The eCrozier

The Church’s General Convention has now concluded. As your Bishop, I did my best to represent this Diocese while also holding in mind, as my ordination vows remind me, that I’m a bishop for the whole church and not just this Diocese. I must admit, I’m not much of a conventioneer. We’ll never meet most of the Church’s challenges by passing resolutions or changing canon law. Resolutions that tell people outside the Church what they should do seem pointless to me, even if they help us feel better about ourselves (often self-righteously so). Still, some of what we decide at our triennial convention matters, particularly decisions that determine how we pray and serve together. So, let me highlight three decisions from General Convention that I think matter most.

First, we approved a trial-use liturgy that makes minor changes to our Rite II Eucharist while fully retaining Creedal, Trinitarian, and the Lord’s Prayer formularies. The changes alter some liturgical language so it’s gender-inclusive. I’ll seek advice both from the Standing Committee and the diocesan Clericus before deciding if we’ll use this trial rite in Georgia. We have time. It won’t be canonically available until Advent of this year. The BCP 1979 is unchanged. It will remain, as it has been, the norm for all liturgies in our Diocese. It should go without saying, but let me say it anyway, that if I approve these trial rites, no priest or parish must use them.

Second, we found a way forward on marriage equality that preserves the dignity of all while also making the sacrament available to those couples who meet the requirements of the canons. Bishops, who because of conscience, can’t endorse same sex marriage in their diocese, will be able to invite another bishop who does sanction it to provide pastoral support to the clergy and congregations who want to offer the sacrament legally and canonically. This doesn’t affect our diocese at all. I authorized such marriages in Advent 2015. Priests in charge of parishes in our Diocese still retain the right, given in ordination, to decide to solemnize/not solemnize any marriage.

Third, those who participated in General Convention all received a deeper awareness of how the Church hasn’t always adequately protected those who have suffered misconduct from people in authority, particularly in the area of abuse, harassment, and gender inequity. I was quite moved by the personal stories I heard. I was also thankful that we in Georgia had made progress on much of these concerns long before this General Convention. That, of course, doesn’t mean we don’t have more work to do. We do. The Church can never tolerate or acquiesce to any abusive behavior or deliberate effort that promotes deliberate inequity among her people. You have my promise as your Bishop that we’ll persevere in this work. We can never be satisfied that we’ve addressed this as long as any kind of abuse or intentional inequity occurs. I still have much to learn and I pledge that I will listen to voices who may have been unheard before and to make changes, not only in my personal leadership, but in how we address these issues in our relationships, in diocesan policy, and in clergy deployment.

+Scott

The eCrozier is going on holiday with me for a few weeks. We both will return in August.