Sunday, July 19, 2009

Provost Kelvin Holdsworth, St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow remarks on Gen Con 2009

"What’s going on in America?" Kelvin Holdsworth inquires...well, he is the Provost of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland. And he is part of the Scottish Episcopal Church, our brothers and sisters in arms, as it were, in the Anglican Communion. Did you know that the first clergyman in the Episcopal Church USA was ordained by a bishop of the Scottish church, and hence we have Seabury because it was Seabury who was ordained for us, to send us on the road we now find ourselves on. Delightful, the Scottish Church, doing that for us Episcopalians. Do read the following commentary and observations of the good Provost. You will also want to visit his blog called What Is In Kelvin's Head?

There is quite a lot going on in the Anglican world this week. The Church of England Synod was meeting, but did not make much headline news, with the exception that they decided not to shift power from committees and boards to bishops. (ie from laity, clergy and episcopacy to episcopacy).

More interesting is what is going on in the States, where the General Convention of the Episcopal Church is taking place. It only happens every three years and is their great decision making body.

The General Convention has passed a resolution which is getting a lot of press at the moment, Resolution D025. It is worth reading what it actually says and not simply relying on other people’s interpretation. (Including mine!)

The American church seems to have decided that honesty is the best policy. They say simply where they are at with events which have become so toxic within Anglicana. They say that they remain fully committed to the Anglican Communion and also that their methods of selecting bishops remain those of their constitution and canons. This means that those who must consent to Episcopal elections must apply their own conscience when giving consents. The Anglican world cannot simply assume that the American church will reject a bishop who happens to be gay, just because Rowan Williams (or anyone else) asks them to...

Go to Kelvin's blog to read the rest of his narrative regarding General Convention. It's a definite good read.

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