From YBYHAMK@ip3gate.usa.comMon Feb 26 11:24:13 1996 Date: Sat, 24 Feb 1996 17:25:59 -0500 From: YBYHAMK@ip3gate.usa.com To: LCREW@andromeda.rutgers.edu Subject: Part 6, Thank GOD THE TRIAL OF BISHOP WALTER RIGHTER A FACT SHEET Presented by Integrity, Inc. 13. How many of the clergy in the Episcopal Church are lesbian or gay? A. No one can answer that question. As of 1993, their were 15,004 bishops, priests and deacons in the Episcopal Church. Estimates of how many are lesbian and gay range from 10% (1500) to 40% (6,000). 14. How many of the clergy of the Episcopal Church are out of the closet? A. Once again, there is no definitive answer and being out is a matter of definition and degree. However, a reasonable estimate is approximately 1000. 15. How many were out to their bishops at the time they were ordained? A. This is the most relevant question to the heresy trial. No one could ever answer this question definitively. Scores of gay men (pre-1977) were ordained after telling their bishops of their sexual orientation. Often the bishops were also gay. Things changed in 1977 with the ordination of Ellen Barrett by the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Jr., then the Bishop of New York. Barrett was openly lesbian and her ordination received widespread publicity. Kim Byham has maintained a list of those he knows to have been out to their bishops at the time of their ordination or reception since 1977. At present, this list includes 120 individuals who have been ordained or received by 50 bishops (only 42 of whom are still living). Please note that this does not purport to be an inclusive list; there have undoubtedly been far more ordinands in the last twenty years who have been honest with their bishops about their sexuality. 16. How many gay bishops are there? A. There is only one out-of-the-closet gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, the Rt. Rev. Otis Charles. Charles, 69, was Bishop of Utah (1971-86) and Dean & President of the Episcopal Divinity School (1985-93). There are two other out-gay Anglican bishops, the Rt. Rev. Derek Rawcliffe, retired Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway in the Episcopal Church of Scotland, and the Rt. Rev. Merwyn Castle, Suffragan Bishop of Cape Town in the Church of the Province of South Africa. There are scores of closeted gay bishops. Their existence is an open secret in the Church. Integrity has never kept a list of those known to be currently or formerly sexually active gay men among the episcopacy. 17. How do Episcopalians feel about issues of the inclusion of lesbians and gay men in the Episcopal Church? A. In 1993, the Episcopal Church undertook the most massive dialogue on the issue of human sexuality in American history. Perhaps 30,000 people took part in the parish discussions of this topic. As many as 1128 congregations and slightly more than 77% of the dioceses participated in these dialogues. 18,219 of these participants completed extensive questionnaires on their opinions. The results, announced in 1994, were quite striking: + Human sexuality is a gift from God and it is good. (96%) + The Church should take an active and responsible role in teaching young people about human sexual issues. (92%) + Women and men should be equals in the Church. (90%) + Gender should not be a factor in determining people's daily work and vocation. (87%) + Homosexuality is a genuine sexual orientation for some people. (81%) + The chief standard for right and wrong is not specific texts but the character of Jesus revealed in the Gospels. (80%) + Supporting committed relationships between gay or lesbian persons could strengthen the Christian community. (53%) Examining the results demographically yields additional information: + A greater proportion of women than men and ordained persons than lay persons believe that homosexuality is a genuine sexual orientation for some people; + Agreement with the belief that supporting committed relationships between gay or lesbian persons could strengthen the Christian community is greater among women than men, among ordained persons than lay persons, and among young persons than older persons. 18. What is the real reason for this case? A. Addressing the Integrity National Convention in 1993, the Rt. Rev. Douglas Theuner, Bishop of New Hampshire and a member of the Trial Court, described his encounter with a bishop who has since become one of the ten accusers: A report in The Voice of Integrity by Dr. Louie Crew: In another part of his address, Bishop Theuner recalled meeting with a brother bishop shortly after Bishop Spong had ordained Robert Williams as an openly gay priest in 1989, with the attendant media blitz. The host bishop vociferously insisted that the rest of the House of Bishops ought to demand Jack Spong's resignation. "Scripture absolutely condemns homosexuality!" the host bishop repeated each time that Bishop Theuner suggested alternative ways of responding to the ordination. Exasperated, the host bishop said to Theuner, "You don't know what it is like to walk into the Rotary Club and have everyone in the room look at you with puzzlement or even contempt because you're a bishop in a church that would do something like that and not stop the bishop who did it! And you can't know what it's like to have some of your major donors call you up over the phone and withdraw their pledges because your church ordains queers!" "See," Bishop Theuner said gently with great pain, "he thought it was about Scripture, but it really was not. He was running scared because of what people might think about him personally, and he was running scared about the bank account." 