Bishops wrestle with divisive issues

As the Episcopal Church wrestles with internal divisions, members continue to work together with the hope of moving forward, said the presiding bishop and chief pastor of the Episcopal Church.

“Our differences are real, but our affection and fellowship are equally real,” the Most Rev. Frank Tracy Griswold III said Thursday in Spokane.

The consecration of the church’s first openly gay bishop – Gene Robinson of New Hampshire – has indeed caused some strain within some dioceses, he acknowledged. But despite the rifts, Episcopal leaders are committed to focusing on reconciliation, he said.

Griswold was joined by more than 200 bishops and their spouses at the Davenport Hotel on Thursday afternoon for the annual conference of the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops.

It was the first time in more than two decades that Episcopal bishops from all over the country have gathered here for their national meeting. For the next five days, leaders of the Episcopal Church – which is U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion – will focus on the themes of reconciliation and collaboration as they spend their time in prayer, worship and discussions.

Besides bishops from the Episcopal Church, which has 2.3 million members, the gathering has also drawn religious leaders from other provinces of the Anglican Communion including Brazil, Sudan and Malawi.

The House of Bishops decided to have its meeting at the Davenport Hotel after Spokane Bishop Jim Waggoner invited Griswold to help celebrate the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist’s 75th anniversary this year.

“We extend our welcome and are delighted you are here,” said Waggoner, who addressed the room full of bishops along with his wife, Gloria Waggoner. “We do so on behalf of this diocese.”

The last time the House of Bishops gathered in Spokane was in 1983, when the Rev. Leigh Wallace was the bishop of the diocese. During the conference that year, the bishops shared the hotel lobby with a cattle auction, recalled Wallace, who traveled from Montana for this year’s meeting. Heifers were stomping all over the red carpet, Wallace recalled with a laugh.

At that time, one of the more controversial issues for the church was the ordination of women, he said.

Today, the Episcopal Church must struggle with members who oppose gay clergy in their church. Robinson’s consecration was opposed by nine of the 112 dioceses of the Episcopal Church, as well as by many leaders of the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million adherents worldwide.

Dealing with differences without severing ties is one of the issues that the House of Bishops hopes to address this week. It is also the topic of the highly anticipated report of the Lambeth Commission, scheduled to be released in October.

The history of the Episcopal Church, which traces its roots to the Church of England, has always been about uniting a diverse people through common prayer, said Griswold. By struggling with this issue, Episcopalians and Anglicans find themselves in a “deeper place,” a place of understanding as to what it means to follow the church’s mission. In our polarized world, Griswold said, it doesn’t have to be “either or” but “both” and “and.”