“It is the long-standing practice of our diocese to celebrate experimental rites blessing same-sex unions and to reject discrimination against gay or lesbian clergy,” Oasis President the Rev. John Kirkley said. “We will not be forced to the back of the proverbial church bus. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people continue to be welcomed as full members at Oasis congregations across the Diocese of California. Nor will we accept discrimination against qualified lesbian and gay clergy during the process of selecting our next Bishop.”

The moratorium—requested by 35 Anglican Primates after a meeting in Ireland—prompted a sharp rebuttal from Oasis, the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of California.

“We utterly reject the notion of a moratorium on the blessing of same-sex unions as incompatible with our experience of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of same-sex couples, the biblical command to love God and neighbor, and our baptismal promise to respect the dignity of every human being,” the Oasis Board stated in responding to the Anglican Primates’ Communiqué.

“For more than 25 years, our Diocesan Convention has repeatedly called for development of an authorized diocesan rite for the blessing of same-sex unions,” they stated. “The mind of the diocese on this matter has been expressed clearly by its clergy and lay leadership meeting in Convention.”

“We are mindful that our bishop has announced his retirement and called for the election of his successor,” the Oasis Board continued. “We support the Diocesan Standing Committee’s commitment to follow the procedure for an episcopal election as set forth in church law, and its refusal to discriminate against any qualified clergy who might be nominated in the course of the search process.”

“Since 1978, the bishops of the Anglican Communion have pledged to listen to the experience of gay and lesbian Christians, but have thus far failed to do so on a Communion-wide basis. It remains to be seen how such a process can be fruitful, given that the Primates have also requested that the two Provinces that have engaged most fully in this listening process (the Episcopal Church in the USA and the Anglican Church of Canada) withdraw from participation in the Anglican Consultative Council until the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in 2008,” Oasis continued. “We pray that the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church and our General Convention meeting next year will carefully consider the justice of this recommendation.”

“We acknowledge that the current crisis in the Anglican Communion regarding these issues is painful to many of the members of our diocese. We lament the vilification of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people on the part of some in the Anglican Communion, and call the Church to repentance for its ambivalence regarding the human dignity and sacramental equality of all God’s children. We will continue to advocate for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in church and society, and support congregations working to heal the divisions caused by heterosexism in our diocese and world-wide Communion,” the Board concluded. The full text of the Oasis Statement is available at http://www.oasiscalifornia. org/ and a list of Episcopal churches that welcome gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people is found at http:// www.oasiscalifornia.org/list.html.

--OASIS/California (a Bishop’s Charter Organization) is the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of California.