The Right Reverend
Peter H. Beckwith
Bishop of
Springfield
Text of the presentation
delivered by the Right Reverend Peter H. Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield
on the floor of the House of Bishops at General Convention during the
debate on the resolution to give consent to the election of Canon Gene
Robinson as the Bishop Coadjutor of New Hampshire.
“Most Reverend
Sir.
I sense an impending
train-wreck the magnitude of which this portion of Christ’s Church perhaps
has never seen, but certainly not in the last 100 years. I also sense we
as a body do not believe it, or we do not care.
My greatest
frustration is that I believe the lack of leadership on the part of this
body, the House of Bishops, is responsible for allowing our Church to come
to this potentially destructive moment. Over the eleven years I have been
a member of this House, we have not dealt with the critical issue of
sexuality so that there might have been at least some consensus which
would have allowed us to avoid this present situation.
Nevertheless, I
have two major problems:
1)
I’ve been
taught by this Church since March 31, 1940, the date of my baptism, that
sex outside of marriage of a man and a woman falls short of the mark God
has set for all His people. Therefore, Bishop-elect Robinson’s life style
is inappropriate at best.
2)
I am being
asked to consent to the election of a person who if he were a priest in
the Diocese of Springfield would be referred for canonical trial for
conduct unbecoming a clergy person. As a result I cannot vote for him, nor
would I be able to recognize his ministry were he to be consecrated in
this Church.
I have wondered
often whether I am on the same page with most of my colleagues in this
House relative to the many issues which signal at least for me the
direction and drift of ECUSA away from the Church Catholic. Today I
question not whether we are on the same page or even whether we are in the
same book. Rather, today I question whether we are in the same library.
If consent is
given in this matter, my relationship with this body will be significantly
and, I believe, negatively altered; and I believe the relationship between
the Diocese of Springfield and the National Church likewise will be
significantly and negatively affected.
I pray this House
will NOT give consent to Canon Robinson’s election.”
