Bishop Counsell, New Jersey:
I understand that these guidelines include the kind of local pastoral provision that causes concern to the Primates. (See paragraph 21 of their Communiqué.) With all due respect, and, as a matter of conscience, I will not banish prayers for gay and lesbian couples. I will not punish clergy and churches who offer such prayers.
Indeed he invites them to do so under the provisions of his guidelines:
I invite the clergy to offer loving, wise and prayerful pastoral care and counseling to gays and lesbians living in life-long, monogamous and faithful partnerships. I encourage clergy and congregations to offer their pastoral support to such couples, which may include prayers of celebration and thanksgiving for the grace and holiness of their unions.
Taken as whole,
Bishop Counsell's guidelines serve as a model for how The Episcopal Church could respond to the Communique.
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Below is the portion of the bishop's address which I take to be the guidelines. I include his "pastoral directions" and opening and closing paragraphs surrounding them.
The Communiqué from the Primates and other reflections on their deliberations deserve our serious attention and our sincere respect. If we want to be listened to, we must listen. At its best, this process can lead us all to a more authentic Communion with our partners around the world. As daunting as this Communiqué is for many of us, let us struggle with it as those determined to remain a part of this worldwide Communion for the sake of the Church Catholic and for the sake of a hurting world.
Meanwhile, we are called to minister in New Jersey. New Jersey is not Tanzania, nor Nigeria; neither is it any of the 29 countries on the African continent where homosexuality is a criminal offense. We minister in a radically different context. In our churches are many gay and lesbian people who are living in faithful, committed unions who are asking for our acceptance, our support and our prayers. We have said that the Episcopal Church welcomes them and welcomes all. Gay and lesbian Christians are our brothers and sisters in Christ and our partners in mission and ministry, in work and worship, in fellowship and service. As someone recently said, "They are we."
In light of these factors and of the many questions and real pressures of the present moment, I offer the clergy the following pastoral directions.
(1) I support gay and lesbian couples whose relationships are characterized by "fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication and the holy love that enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God" (Resolution D039 of the 2000 General Convention and Resolution C051, GC 2003). I also support the New Jersey law that provides for same-sex civil unions. This position is consistent with the Episcopal Church's long-standing commitment to support equal protection under the law for homosexual persons. (See C019, GC 1994, reaffirming a 1976 resolution.)
(2) I will not, however, authorize any public liturgies for the blessing of same-sex unions. We do not at the present time have a consensus about the biblical and theological rationale for such unions in The Episcopal Church or in the Communion. While I favor the continuing study that could form the foundation for the development of such rites, I will not act alone to authorize them. I do not believe that any one bishop or diocese should authorize that which has not been authorized by the governing body from which they derive their authority.
(3) I invite the clergy to offer loving, wise and prayerful pastoral care and counseling to gays and lesbians living in life-long, monogamous and faithful partnerships. I encourage clergy and congregations to offer their pastoral support to such couples, which may include prayers of celebration and thanksgiving for the grace and holiness of their unions.
(4) I recognize that some who act under this pastoral provision to pray with and for same-sex couples may also wish to sign a state license for a civil union. Again, I will not authorize that which the General Convention has not authorized. Clergy cannot act as independent agents of the state alone. We are sacramental ministers and representatives of the Church, which is deeply conflicted on this issue. We can be pastors and partners in prayer while other officials (judges, mayors, clerks, et al.) meet the state requirements.
I understand that these guidelines include the kind of local pastoral provision that causes concern to the Primates. (See paragraph 21 of their Communiqué.) With all due respect, and, as a matter of conscience, I will not banish prayers for gay and lesbian couples. I will not punish clergy and churches who offer such prayers. And I will not retreat from extending as full an embrace and as genuine a welcome to gay and lesbian people into the Episcopal Church as we can. I know that that welcome and embrace are not all that they could be. Yet I remain hopeful that we can uphold the dignity of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters while we continue to address these matters and maintain our bonds with one another within this Diocese, within The Episcopal Church and within the Anglican Communion.
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