A092 Access to ordination and deployment
Resolved, the House of ________________ concurring,
That the 81st General Convention amend Canon III.1 adding new sections 3 and 4 and renumbering all subsequent sections, as follows:
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III.1
Sec. 1. Each Diocese shall make provision for the affirmation and development of the ministry of all baptized persons, including:
a. Assistance in understanding that all baptized persons are called to minister in Christ’s name, to identify their gifts with the help of the Church and to serve Christ’s mission at all times and in all places.
b. Assistance in understanding that all baptized persons are called to sustain their ministries through commitment to life-long Christian formation.
Sec. 2. No person shall be denied access to the discernment process or to any process for the employment, licensing, calling, or deployment for any ministry, lay or ordained, in this Church because of race, color, ethnic origin, immigration status, national origin, sex, marital or family status (including pregnancy and child care plans), sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disabilities or age, except as otherwise provided by these Canons. No right to employment, licensing, ordination, call, deployment, or election is hereby established.
Sec 3. No person shall be denied access to the discernment process or to any process for the employment, licensing, calling, or deployment for any ministry, lay or ordained, in this Church because of their conscientiously-held theological belief that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman, or that marriage is a covenant between two people. No right to employment, licensing, ordination, call, deployment, or election is hereby established. In dioceses where the bishop exercising ecclesiastical authority (or, where applicable, ecclesiastical supervision) is unable, for reasons of conscientiously-held theological belief, to ordain a person who holds one of the above-named theological beliefs, the bishop exercising ecclesiastical authority (or ecclesiastical supervision) shall invite another bishop of this Church to provide access to the discernment process for ordination.
Sec. 4. No priest or deacon shall be denied licensure or canonical residence in any diocese of this Church because of their conscientiously-held theological belief that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman, or that marriage is a covenant between two persons. No right to canonical residence or licensing is hereby established.
Sec 5. The provisions of these Canons for the admission of Candidates for the Ordination to the three Orders: Bishops, Priests and Deacons shall be equally applicable to men and women.
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III.1
Sec. 1. Each Diocese shall make provision for the affirmation and development of the ministry of all baptized persons, including:
a. Assistance in understanding that all baptized persons are called to minister in Christ’s name, to identify their gifts with the help of the Church and to serve Christ’s mission at all times and in all places.
b. Assistance in understanding that all baptized persons are called to sustain their ministries through commitment to life-long Christian formation.
Sec. 2. No person shall be denied access to the discernment process or to any process for the employment, licensing, calling, or deployment for any ministry, lay or ordained, in this Church because of race, color, ethnic origin, immigration status, national origin, sex, marital or family status (including pregnancy and child care plans), sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disabilities or age, except as otherwise provided by these Canons. No right to employment, licensing, ordination, call, deployment, or election is hereby established.
Sec 3. No person shall be denied access to the discernment process or to any process for the employment, licensing, calling, or deployment for any ministry, lay or ordained, in this Church because of their conscientiously-held theological belief that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman, or that marriage is a covenant between two people. No right to employment, licensing, ordination, call, deployment, or election is hereby established. In dioceses where the bishop exercising ecclesiastical authority (or, where applicable, ecclesiastical supervision) is unable, for reasons of conscientiously-held theological belief, to ordain a person who holds one of the above-named theological beliefs, the bishop exercising ecclesiastical authority (or ecclesiastical supervision) shall invite another bishop of this Church to provide access to the discernment process for ordination.
Sec. 4. No priest or deacon shall be denied licensure or canonical residence in any diocese of this Church because of their conscientiously-held theological belief that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman, or that marriage is a covenant between two persons. No right to canonical residence or licensing is hereby established.
Sec. 3. Sec 5. The provisions of these Canons for the admission of Candidates for the Ordination to the three Orders: Bishops, Priests and Deacons shall be equally applicable to men and women.
Explanation
The non-discrimination provisions of Canon III.1.2 have not been sufficient to end the perception, and often the reality, of discrimination within the discernment and employment processes of The Episcopal Church. The prohibition on discrimination based on sexual orientation or marital status is undermined in its effect insofar as it remains licit to discriminate in these protected processes on the basis of one’s theological belief concerning same-sex marriage. Furthermore, we see no legitimate practical or pastoral benefit to denying access to these discernment processes on the basis of the belief that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman. If a congregation wishes to hire or discern a call to ordination with an individual who is otherwise qualified, they should not be prevented from doing so on the grounds of a mismatch between that individual’s theological belief about same-sex marriage and the theological belief of the bishop or their diocese. Section 3 would ensure genuine access to discernment processes for hiring and ordination while also providing for cases in which a bishop is unable, as a matter of conscience, to ordain someone whose theological belief regarding same-sex marriage is incompatible with their own.
Section 4 is a logical extension of Section 3. While Canon III.9.4.d provides that a priest’s letters dimissory must be accepted in the absence of information “which would form grounds for canonical inquiry and proceedings under Title IV” and that letters dimissory cannot be refused “based on the applicant’s race, color, ethnic origin, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities, or age,” this section applies only in cases where a priest has been “called to a Cure.” We do not believe that a member of the clergy’s theology concerning same-sex marriage, whether for or against, constitutes legitimate grounds for canonical inquiry under Title IV. We also believe that all members of the clergy should have equal access to the process for establishing canonical residency in a diocese regardless of their beliefs concerning same-sex marriage, not only those to whom the provisions of III.9.4.d apply.
This resolution does not create or imply any right to canonical residence or licensing. It simply requires that the letters dimissory of all members of the clergy should be processed without any distinction based in their theological belief concerning same-sex marriage.