‘All’ Not Good Enough for Deputies
By the Rev. Lauren R. Stanley
The House of Deputies turned down the Bishops’ attempt to open the ordination process to all people, saying that while “all means all” is an ideal, it is not the reality in far too many places in the Episcopal Church.
The House of Bishops had felt strongly that leaving a long list of identifying characteristics in Title III, Canon 1, Section 2 would make it clear that the ordination process was open to every baptized Christians.
Deputies, however, were not convinced.
The Rev. Gay Jennings, deputy from Ohio and chair of the World Mission Committee, said that “while many understand ‘all means all,’ there is a sense that as a Church we still need to be specific … and must be vigilant in terms of access to the discernment processes.”
The Rev. Adrien Dawson, deputy from Maryland, said that when she first heard what the House of Bishops had done to amend the resolution, “I was in support of their use of the word ‘all’ to mean ‘all,’ but after some consideration and some conversation with my brothers and sisters from the LGBT community, I’m not sure our community is ready to believe that ‘all’ really means ‘all.’ I do not support this amendment … I hope that one day we are a community where all are recognized, but at this time we still need in black and white all of these categories of words.”
Added the Rev. Randy Dales, deputy from New Hampshire, “We lose a great deal if we forget that this list is of people who have been and in many cases still are being discriminated against in this Church.”
The Rev. Susan Eaves, deputy from Virginia, argued for accepting the amended version put forth by the bishops. “We have to ask ourselves two questions: Is our goal to ensure that all persons have access to the process … or is our goal to make a point by making a list of who might or have been excluded in the past? For my vote, I would rather be sure we have a process open to all.”
Deputies turned down the amended C061 by a vote of 424-282. The canon will remain as it was before Convention began.
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