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View from the Pew  Mary Adamski |
Hawaii debate
on gay bishop
stays civilizedThe governing convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States set off a whirlwind of controversy in August when it approved the consecration of an openly gay bishop.
Gusts are being felt in Hawaii.
But until now the 12,000 Hawaii church members have done their huffing and puffing inside their own halls. The first swirl to be felt outside came in a low-key news release this week announcing an Advent Lecture Series entitled "Episcopalians: Understanding the Scriptures and the Confirmation and Consecration of a Bishop." The three-part series, to begin Nov. 30, will be open to the public.
The speaker will be the Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick, canon of the Hawaii diocese. He was one of nine delegates, including Honolulu Bishop Richard Chang, to the church's General Convention who voted with the majority to confirm V. Gene Robinson as co-adjutor bishop of New Hampshire.
By the time Robinson, who is gay, was consecrated earlier this month, some other branches of the 77 million-member global Anglican Communion -- particularly in Africa and Asia -- rebuked the 2.3 million-member American church and threatened to sever ties with it. An alliance of conservative U.S. Episcopalians, the American Anglican Council, rallied in Dallas and petitioned the archbishop of Canterbury to declare the council as the actual American church. Just this week, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it will "freeze contacts" with the U.S. Episcopal Church over its "nonbiblical" view of homosexuality.
Obviously it is a topic of conversation within local congregations, but the discussion is so civilized that it seems remote from the angry, inflammatory, damning hot air that is vented these days as issues about homosexuals arise in other churches, in politics and in the courts.
In a Nov. 5 memo to clergy and wardens of Hawaii congregations, Chang pointed out what would happen if a congregation expressed its disapproval by withholding funds owed to the diocese -- about 20 percent of each parish's income. Church law provides that parish members could lose the right to vote in conventions. In the extreme case, the diocese would take over control of the parish personnel and real property.
The bishop was conciliatory: "Together as the community of the baptized in all of our diversity, we will proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed in many different ways."
Fitzpatrick will discuss the Robinson matter "in the light of the evolution of the understanding of Scripture, tradition and reason within the Episcopal Church in the United States over the past 200 years," according to the release.
The lectures will open at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Kailua and will continue on the two following Sundays. Fitzpatrick also will speak on the subject at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 45 N. Judd St., and continue on two succeeding Wednesdays evenings.
Calvary Episcopal Church is one local congregation where some members have a different view of how scripturally correct it is for the church to affirm the bishop's homosexual lifestyle.
The Rev. Joseph Carr, rector of the Kaneohe parish, said 30 percent of the congregation has chosen to withhold its offerings from the diocese. "We have given members the option that the portion that would go to the diocese may be redirected to other orthodox Christian organizations," he said. As for where the money will go, "we have not yet acted."
He said he has not heard of any other local congregation to do so. But there is a movement among dissenting U.S. members to vote with their wallets.
Carr had been elected as first alternate to the General Convention in Minneapolis. If one of the delegates had dropped out, "I would have voted no" to Robinson's confirmation.
The pastor said that a member of his congregation attended the October meeting of the conservative American Anglican Council.
That person will describe the Dallas discussions at an upcoming parish meeting, to which the media and other outsiders are not invited. "It is a time of talking story with one another, sharing concerns around the (bishops') meeting and the Robinson consecration ... to give people a chance to share what is on their hearts and minds."
Although people have voted against the majority view in the offertory collection, "I don't think anybody is looking to leave the church," Carr said.
"We are looking at how the church is redefined. It is a question in the larger configuration of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. We are entering a period of redefinition, realignment, that could take several years." A committee within the church is exploring the question, Is there even a way we can stay connected and provide different options for people who disagree?
He has no intention of making the clashing viewpoints an arena event. Carr said the diocese-sponsored lecture series is something "I wouldn't be inclined to attend."
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Mary Adamski covers religion for the Star-Bulletin.
Email her at madamski@starbulletin.com.
