Giving and Receiving Episcopal Oversight: The Bishops’ Report (GS 2055)

Feb 9, 2017 by

by Andrew Goddard, Fulcrum:

The initial heat and fury of reactions to the House of Bishops’ Report “Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations” continues over a week after its publication with a concerted campaign now underway to persuade Synod to refuse to even “take note” of it.  Fulcrum has issued its own more positive response to the document.

Given the vehement reaction against the report, it is worth asking what on earth the bishops thought they were doing in writing as they did.  Can those who are hostile to their conclusions understand what the bishops have done and be positive about any aspect of their work?  In some ways this question about method and rationale is as important and significant as what they propose but the question has been largely ignored.

The short answer is that the bishops were seeking to fulfil their calling as bishops in the fractured body of Christ.  This means that disagreement with their report – particularly given the strength of it from some of those most distressed by what they have said – raises the question as to whether they simply did a very bad job in attempting this or whether there are deeper disagreements about what is involved in exercising the gift of episcope and the whole process that the bishops have followed.

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