A month from publication of a much-anticipated report on the future of the Anglican Communion, the Rt. Rev. George L. Carey presided at two high-profile confirmation services in the Diocese of Virginia Sept. 15.

Virginia Bishop Peter James Lee said he was pleased that Archbishop Carey, who retired as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002, accepted his invitation to stand in for him at the confirmation services and “hoped that this pastoral act would be seen as a way of accommodating people who have differing views” on what scripture says about homosexual behavior.

Eleven of the diocese’s 195 congregations had participants in the confirmation services at Truro Church in Fairfax.

At the beginning of his sermon, the retired archbishop said he was presiding at the invitation of two friends — Bishop Lee and the Rev. Martyn Minns, rector of Truro. “I’m here as [Bishop Lee’s] representative and I’m pleased to represent the diocese and the Anglican Communion.”

Canon Minns explained the position of his church at a press conference with the archbishop prior to the service. “This event is a wonderful thing but it is also a sign of the brokenness in the church and a painful reminder of the alienation we feel from our own bishop,” he said.

Most Virginia congregations still welcome Bishop Lee. In the year since General Convention, he has averaged more than one visitation a week, visiting 60 churches and confirming more than 300 Episcopalians.

“Based on my travels in the diocese,” said Bishop Lee, "the great majority of Virginia Episcopalians are people who do not have a strong opinion and will not let this issue distract them from the mission of the church.”

Nancy Jenkins

(From The Living Church, Oct. 10, 2004)