Members of the House of Deputies appeared to be in no mood to alter the language of Resolution D025, which provides a revised statement to the church and the rest of the Anglican Communion as to the suitability of partnered homosexual persons within the episcopacy and other senior leadership positions of the church.
 
The House of Deputies approved the resolution as presented by the Committee on World Mission July 12, but the House of Bishops amended the document slightly July 13, requiring the two versions to be reconciled.
 
“I rise against amendment,” said Simon Ross of Michigan. “If amended ,we will never see it in this house again. We have worked too long and hard. To change that now would be criminal.”
 
Samuel Gould, a youth deputy from the Diocese of Massachusett,s was also against amendment. He noted that the moral compass of contemporary youth has changed from the past and he went on to cite statistics that 66 percent of all young people support full and equal rights for homosexual persons. He also noted that among college-age students, 83 percent of those who identify as Christian believe the church to be “anti-gay,” and 91 percent non-church-going college-age students also consider the church to be unwelcoming to homosexuals.
 
While the overwhelming number of speakers was opposed to amending or rejecting D025, the Rev. Rene Somodevilla of West Tennessee made an impassioned plea against its approval.
 
“Nigerians in the Episcopal Church are no longer welcome in Nigeria,’ he said. “If this passes, we will no longer be welcome in the Episcopal Church either.” Fr. Somodevilla then went on to ask where he would find an ecclesiastical home if this resolution were to pass.
 
Another speaker, Zack Brown, a youth deputy from the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, said he feared that passage of Resolution D025 would result in the departure of more traditionalist Anglicans from the Episcopal Church and that its ideological balance would become increasingly skewed to the progressive side on issues as a result.
 
The time set aside for debate over the resolution expired shortly after Fr. Somodevilla and Mr. Brown’s comments. Voting by deputies was done with the electronic devices which again seemed to delay rather than expedite the vote. After a delay of about 40 minutes, the results were read as follows:
 
In the lay order, 78 deputations voted in favor of the version as reported out of the House of Bishops, 21 deputations voted against, and there were nine divided lay deputations. In the clergy order, 77 deputations voted in the affirmative, 19 voted against, and there were 11 divided clergy deputations. In order for a vote by orders to count as a yes vote, both must vote in the affirmative. If the vote is divided, it is counted as a no vote.
 
Steve Waring reporting from General Convention in Anaheim.
 
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