Bishop's Message Archives
Pray for the Church
By V. Gene Robinson
Aug 30, 2007, 05:08

Pray for the church

September 2007

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

On my many official visitations and informal visits to parishes and with individuals, I am often asked about the state of the Anglican Communion, about my not being invited – yet – to the Lambeth Conference of Bishops next summer, and the future of our Communion. Allow me to update you on where things stand at the moment.

It is true that I have not received an invitation to the Lambeth Conference of Bishops, to be held next July 16 – August 4 in Canterbury, England, although the archbishop has stated that he is considering some sort of invitation for my participation. The Archbishop of Canterbury is in a difficult and delicate position, and I don’t envy him in this difficult choice. There are those who have communicated with him that they will not attend if the Bishop of New Hampshire is a participant; others have gone so far as to threaten not to attend if anyone associated with my consecration (even those who voted “yes” on my consent, but were not present for the consecration) is in attendance.

On the other side, there are those who have threatened not to attend if the Bishop of New Hampshire is NOT invited, out of solidarity with the American church. Obviously, this is a Gordian knot as yet to be untied.

I am in conversation with the archbishop’s staff about how that might all work out. Those with whom I have been talking, by phone and in person, seem to agree that it makes no sense for me to be entirely excluded – especially given the Lambeth Conference’s “commitment” to a listening process of hearing the stories of its gay and lesbian members. What sense does it make to exclude the one openly gay voice available among its membership? We are searching for a way for me to be present without unnecessarily excluding those people for whom my consecration is problematic.  I have made it quite clear that I am open to reasonable options which do not deny my canonical status as a duly elected and consecrated bishop of the Church. That would be an affront, not only to the Diocese of New Hampshire, but to the entire American church. Time will tell whether or not such a “status” can be carved out that both preserves the integrity of the American church’s right to follow its own canons in

the election of a bishop, and also acknowledges the discomfort and objections of those who disagree.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has finally agreed to meet with the House of Bishops at our meeting in New Orleans in September. I ask your prayers for him, for the House of Bishops and all those present, that a real spirit of listening and communion will prevail. It is my hope that the House of Bishops will see the inclusion or exclusion of the Bishop of New Hampshire at the Lambeth Conference as an issue for the entire Episcopal Church, not merely between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of New Hampshire. It is also my hope that the archbishop will be open to a conversation with us, not merely offering a couple of lectures and leaving without any dialogue, as happened with his visit to the Canadian church. Pray, my brothers and sisters, for that kind of real exchange.

Reconciliation is hard work. It requires give and take from both sides. No “solution” is apt to be totally acceptable to both sides – that’s why it’s  called “compromise.” We are working for a

resolution that is acceptable and workable, and that preserves the integrity of all the parties to it. The way forward is not yet clear, but there is lots of time left between now and next summer. The American bishops still have the demands of the Primates’ Communique to respond to, and that response will have ramifications around the Communion. Ultimately, each bishop around the Communion will have to decide whether or not to accept the archbishop’s invitation to Lambeth.

It is my fervent prayer – and I hope it will be yours too – that a way forward will be found which will preserve the integrity of our Communion and its “big umbrella” approach to the life of faith which allows, even encourages, difference of opinion within the essentials of the Faith. Join me, please, in prayer for our Church as it struggles to live out the Gospel in these difficult times.

 +Gene