Two weeks have gone by since Diocesan Convention and passage of the now-infamous Resolution #4. This is the resolution that began life strongly supporting The Episcopal Church and rejecting limitations on the authority of General Convention. The resolution as passed was only a lukewarm endorsement of TEC and a strong affirmation of The Bishops' Statement on Polity. The original supporters of the proposal that eventually became Resolution #4 were so outraged by its transformation that they requested their names not be attached to it, yet the Diocese authorship to them, anyway. I personally requested the Bishop to show respect and publicly retract their names. No such public retraction has been forthcoming. This comes as a disappointment to us, but surely as no surprise.
What is perhaps more surprising is the disillusionment of Bishop Love's previous supporters out in the conservative blogosphere. A case in point is the blog called Virtue Online, which our Bishop himself touts as a reliably "orthodox" source of Anglican news and commentary. David Virtue did not know what to make of our convention re-affirming membership in Province II and The Episcopal Church. Virtue correctly interpreted the Bishops' Statement of Polity as denying central authority to TEC, but was clearly disappointed that the resolution's main clauses reaffirmed Albany's "loyal membership." Resolution #4, it seems, contains enough to offend everyone.
Comments to Virtue's blog were even more blunt. "I once had some hope for +Bill Love. I guess I was wrong," said one commenter. Another reader ruefully noted that "the Albany Diocese, by the way, was one of the members of the Anglican Communion Network," inferring that the resolution was a disloyalty to the memory of the now-defunct Network. "It is sad that so many of TEC live in a fog," lamented another conservative reader. "It's simpletons like this who make TEC what it is," summed up another. But at least one of Virtue's readers attempted to cheer the others up by observing, "don't forget Albany's "parish choice" option; if you are an orthodox parish you do not need to give one penny of your assessment to TEC!"
This disillusioned response of the conservative pundits to Albany's latest convention embarrassment is telling. By hijacking a proposal and twisting its intent, convention failed to even win the respect of those conservatives it seems most eager to impress.
We are in the process of looking for a bishop. Our current bishop is retiring. I'm personally glad to see him go. I hope we get one that is a little less homophobic.
Posted by: Kay | June 19, 2009 at 08:58 PM