Friday, July 07, 2006

Religious bellweathers

Dan Filler over at Concurring Opinions suggests that some recent church elections could be the first signs that mainstream America is becoming slightly more moderate:

Bob Dylan was right. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. The best way to learn that is by following major church elections. Before I moved to Birmingham, I would never have noticed the incredibly important votes being held at the annual conventions of Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Southern Baptists. If you want to get a sense of the American mainstream, look no further than these meetings.

The Episcopalians, desperately trying to maintain a balance between their American progressive membership and the broader Anglican church, rejected a ban on gay bishops, but then adopted a non-binding resolution urging Episcopal leaders "to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any (bishop) candidate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion." And here in Birmingham, Alabama, of all places, Presyterians (by which I mean Presbyterian Church USA, the largest group of American Presbyterians) gave local church groups leeway to decide whether to ordain gay clergy, or allow gay members to become deacons and elders. While hardly an endorsement of gay clergy, the vote - by a relatively narrow 57% margin - was a significant step for the recognition of gay people as full members of the church.

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