COLORADO: SAME-SEX COMPROMISE SOUGHT

Episcopal panel suggests taking a breather from fight over gay blessings

By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News

August 31, 2004

The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado is deeply divided over same-sex issues, but compromise between liberals and traditionalists is still possible, a task force has told Bishop Rob O'Neill, who will issue his final directive today.

The group's report suggests the diocese embark on a "season of restraint," with two main compromises for each side of the debate:

First, liberals should put the idea of same-sex blessings on hold until the church's general convention re-examines the issue in two years. They also should agree that the diocese won't add any new same-sex clergy partners from outside Colorado during that time period, though gay clergy partners already here may continue their parish work.

Traditionalists are asked to lift their financial boycott of the diocese, which is believed to be at least partially responsible for a $500,000 drop in pledges this year.

Traditionalists should also agree not to seek what's called "episcopal oversight," a process in which a parish can remove itself from O'Neill's authority in favor of a bishop more to their liking.

"It calls on clergy and laity to reclaim a common discipline," said the Rev. John Huffman, who agreed Monday to share details of the plan. He worked for six months on a 10-member task force appointed by O'Neill, who wanted to assess the impact of same-sex blessings on the divided diocese.

The group, which included liberals, traditionalists and a gay representative, struggled and sometimes clashed, but in the end, "I really felt the Holy Spirit broke through and what we produced really came out of our struggle with one another and our prayerfulness and attentiveness," said Huffman, pastor of Ascension Episcopal Church in Salida.

But the recommendations outraged the Rev. Don Armstrong of Colorado Springs. He is a member of the standing committee, the bishop's advisory body, and pastor of one of the largest parishes in Colorado.

He called the suggested compromises "a ploy."

"So Rob O'Neill gets his money, conservative clergy fund him and the gay clergy get to do what they want," Armstrong said Monday. "He's trying to get us to sit still while everybody gets used to having practicing gay clergy in the diocese. This will push us to redouble our efforts to get others to restrict giving and seek episcopal oversight."

Although he's free to alter the task force report, it's likely that O'Neill will support it as diocesan policy. He personally favors extending gay rights in the church but has already said he wants to hold off on implementing same-sex policies until the wider church can address the explosive issues at its next general convention, which meets in Columbus, Ohio, in 2006.

What's not clear is whether O'Neill could force the warring factions to accept their parts of the compromise. Even the task force cites the tension, alluding to factions in the diocese and disruptive clergy.

"Everybody has to buy into it" for the report to work, Huffman acknowledged.

Last summer at its general convention, the Episcopal Church USA gave first, limited approval to same-sex policies. It passed resolutions allowing an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, to take office in New Hampshire. It also agreed that individual dioceses could decide whether to develop same-sex blessings - liturgies that officially acknowledge a gay couple's relationship.

Those decisions sparked an uproar across the country, with traditionalists saying homosexual behavior contradicts scripture, and liberals arguing that the church should reflect the world around it.

In Colorado, the controversy was further inflamed in April. That's when a lesbian pastor, the Rev. Bonnie Spencer, disregarded O'Neill's call to wait and held a same-sex ceremony - though she insisted it was not a full liturgical blessing - with her partner at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Centennial.

Spencer declined to comment Monday on the task force recommendations.

The task force includes other recommendations. Among them, it asks that the concept of same sex blessings be submitted to "solid theological work" by church experts and not be considered only as a "social justice" issue, Huffman said.

He said O'Neill also insisted that the task force include one bedrock principle in its report: that the Colorado diocese would never be "separated from Canterbury," a reference to the London headquarters of the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church USA is one of 38 provinces.

However, the wider Anglican Communion rejects homosexual behavior - and even now is considering whether to censure the far more liberal American church. Its report is expected in October.

"As we discussed all these things, we found ourselves driven up a wall," Huffman said. "What if the next convention of the Episcopal Church USA approves same-sex blessings? What will happen at Canterbury? We couldn't answer what would happen then in Colorado. We could not answer all the what ifs. We had to deal with what's on the ground now."

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