The object on which an Anglican bishop rests his hope rarely fails to confirm my low expectations.
Fred Hiltz could be hoping that the outcome of the debate will align with the Biblical understanding of marriage or, to say it another way, with God’s will for a Christian marriage. Instead, he hopes that there will not be too much squabbling.
From here:
Archbishop Fred Hiltz said he is aware that there is anxiety among Anglicans about how the 2016 General Synod will deal with a motion amending the marriage canon (church law) to allow the marriage of same-sex couples.
Hiltz expressed hope that the debates that will precede any decision will be conducted with respect and patience.
He is praying, he added, that people will “know the leading of the Holy Spirit” and that there will be “grace in the midst of what will be a very difficult and challenging conversation.”
[……]
In July 2013, General Synod — the church’s governing body — approved Resolution C003, which asked Council of General Synod (CoGS) to prepare and present a motion to change the church’s Canon 21 on marriage “to allow the marriage of same-sex couples in the same way as opposite-sex couples.”
It also asked that this motion include “a conscience clause so that no member of the clergy, bishop, congregation or diocese should be constrained to participate in our authorize [sic] such marriages against the dictates of their conscience.”
It’s hard to take the prayer “know the leading of the Holy Spirit” seriously, since the “conscience clause” (not that anyone takes that particularly seriously since those that exercise it will be ridiculed, ostracised and eventually driven out) anticipates disunity, something that would not be present if the delegates were more interested in being informed by the Holy Spirit than in using him as rubber stamp for their own opinions.
In other news, Sodom City elders are to investigate Lot for his hateful and bigoted attitude towards the customs of the city.
God prepared a very great shark, and lo, the ACoC did jump it.
The respectful example of TEC should inspire such hoped for sotto voce moderaton:
its House of Bishops just having voted to authorize gay marriage liturgies and “gender neutral” canons: 129 +; 26 -; 5 abstentions.
With the exception of only one ‘disrespectful’ spoken Dissent from the Bishop of Albany,
The Holy Spirit’s “leading” was not followed; it was even blasphemed.
The Holy Spirit has but one “conscience clause” –
His Holy WORD + John 17:17.
As long as you support apostasy you will have no argument with apostates such as Fred Hiltz and other so-called bishops. The ACoC and the TEC should be thrown out of the Anglican Communion as they are no longer Christian and worship “political correctness” – a deceptive term in itself.