The Reverend Gay Jennnings -- our newly elected President of the House of Deputies, pictured here with Bishop Barbara Harris -- got off to a great start with a "Guest Voices" feature in today's Washington Post. You'll want to read it all, but here's a bit to get you started:
Episcopalians are remarkably sincere about church democracy. We believe that the Holy Spirit is working through our legislative committees and debates, even when we misinterpret her guidance. Part of the reason our General Convention takes so long is that we spend significant time in worship, reading scripture, and singing.Can I get an "Amen!"??? And then let's suspend the rules of the House to allow for the playing of "Hail to the Chief."
When things get rough or tempers flare, we usually take a break to pray together before resuming debate. If we need more time to discern where God is leading us, we take it. Our recent moves to include lesbian and gay Christians more fully in the church, for example, are the result of more than 30 years of theological study, prayer, and conversation. One can disagree with these initiatives, but they were not born of a desire to reject our Christian truth for secular wisdom. Many of us who hold quite traditional views on the nature of sin believed that our church needed to repent of the sin of homophobia.
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