19. Who are the accusers? A. Ten bishops, the minimum number required by the Canons, initiated the charges against Bishop Righter on January 27, 1995. While all are on the far rightwing of the Episcopal Church, a strong abhorrence of non-celibate lesbians and gay men is their principal common belief. They represent a variety of liturgical and theological positions in the Episcopal Church. Age Diocese Current Year Communicants 12/31/95 Status Consecrated 1993 1 Ackerman Keith 49 Quincy Diocesan 1994 3,130 2 Benitez Maurice 67 Texas Retired 1980 55,855 3 Coleman James 66 West Tennessee Diocesan 1993 8,759 4 Howe John 53 Central Florida Diocesan 1989 26,412 5 Iker Jack 46 Fort Worth Diocesan 1993 14,499 6 Jecko Steven 55 Florida Diocesan 1994 20,455 7 Kelshaw Terence 59 Rio Grande Diocesan 1989 10,648 8 Schofield John-David 57 San Joaquin Diocesan 1988 7,330 9 Stanton James 49 Dallas Diocesan 1993 26,479 10 Wantland William 61 Eau Claire Diocesan 1980 1,978 Bishop Wantland, who is a lawyer by training, was only a priest for ten years when he was elected bishop of the smallest diocese in the Episcopal Church. Remarried after divorcing his first wife, he has nevertheless been an outspoken supporter of the proposition that "physical sexual expression is appropriate only within the lifelong, monogamous union of husband and wife." Bishop Wantland is one of the four diocesan bishops (all are accusers) who will not ordain women. All four of those are from the extreme Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church. He has threatened to leave the church on numerous occasions if General Convention does not vote the way he wishes. It rarely has. The most recent occurrence was at General Convention in 1994 where he offered a resolution saying that "no person shall be ordained to any of the three orders -- bishop, priest or deacon -- unless that person accepts as valid the ministry of all persons ordained in this church." He threatened to leave the church if his own resolution was adopted, or if the convention merely tabled it. It was "discharged," which means not acted on, yet Bishop Wantland remains in the church. Bishop Schofield is also an Anglo-Catholic opposed to the ordination of women. At the time of his election as bishop he was a member of a Roman Catholic religious order. Never married, Bishop Schofield in 1994 described to Foundations Daily, the ESA journal at General Convention, his own experience at New Creation Ministries, an "ex-gay" program in Fresno. However, when subsequently asked about this by The Fresno Bee, the bishop denied being either gay or "ex-gay." Bishop Howe is the polar opposite of Wantland and Schofield in his liturgical style. From the charismatic wing of the Church, Howe's tastes run to guitar accompaniments for services. Howe was also involved with so-called "ex-gay" ministries when he was Rector of Truro parish in Fairfax, Virginia. In 1977, he sought national press attention for "Liberation in Christ," an ex-gay ministry at his parish which he claimed had "healed" hundreds of homosexuals. The same month his claims received widespread media attention, the ministry was abruptly closed when it was discovered that the head of the program was not as "healed" as Howe had contended. Despite this embarrassment, a few years later Howe again began pushing the myth of homosexual healings. Bishop Benitez is from the Republican wing of the House of the Bishops. During the Reagan administration when the bishops decried the military buildup which was occurring simultaneously with reductions in spending for the poor, Bishop Benitez was the only bishop to publicly defend spending more on nuclear and other weapons. He signed the charges leading to the presentment only a few days before his retirement, which would have made him ineligible to initiate such charges. Bishop Kelshaw, who was born in England, was an associate professor at the right-wing Trinity School for Ministry near Pittsburgh at the time of his election in Rio Grande (which is all of New Mexico and the western panhandle of Texas). Kelshaw has been outspokenly critical of the Presiding Bishop, recently charging in his diocesan newspaper that all of Bishop Browning's decisions are actually made by Sally Bucklee, former president of the Episcopal Women's Caucus. She, in turn, according the Kelshaw, receives her instructions from Louie Crew, Integrity's founder. Bishop Kelshaw's paranoia is reportedly not limited to the national church and has led to near revolution in his diocese. 