Reflections on the Atlanta SCLM Consultation

[I hope that you all have been able to see the TEC webcasts of all the plenary sessions. They are supposedly there, but my browser hasn’t let me access them. I hope you’ve been able to see them.]

In the 1st plenary session, we were greeted by Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies. She remarked that the session was historic in two ways.

First, she said this was the first time that the House of Deputies had met outside of General Convention in the history of TEC. She contrasted that with the House of Bishops, who now meet at least twice a year. She acknowledged that this was not a meeting of the full House of Deputies. But I heard an echo of what I’m hearing on the HoBD listserv. The fact that the Bishops meet multiple times annually … but the House of Deputies only convenes each triennium … creates an imbalance. In that system, the Bishops are able to create a kind of collegiality that the Deputies cannot.

Second, she acknowledged that the topic itself was historic. While there have been many conferences and confabs about same-sex blessings, this was the first time that a representative group of the House of Deputies has been convened to consider it officially.