Episcopal session seen as mixed bag

Depending upon what you read this week, Episcopal leaders appeared to either bow to the wishes of worldwide Anglican Communion leaders, or they moved further away from their Anglican family.

The New York Times wrote Wednesday that Episcopal bishops, meeting during a conference in New Orleans, "rejected" demands of Anglican leaders by adopting a resolution that defies the Anglican Communion's directive to change several church policies regarding the place of gays and lesbians in their church.

The Associated Press reported on the same day that Episcopal leaders said they will "exercise restraint" in approving another gay bishop and that they will not authorize official prayers to bless same-sex couples.

The Right Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish, Utah's Episcopal bishop, said simply that the Episcopal House of Bishops voted to essentially reconfirm the 2006 resolution passed by her church's general convention held every three years. She voted against the nonbinding 2006 measure that urged Episcopal leaders to exercise restraint in future votes on ordaining gay bishops.

"I felt like we lost some ground and we gained some ground," Bishop Irish said in a phone interview. "And that's what pretty much happens in our church."

She read directly from the resolution, saying that the bishops agreed to exercise restraint by "not consenting to consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the church and will lead to further strains on communion." Exactly what constitutes a "challenge" to the church may vary from case to case, according to Bishop Irish.

The reconfirmation this week came via eight bullet points and accompanying paragraphs that were in response to a group from the Anglican community that visited the estimated 160 current and former Episcopalian bishops gathered as the House of Bishops in New Orleans. The Anglican group came armed with a paper that asked for clarification of last year's resolution.

"We thought we were pretty clear," Bishop Irish said.

She and a majority voted in favor of the eight bullet points and paragraphs, adding that, "We expect any day to hear back from them whether that satisfies them or not. I think they will be satisfied."

Those bullets and paragraphs address the Anglican community's two main concerns: gay bishops and blessings of gay unions. Bishop Irish said it should be clear as of this week that a "majority" of Episcopal bishops do not provide for same-sex blessings.

But this past week's meeting in New Orleans went beyond simply clarifying the Episcopal Church's 2006 resolution.