20. What is Integrity? A. Integrity is the Episcopal Church's lesbian and gay justice ministry. Founded in 1974 in rural Georgia by Dr. Louie Crew, the organization has grown to more than 70 chapters in the United States, Canada and Australia, with a U.S. membership of almost 2500. The organization is open to all who support gay and lesbian rights in the Episcopal Church. Members include several bishops. Integrity's mission is to be the witness of the lesbian and gay community in the Episcopal Church and of the Episcopal Church in the lesbian and gay community. We engage in a ministry of worship, education, advocacy, fellowship, and service. Integrity is the second largest Christian lesgay caucus (after Dignity) and is by far the largest relative to the size of its denomination. 21. Is there an official position on homosexuality in the Episcopal Church? A. No. While the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches, for example, have promulgated statements alleging that Christianity and homosexual practices are incompatible, the Episcopal Church has never said anything comparable to that. 22. What did Bishop Righter do that allegedly constitutes heresy? A. It has been frequently overlooked that Bishop Righter is not charged only with heresy. Heresy, as described in Canon 1.1(2) of Title 4, is "Holding or teaching publicly or privately, and advisedly, any doctrine contrary to that held by this church." In addition, Bishop Righter has been charged with violating his ordination vows under Canon 1.1(6) of Title 4. According to the accusers' initial document, it was not Bishop Righter's ordination of a non-celibate gay man to the diaconate that constituted heresy. That, instead, was alleged to be a violation of his ordination vows. Two actions by Bishop Righter are claimed to have constituted heresy: 1) voting with the minority in a House of Bishops meeting in 1990 and 2) signing the Statement of Koinonia in 1994. In both of these alleged heresies, he was joined by large numbers of fellow bishops. On September 18, 1990, Bishop Righter voted no at on a motion to affirm the February 20, 1990 statement of Presiding Bishop and his Council of Advice disassociating themselves from Bishop Spong's ordination of an openly non-celibate gay man in December 1989. The vote was 80 yes and 76 no. This is an extraordinary charge because all 76 bishops would be equally subject to heresy charges. Presumably, if the majority's view always constitutes doctrine, those who vote in the minority are always heretics. At the General Convention in Indianapolis in August 1994, Bishop Righter signed A Statement of Koinonia. Ultimately 73 bishops joined him in signing (of whom three are now dead.) Once again, it appears that the accusers are saying that one cannot express support for a cause that the majority have not joined. There is no precedent for this position in the history of the Church. 23. What did Bishop Righter do that allegedly constitutes a violation of his ordination vows? The ordination of a non-celibate gay man to the diaconate is alleged to violate his vow to uphold the "doctrine, discipline, and worship" of the Church. This charge is perhaps the most common basis for the trial of a clergy person. Usually it is a priest or deacon who has been charged with not following his/her bishop's directions. These were the charges brought against Bishop Stewart Wood for his ordination of a non-celibate lesbian to the priesthood. What is the discipline of the Church? This is somewhat clearer than "doctrine." In most definitions, "discipline" involves the canons and those things that flow from the canons, e.g., if a bishop is authorized to suspend a priest and the priest acts in contravention of that suspension, that would constitute a violation of "discipline." The accusers allege that violation of the 1979 General Convention resolution that "recommend[ed]" it was "not appropriate" to ordain non-celibate lesbians and gay men constituted a violation of the Church's discipline. However, when the same charges were made in Wood case, the panel of bishops held "that this resolution is only what it purports to be: a statement of principal for the guidance of persons involved in the ordination process. It is not a statement of disciplinary requirement for breach of which action may be taken under Title IV" of the canons. 24. What do the Episcopal Church's Canons say about homosexuality? A. The subject is addressed in only one place in the canons. This section was added in 1994 due to the legislative efforts of Integrity, the Episcopal Women's Caucus, and other constituent members of the Consultation of progressive organizations in the church. Title III, Canon 4, Section 1 states: ... No one shall be denied access to the selection process for ordination in this Church because of race, color, ethnic origin, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities or age, except as otherwise specified by these Canons. No right to ordination is hereby established. The committee that in 1994 dismissed the charges against Bishop Stewart Wood for ordaining a non-celibate lesbian found "there is no provision of the Constitution or Canons of the church which prohibits the ordination of homosexuals."