{"id":589,"date":"2009-06-03T03:51:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-03T10:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.gajunkie.com\/?p=589"},"modified":"2009-06-03T03:51:00","modified_gmt":"2009-06-03T10:51:00","slug":"presbyterians-do-things-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.gajunkie.com\/?p=589","title":{"rendered":"Presbyterians Do Things Differently"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love it or hate it Presbyterians are big on committees.  That is how we do things as a Covenant Community.  That is how we hold ourselves accountable.  And it allows the church to discern together God’s will as we listen to each other and are guided by the Holy Spirit.  And the PC(USA) has an open meetings policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And you probably know that back in February the Moderator of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) named a Special Committee<\/a> to study civil unions and Christian marriage.  It met back in March and will meet again in two weeks.<\/p>\n

Being on that Special Committee myself I had to laugh when I read this news about the Episcopal Church<\/a> today:<\/p>\n

The House of Bishops Theology Committee is refusing to release the
\nnames of members of a sub-committee it has appointed to study same-sex
\nrelationships. The existence of the panel was first reported in the Blue Book<\/a>,
\nwhich contains information relevant to General Convention, 2009.
\nHowever, the Rt. Rev. Henry Parsley of Alabama, chair of the Theology
\nCommittee has refused several requests to disclose the names of its
\nmembers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks to The Lead<\/a> for this information.  It seems that since it is a sub-committee of the Theology Committee the possible<\/i> members of the sub-committee are known.  Still, an interesting way to do business.  The LGBT advocacy group Integrity responded, in part, with this<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this isn\u2019t the height of absurdity and insult I don\u2019t know what
\nis,\u201d said the Reverend Susan Russell, President of Integrity USA, the
\nLGBT advocacy group within the Episcopal Church. \u201cIt sends a horrific
\nmessage to gay and lesbian people \u2013 both inside and outside the church.
\nThe very concept of \u201csecret studies\u201d elicits painful memories of secret
\nstudies done on other minority groups in the past and is utterly
\ncontrary to our baptismal promise to respect the dignity of every human
\nbeing. There is absolutely nothing dignified about a secret study of a
\ngroup already being discriminated against. It is suspect, disingenuous
\nand dishonest.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This has “gone viral” on the Episcopal and Anglican blogs:  The Friends of Jake<\/a>, Preludium<\/a>, Telling Secrets<\/a>, Thinking Anglicans<\/a>, are ones I have seen so far and I am sure there are many more to come.<\/p>\n

I will update as news develops.<\/p>\n

Update – 6\/4\/09:
There has been a response from the chair of the Theology Committee, the Rt. Rev. Henry N. Parsley, Jr. The official statement<\/a> says, in part:<\/p>\n

…I wish to assure those concerned that the panel very intentionally
\nrepresents a robust range of views on the subject and includes gay and
\nlesbian persons.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and<\/p>\n

This project has been designed in full communication with the House of
\nBishops. It has always been the committee\u2019s intention to publish the
\nnames of the panel when the work has reached the appropriate stage. We
\nbelieve that for a season the work can best be accomplished by allowing
\nthe panel to work in confidence. This supports the full collegiality
\nand academic freedom of the theologians and provides the space they
\nneed for the deep dialogue and reflection that is taking place among
\nthem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the church has issued a press release<\/a> referring to this statement.<\/p>\n

The response from within the Episcopal Church continues and outside the Anglican circles a few others, besides myself, who have commented include more media-oriented blogs BibleBeltBlogger<\/a>, Desert’s Child<\/a>, and Daily Religious<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Update – 6\/6\/09
There are now reports that the Episcopal Church web site which previously promised transparency in their operations has removed that claim.  The story from BibleBeltBlogger<\/a> and a response from Preludium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And a little humor from The Lead<\/a> about selecting the members of the secret committee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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