
Summerville S.C. 29484-2810
Email: ksharmon@mindspring.com
Phone: 843-821-7254