Resolution On Homosexuals Approved
Episcopal News Service. September 27, 1979 [79271]
Denver -- The General Convention of the Episcopal Church at its 66th triennial meeting here approved a resolution recommending that practicing homosexuals should not be ordained.
Approved also as part of the resolution was a statement that "There should be no barrier to the ordination of qualified persons of either heterosexual or homosexual orientation whose behavior the Church considers wholesome. "
The resolution -- which also recommended that it is not appropriate for heterosexual persons who are engaged in "relations outside of marriage" to be ordained -- easily passed in the House of Bishops by a roll call vote of 99 to 34. The vote in the House of Deputies to concur was by orders -- with 55 affirmative votes needed in the laity and 56 in the clerical order -- and the tally was: 77 yes with 31 counted against (18 no and 13 divided) in the lay order, and 70 yes with 40 opposed (29 no and 11 divided) in the clerical order.
The approved resolution does not legislate; it "recommends" certain "considerations" for bishops, pastors, vestries, commissions on ministry and standing committees in the dioceses in their selection of ordinands.
As soon as the House of Bishops approved the resolution, a dissenting statement was presented by Bishop John M. Krumm of Southern Ohio on behalf of a group of bishops. They said, "We cannot accept these recommendations or implement them in our dioceses...." Eventually 23 bishops signed this conscience statement.
Later, more than 150 clergy and lay persons associated themselves with the conscience statement in response to a call by the Rev. Jeffrey E. Sills of Eastern Oregon.
Most of the debate in both Houses focused on the last sentence of the third recommendation in the resolution. That final paragraph reads: "We re-affirm the traditional teaching of the Church on marriage, marital fidelity and sexual chastity as the standard of Christian sexual morality. Candidates for ordination are expected to conform to this standard. Therefore, we believe it isn't appropriate for this Church to ordain a practicing homosexual, or any person who is engaged in heterosexual relations outside of marriage."
The Deputies' ministry committee had recommended that the final sentence of that recommendation be deleted. The Deputies voted by orders to restore the sentence as follows: 71 lay votes yes and 40 votes against (27 no and 13 divided) and 60 clerical votes yes and 52 votes counted against (39 no and 13 divided). Fifty-six lay votes and 57 clerical votes were needed for approval.
The resolution on the ordination of homosexuals grew out of a study ordered by the Convention in 1976. The Standing Commission on Human Affairs and Health, chaired by Bishop Robert R. Spears of Rochester, released its report in June. That report recommended that "there should be no barrier to the ordination of homosexual persons who are able and willing to conform their behavior to that which the Church affirms as wholesome."
The commission also rejected any legislation that "singles out a particular human condition and makes of it an absolute barrier to ordination."
Prior to the consideration of the resolution on the ordination of homosexuals, an open hearing, attended by 1,500 persons, was held. Thirty persons, including bishops, priests, Convention deputies, visitors and community residents, testified. Only four spoke directly against ordaining avowed homosexuals.
The substitute resolution which was approved by Convention was submitted by the Ministry Committee of the House of Bishops, chaired by Bishop Robert B. Appleyard of Pittsburgh. The Rev. Charles L. Winters, Jr., of Tennessee was chairman of the Deputies' Ministry Committee.
Winters explained to the House of Deputies why the committee had decided by a 3 to 1 vote to recommend the deletion of the last sentence of the resolution.
"When you get to the last sentence, the entire document takes on a different tone," he noted. "It is no longer a document in which the church recommends its standards. It now becomes, in import if not in form, a canon. In tone it becomes a law, a bit of legalism, not an ethical or theological statement. "
After the Deputies reinserted the last sentence in the Bishops' resolution, the House rejected a series of attempted amendments designed to soften the language or intent of the resolution.
Following the concurring action by the Deputies, Presiding Bishop John M. Allin released a statement in which he said: "I am confident this concurrent action by the two Houses of this Convention will be supported by a great majority of the members of this Church.
"It provides guidance to bishops and other ministers, and it is a resource that will enable good pastoral leadership. It reminds us of the tradition which we have received and to which we are called to be loyal, while enabling us to meet the pastoral needs of the present. "
Whereas, we are conscious of the mystery of human sexuality and how deeply personal matters related to human sexuality are, making it most difficult to arrive at comprehensive and agreed-upon statements in these matters, and
Whereas, we are aware that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Church must continue to study these matters in relationship to Holy Scripture, Christian faith and tradition, and growing insights, and
Whereas, the 65th General Convention recognized "... that homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church..."; and
Whereas, all the clergy and laity of the Church are expected to render compassionate and understanding pastoral care to one another and to all persons;
Therefore be it resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, that the 66th General Convention receives with gratitude and appreciation the Report and Recommendations of its Standing Commission on Human Affairs and Health with special reference to the requested study of the matter of ordination of homosexual persons, and
Be it further resolved, that this General Convention recommend to bishops, pastors, vestries, commissions on ministry and standing committees, the following considerations as they continue to exercise their proper canonical functions in the selection and approval of persons for ordination:
- There are many human conditions, some of them in the area of sexuality, which bear upon a person's suitability for ordination.
- Every ordinand is expected to lead a life which is "a wholesome example to all people" (Book of Common Prayer, pp. 517, 532, 544). There should be no barrier to the ordination of qualified persons of either heterosexual or homosexual orientation whose behavior the Church considers wholesome.
- We re-affirm the traditional teaching of the Church on marriage, marital fidelity and sexual chastity as the standard of Christian sexual morality. Candidates for ordination are expected to conform to this standard. Therefore, we believe it is not appropriate for this Church to ordain a practicing homosexual, or any person who is engaged in heterosexual relations outside of marriage.