c. 1997 Religion News Service

PHILADELPHIA _ The Episcopal Church _ known in recent decades for its emphasis on social activism _ appears to have embarked on a new, middle-of-the road course focused on evangelism and healing internal divisions.

The shift in emphasis was evident here during the denomination’s 10-day triennial General Convention, which concludes Friday (July 25).

Social action will remain a church concern, but will no longer be the denomination’s centerpiece. Driving the change are baby-boomer Episcopalians more oriented toward spiritual concerns and tired of church infighting.

The Episcopal Church has been beset by internal bickering and problems as it deals with the ordination of women priests, homosexuality, a steep decline in membership, a wrenching shift into new liturgies, and a series of sex-and-money scandals.

The 2.4 million-member church remains deeply divided over its decisions to enforce church law on the ordination of women and its rejection by the slimmest of margins of a rite for the blessing of same-sex unions.

But despite that, said Bishop Catherine Roskam of the Diocese of New York, the church has taken a marked turn toward respecting divergent views, and, hopefully putting an end to its intercine disputes.”We definitely turned the corner at this convention,”she said.

The prime example of the shift was the election Monday (July 21) of an Oxford-trained bishop steeped in the Anglican tradition of tolerance toward opposing viewpoints to lead the church into the next century.

Since his election, Presiding Bishop-elect Frank T. Griswold III of Chicago has repeatedly urged Episcopalians in different camps to start talking and listening to each other. Griswold will replace Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning on Jan. 1.”I stand at the radical center,”Griswold said in an interview Thursday (July 24).”I want to go to that deep center on every issue. … I expect those on the extremes on both sides will find me frustrating. I will not be co-opted by anyone’s agenda.” Some traditionalists came away from the convention cautiously optimistic about the church’s new direction.

Dallas Bishop James M. Stanton was buoyed by what he said was the strong showing conservatives made in both the church’s House of Bishops and House of Deputies on debates over same-sex unions and other issues.”But I’m taking a wait-and-see attitude,”said Stanton, vice president of the American Anglican Council, an umbrella organization for conservatives in the Episcopal Church. He said he wants to see whether Griswold is really ready to talk with leaders of embattled conservative dioceses and who Griswold appoints to key church commissions.

Other conservatives took a dimmer view.

Diane Knippers, a spokeswoman for the council, dismissed Griswold as a liberal.”He’s not a centrist,”she said.”He represents a continuation of the current administration’s agenda.” However, Knippers, executive director of the Institute for Religion and Democracy, a Washington lobby, said the conservative influence is stronger within the denomination. She pointed to the strong showing in the presiding bishop’s election by conservative Cincinnati Bishop Herbert Thompson.

Thompson finished second to Griswold in the balloting, which included five candidates.

Bishop Jack L. Iker of Fort Worth, Texas, is one conservative who will be watching Griswold closely.

Iker’s diocese and three others are being targeted by a church law _ passed at the General Convention _ enforcing the acceptance of women priests. The dioceses of Fort Worth; San Joaquin, Calif.; Eau Claire, Wis., and Quincy, Ill., have been told they have three years to open their ministry doors to women.

Iker, who opposes women’s ordination, plans to resist the directive.”I am acting out my conscience,”he said.

Likening himself to a conscientious objector in wartime, he said,”Many times, those conscientious objectors face prison. And I cannot violate my conscience.” The enforcement of the church law on women priests was part of a pattern of legislation approved at the convention designed to tighten church regulations. Church legislators approved a sweeping restructure of the church’s bureaucracy, new mission programs and, for the first time in the church’s 208-year history, a definition of the church’s doctrine.

Some speculated the convention was putting its house in order in preparation for a possible agreement for intercommunion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Early in its meeting, Episcopal leaders approved an Episcopal-Lutheran Concordat, or agreement, that allows for shared ministries and the exchange of clergy. The agreement must next be approved by the ELCA at its Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 14-20, also in Philadelphia.

But putting the church’s house in order took a back seat at the General Convention to attempts at healing longstanding rifts and moving the church in a different direction.

The Rev. Gay Jennings, a deputy from the Diocese of Ohio, said:”I have a sense that the church is tired of fighting and being diverted from the mission of the church.” She acknowledged that a generational change was taking place in the church’s policy-making body. Baby-boomers _ those born between 1946 and 1964 _ are increasingly taking on leadership roles, she said.

A key interest for the boomers is mission work, particularly at the local level, and personal spiritual fulfillment, convention delegates agreed.

Roskam, of the New York diocese, said the House of Bishops also is changing.

With the retirement of some older black bishops and the loss of Latino bishops to a new denomination (some Central American dioceses that had been part of the Episcopal Church have transfered to a new jurisdiction), the House of Bishops is”getting whiter”in its racial makeup, Roskam said.

Without the presence of minority bishops to remind the church of social action needs, Roskam expressed concern the church may be less interested in minority issues.

MJP END BRIGGS