FINAL VERSION
Resolution:C024
Title:Consent to Episcopal Elections
Topic:Ordination Process
Committee:08 - World Mission
House of Initial Action:Deputies
Proposer:Diocese of Newark

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 76th General Convention affirm that standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction are bound only by the rules set forth in the canons when considering consents to the ordination of any candidate to the episcopate and are admonished to consent only to those candidates who are committed to upholding the canons.


EXPLANATION

Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention, which called upon "standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion," was never intended to be permanent and it was passed in what has been shown to be a frequently frustrated hope that it would prevent further fractioning of the Anglican Communion ("the wider church"). There is no reason to continue it and a clear reason to, in effect, declare B033 null and void - that a diocese may be prevented from choosing the best qualified person to be its bishop.