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In a courtyard of the Wyndham Anatole hotel near downtown Dallas sit two tall, graffiti-strewn panels from the former Berlin Wall. ACT UP! NOW, says a spray-painted slogan on the left panel. SMASH NORMALE POLITIX, says the right panel.

Smashing normal politics, at least those of the Episcopal Church, has drawn nearly 2,700 Episcopalians to the Wyndham Anatole for a meeting that began at noon Tuesday and continues through noon Thursday.

"A Place to Stand," a conference sponsored by the American Anglican Council, is part unofficial church convention, part communiqué to the 38 primates (archbishops with national or transnational duties) of the Anglican Communion, and part pep rally for orthodox Episcopalians.

The Episcopal Church's General Convention, meeting in August, approved Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, as the bishop-elect of the Diocese of New Hampshire, and decided that "local faith communities" are functioning "within the bonds of our common life" when they bless same-sex couples. Conference speakers did not make frequent reference on Tuesday to those presenting issues, but criticisms of those votes met with thunderous applause and some standing ovations.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and House of Deputies President George Werner unsuccessfully asked to send four observers to the gathering, along with a letter Griswold had written to the gathering.

"We have had those who've tried to make this an official meeting by sending representatives or observers, and we've said no thanks," said the Rev. David Roseberry, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in the Dallas suburb of Plano.

The Rev. David Anderson, AAC's president and CEO, wrote to Griswold that anyone attending the conference must register as a participant, which includes affirming the theological statements in "A Place to Stand," the founding document of the AAC. That document commits its signatories to resist the Episcopal Church when it permits or authorizes "teachings and practices contrary to Scripture."

The conference did, however, welcome "ecumenical observers" from Eastern Orthodoxy and from "continuing Anglican churches"—bodies that have broken away from the Episcopal Church in past decades because of revisions to The Book of Common Prayer and General Convention's decision, in 1976, to authorize ordaining women to the priesthood. Those observers are from communions to the theological right of AAC, and they would have no trouble affirming the theology of "A Place to Stand."

Conference leaders also rejected media credentials for Louie Crew, founder of Integrity, the gay caucus within the Episcopal Church, and Katie Sherrod of Episcopal Women's Caucus. Both Crew and Sherrod write frequently for The Witness, a monthly magazine published by liberal Episcopalians.

'We cannot move with you'
Tuesday's sessions included a panel discussion by AAC leaders, a passionate address by the Rev. Kendall Harmon of the Diocese of South Carolina, and a solemn procession by the 46 deacons, 799 priests, and 46 bishops.

"In Minneapolis this summer, something moved," Roseberry said Tuesday morning, describing General Convention as a star moving off course from a beautiful constellation. "We are here today to say with solemnity and sorrow, We cannot move with you. … We belong to the wider Anglican Communion, and we will not depart from that."

Bishop Robert Duncan said he approached the House of Bishops on August 5, the day it approved Robinson's election as a bishop, "feeling as though I was facing my own execution." That feeling, he said, clarifies the mind, tears the heart, and frees the spirit.

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October (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47