You almost have to smile at the bishops of the Episcopal Church in the states. It would appear that they have managed to get Rowan Williams the headlines that he wanted without changing their policy on anything at all.

The BBC is reporting things particularly inaccurately.
They say today:

Leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States have agreed to halt the ordination of gay clergy to prevent a split in the Anglican Church.
The Church will also no longer approve prayers to bless same-sex couples.

But neither statement is true at all. The bishops have not said they will halt the ordination of gay people. Some people think that they said that they would not ordain any more gay bishops. That is not quite right either. The polity lingers on. If any diocese elects a bishop who is in a partnership, it will still be for the other diocesan bishops with jurisdiction & Standing Committees to vote on whether to confirm the election just as they do for all bishops. We might presume that quite a few of them would vote against such an appointment at this time. We must also assume that quite a few would vote in favour. The process has changed not a jot as a result of this latest meeting.

Read it all. (Hat tip: DM)

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Commentary • Anglican Provinces • Scottish Episcopal Church • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • Sept07 HoB Meeting • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings

1. Mike Bertaut wrote: Nailed it.  He’s absolutely nailed it.  And he sounds really happy and impressed.  KTF…mrb September 26, 11:40 am | [comment link]

2. Rob Eaton+ wrote: I wasn’t sure, Kendall….. Is that a “sotted” Provost? RGEaton (just looking for clarity) September 26, 11:56 am | [comment link]

3. Rob Eaton+ wrote: Oh,man, you changed it just as I was posting.  Elves .... just remove my comments.  Too bad—it was kind of refreshingly humorous. September 26, 11:57 am | [comment link]

4. Kendall Harmon wrote: humor is much needed, rob, I am leaving it. I omitted the c in scottish by accident the first time I posted it. September 26, 12:18 pm | [comment link]

5. Ad Orientem wrote: The BBC is an entity of whom one just takes whatever they say with a very very large grain of salt. September 26, 1:39 pm | [comment link]

6. Pb wrote: I was struck by the NT reading for yesterday about yes being yes and no being no. All else is said to be from the evil one. I would assume that includes the HOB resolution. September 26, 2:26 pm | [comment link]

7. azusa wrote: Ah, yes, the Vanishing Piskies - noo ye see ‘em, noo ye dinnae ... September 26, 2:56 pm | [comment link]

8. Katherine wrote: The BBC has since corrected that story to refer to gay bishops rather than gay clergy.  But I saw it as this guy quotes it early this morning. September 26, 2:57 pm | [comment link]

9. dwstroudmd+ wrote: Well, count on the Scots to name the problem accurately. “Aye, Cap’n, the warp drive is fouled!  I dinna ken it be fix’ed.  It’s that dam’ polity switch!  Aye! ‘n’ the gender drive is ben’ all to hell, sir!” September 26, 3:24 pm | [comment link]

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