The last few days have been very eventful. It started in the House of Deputies on Sunday afternoon when in a vote by orders (meaning votes were counted by diocese, lay and clergy) resulted in the passing of Resolution D025: Commitment and Witness to Anglican Communion.
This resolution (text can be found here) affirms our relationship with the Anglican Communion. It also affirms the reality of gay and lesbian members of our community living in lifelong committed relationships, and, affirms that God has called and may call such individuals to any ordained ministry in the Church.
The voting in the House of Deputies was:
In the laity, 50 votes required for passage. 77 voted for, 31 voted against.
In the clergy, 49 votes required for passage, 74 voted for, 35 voted against.
On Monday afternoon, the resolution was discussed in the House of Bishops. The bishops made an amendment to the resolution, and in a bold move, passed the resolution! The voting in the House of Bishops was 99 bishops in favor, 45 bishop dissenting, and 2 bishops abstaining. The social networking service Twitter was ablaze with the news. This occurred towards the end of the legislative seesion in the House of Deputies so news traveled quickly to the larger House.
The amended resolution will now be referred back to the House of Deputies where they will have to review the amendment and vote to "Concur" or "Reject". So the final decision is in the hands of the House of Deputies. If the amended resolution passes, then this will effectively nullify the 2006 Resolution B033 (which issued a moratorium on the consecration of gay/lesbian bishops).
Stay tuned!
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