Apparently-To: catholic@american.edu
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Date:         Sun, 8 Nov 1992 05:44:15 PST
From:         "John R. Covert 08-Nov-1992 0845" <covert@COVERT.ENET.DEC.COM>
Subject:      Conservatives miss turn at Episcopal assembly

By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff (Boston Globe, Nov 8, 1992, p.30)

A conservative Episcopalian faction was stymied yesterday in its bid to
force a debate on abortion, homosexuality, and the ordination of women
as priests when time ran out on the annual convention of the Episcopal
Diocese of Massachusetts.

With the diocesan agenda far from finished after two days, Bishop David
E. Johnson recessed the convention until next month, at which time the
conservative faction will presumably have its say.  But several members
of the faction complained that no time limits were imposed upon speakers,
and suggested that church leaders were not eager to grapple with their
slate of 31 resolutions.

At the bishop's request, the convention of 500 clergy and lay delegates
also began preparations for his succession.  They agreed to elect a bishop
coadjutor in March of 1994, who will serve alongside Bishop Johnson, 58,
and succeed him when he retires.

The convention yesterday was a spirited and largely harmonious affair,
though the conservative faction's resolutions probably would have provoked
sharp debate if they had been discussed.

For example, one of the resolutions asked the delegates, many of them
women, to agree that the ordination of women as clergy is "contrary to
Holy Scripture, tradition, and the constitution of the Episcopal Church."

The Episcopal Church has ordained women as clergy since 1976.  One of those
presiding at yesterday's convention was Bishop Barbara Harris, who became
the first female bishop of the Episcopal Church in 1989.  She said she
"would rather not discuss" the resolution denouncing the ordination of
women.

Tom Lloyd of All Saints' Church, a supporter of the resolution, contended
that the Bible specifies that only men may serve as priests.

But others disputed Lloyd's interpretation of the Bible, and Rev. Peter
Chase of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Newton said the ordination of
women "has done wonders for the diocese.  It has been a positive factor."

Other resolutions on the agenda but not discussed publicly yesterday
declared that abortion is a form of child abuse, that homosexuality is
a "sin," that the ordination of gays and lesbians to the clergy is contrary
to Scripture, and that it is "sacrilegious" for the Church to bless
homosexual relationships.

John Covert, a member of the conservative faction who belongs to the Church
of the Advent on Beacon Hill, said that the 31 resolutions represent an
effort to "restore traditional faith and order to the Church."

Some delegates were baffled by several of the resolutions, including one
that would forbid the ordination of transvestites and pedophiles.  Lloyd
acknowledged that he knew of no instances in which the chuch knowingly
ordained transvestites or pedophiles, but said the conservative faction
wanted to challenge the progressive factions to define the limits to their
tolerance.

Jonathan Maury, a member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in
Cambridge, said he believes the faction is unsettled by recent changes in
the Episcopal Church, adding that the resolutions put forward yesterday
amounted to an "orthodoxy check."

The resolutions "have little to do with the life of the church," Maury
said.  "What we're trying to do is maintain a communion of faith."