Episcopalians to use 'restraint'

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Episcopalians approved a last-minute resolution yesterday agreeing to "exercise restraint" in the selection of its bishops, but not mentioning homosexuality or same-sex unions, the issues that have brought the 2.2 million-member denomination into disrepute with worldwide Anglicanism.
 
"The diverse center has finally found its voice in the business of this convention," said Bishop Frank Griswold, the denomination's outgoing presiding bishop.
 
Crafted late Tuesday night, Resolution B033 urged Episcopal leaders "to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion."
 
The "manner of life" clause was a reference to individuals such as New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson whose consecration in 2003 as the church's first openly homosexual prelate has split the 70 million-member Anglican Communion.

 
Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Schori then was brought in to the deputies for a pep talk. Bishop Schori had preached that morning at a service about trusting in "our mother Jesus [who] gives birth to a new creation." But the deputies greeted her remarks with silence.
 
"This resolution is far from adequate," she said. "But it's the best we'll probably do today and at this General Convention. "I am committed to the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in this church. I do not consider this resolution as slamming the door."

 
FULL STORY at
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060621-111037-8864r.htm