The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Proceedings
to appoint a group that is as representative as possible of the variety of viewpoints that are
held in this Diocese. It’s for others to decide whether he succeeded in doing so, but I believe
that, at least on this, the matter of the blessing of same-sex unions, that this is a truly diverse
group. I’d like to recognize and thank the members of the commission for their service over
the past year: the Rev. Chuck Alley, St. Matthew’s, Richmond; Gussey Bannard, St. Stephen’s,
Richmond; Frank Baxter, Calvary, Front Royal; Mary Causey, St. John’s, West Point; the Rev.
Sue Eaves, St. Thomas’, Richmond; the Rev. Sarah Kinney Gaventa, Emmanuel, Greenwood;
the Rev. Rick Lord, Holy Comforter, Vienna; the Rev. Cuthbert Mandell, Aquia, Stafford; Ms.
Jamie Robinson from St. Anne’s, Reston who unfortunately could not be here with us today
because of work commitments; the Rev. John Thomas Sheehan, Church of Our Redeemer,
Aldie; and Mr. Alex Slaughter, St. James’s, Richmond.
Our task force was given two responsibilities. The first responsibility came directly from
the language of the resolution passed last year: “To discern a possible emerging consensus
regarding the permitting of local option for the blessing of same-sex unions.” The second
responsibility came from Bishop Lee’s charge in establishing this commission, in which he
said that he believes that it is important for this commission to discern a way forward that
is pastorally responsive to the gay and lesbian Christians in our midst while, at the same
time, being mindful of our membership in the wider body of the Anglican Communion.
An important word in both of those charges is the word “discern.” There is, as you know,
a difference between democracy and discernment. Democracy seeks the will of the
majority. Discernment seeks the will of God. If the Church were primarily concerned
with democracy—seeking the will of the majority— then it would act like a legislative
body when gathered together, and we’d spend a lot of time taking polls, distributing and
processing surveys in order to better understand our constituents’ points of view, and
then crafting legislation that to reflect that—legislation that would, when we’re gathered
together, be debated, marked up in committee and then put to a vote with majority ruling.
If, on the other hand, the church were concerned primarily with discernment—seeking
the will of God—then it would not act like a legislating body, but a discerning body. I
read, somewhere, a pretty good metaphor: that the Church could even be considered the
body of Christ, and we, individually members of it. The author went on to say that the
eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor the head to the feet, “I have no
need of you,” or as Eugene Peterson wonderfully paraphrases that, “I want you to think
about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self importance, for
no matter how significant you are, it’s only because of what you are a part of.”
So seeing ourselves as part of the Body of Christ instead of part of a legislative process
was an important step. It freed us from the illusion that there can be a resolution to a
complex, ongoing and controversial matter. It forced us to pay careful attention to each
other, not because each person up here has a right to their opinion but because one never
knows through whom the Holy Spirit might be speaking. And most of all, it meant that
our work, our focus, was to discern—be engaged in the work of the Holy Spirit.
So, we began each meeting with a time of prayer, in reflection on Scripture. We
discussed issues of theology, sexuality, scriptural authority, church discipline and polity.
Occasionally, we would even try to keep things in perspective, reminding ourselves that
this is not the only time in Church history where there’s been controversy and conflict,
and that the Episcopal Church is not the only denomination trying to live out the Gospel
in a society where differences in sexual orientation are openly discussed and increasingly
acknowledged in all areas of public life.
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The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council