The General Convention of the [1] Episcopal Church U.S.A. is going on this week in Anaheim, California. They have their hands full of controversy this year, as a [2] number of congregations and an entire diocese have tried to leave the Episcopal Church because they are still upset that [3] Gene Robinson was elected and consecrated Bishop of New Hampshire six years ago. Underlying this controversy, to a degree, is the fact that some conservative Episcopalians still haven’t gotten over the ordination of women two generations ago.

On Monday, the Bishops voted 99 to 45 (with two abstentions) to affirm the calling to ministry of gay men and lesbians in committed relationships. Lay delegates (House of Deputies) adopted a nearly identical statement earlier. A final version is expected to be adopted before the convention closes Friday.

All this in spite of pressure from other Anglican bodies around the world to back down on liberal gay issues and sustain a “moratorium” on consecrating any more homosexuals as bishops— and the hand-wringing and misgivings of the Archbishop of Canterbury who is trying to keep this worldwide Anglican communion together on his watch.

(Is it fair to ask as an aside: what good is a “moratorium” against more homosexual bishops when there are several sitting bishops who could be outed or just come out that would probably give Nigeria’s [4] Archbishop Peter Akinola a terminal heart attack?)

While many other Christian entities will watch the Episcopal Church carefully, this vote will undoubtedly be noted by the voting members (delegates) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s [5] Churchwide Assembly next month in Minneapolis, whether positively or negatively. I expect to be there as a registered visitor, not a voting member.

The ELCA and the Episcopal Church U.S.A. have had a relationship of full communion for the last ten years, since the adoption of “Called to Common Mission.” The ELCA’s own statement on ecumenical relations and full communion quotes Article VII of the Augsburg Confession of 1530, “For the true unity of the church it is enough to agree concerning the teaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments.”

The ELCA has full communion agreements not only with the Episcopal Church, but with the Moravian Church, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church USA and the Reformed Church in America. Our church body does not even begin to have the same mind about all aspects of church life, doctrine and theology, or the same mind about controversial issues which the churches all face. We have very different histories, different resources, different burdens, different insights from the one Holy Spirit of God.

On matters of human sexuality, the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church are more to the left of the ELCA and the Moravian, Presbyterian and Reformed churches are very much to the right. What is important is that, from individual congregations right up to the national and international level, we continue to affirm our agreement in proclaiming the Gospel and carrying out the commands of Jesus Christ regarding the Sacraments. If we are anchored in the same place on the same key foundational parts of our faith, there should be no worry about any other issue becoming divisive. If another issue becomes divisive, either at a congregational level or the national level, that is evidence that such an issue is supplanting the Gospel itself as the defining measure of faith and unity. For this to happen, someone or some group has to be forcefully pushing the Gospel aside and placing this issue onto center stage, And that would be evidence that the individuals who cry the loudest about disaster, controversy, or controversy are allowing themselves to be sidetracked from the mission of every Christian—to proclaim the Good News of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, and to let that grace shape their lives as living testimonies.

Peter Akinola and Martyn Minns

This probably sounds naive on my part, but I firmly believe that we should just watch who screams the loudest about disunity, division and disfellowship, and they will be the ones who are pushing, pulling and jerking the rest of the church around trying to fulfill their own prophecy of dissent and disunity. One of the people to watch, for example, is Rev. [6] Martyn Minns, who was also quoted in this morning’s [7] Los Angeles Times story on the General Convention. N.T. Wright, the Bishop of Durham, England is another right-wing voice who [8] writes today on the coming schism. Check out the full article [9] here, but be prepared to sputter at his dismissive, conservative reasoning.

For years now I have been covertly grateful that I am not Episcopal and I don’t have a dog in their fight. But now that the gloves are off, and our two general conventions are scarcely a month apart and facing the same issues, it is time to stand with the Episcopal Church U.S.A. and admit that we are in this together.

—Pastor Dan Hooper, Los Angeles