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UPPER SOUTH CAROLINA BISHOP REVEALS HOW RESOLUTION B033 WAS DONE IN PRIVATE MEMO
From the Rt. Rev. Dorsey F.Henderson
June 28, 2006
Sisters and Brothers, dearly Beloved:
I will communicate more with you anon--you have all been excellent beyond imagine--but I want to explain the writing and sponsorship of B033--at least from my perspective.
(If any of the details of the following are "imprecise", it is because things were moving so quickly the last couple of days that my memory may not be totally accurate--but I am confident of the essentials.)
I'm feeling self-conscious about my name appearing as the sponsor when, in truth, I was not the sole--not even the primary--author; I can only imagine that some exhausted person in a backroom of dispatch needed a name and chose mine as chair of the HOB Committee, from which the resolution at least seemed to emerge.
The draft of the resolution occurred like this: On Tuesday night, following the HOD's defeat of the resolution re: election of bishops, and alarmed that the GC might adjourn without responding to WR's request re: that critical subject, the HOB members of our special legislative committee met (at the request, or of the PB, or at least with his public statement of acknowledgment), the bishops on our Special Committee met. This was for the purpose of drafting a resolution which would then be presented to the Joint Session the following morning. We talked for half hour or so, made suggestions, and agreed to return at 7 the next morning with proposals. This we did, with Frank Wade+ present for the morning meeting. What was then drafted was presented to the Presiding Bishop at 8 AM; we met with him, Barbara Braver, and the Chancellor, as a group.
So the real sponsors (authors) were all of the bishops on the committee and Frank Wade+. It was not our intent to exclude the deputies, but the pressure of time, and the requirement that committee meetings be posted with 4 hour warnings prevented a full-membership meeting. If there is fault here, it is mine and I apologize. It was not my intention either to hog the glory or admit solely to the shame--glory or shame depending upon one's point of view.
Be that as it may, I have described the work of the Committee as "expensive". And I know how much it cost all of us--and, especially, some of us. My emotions have been, and remain, very close to the surface, but I cannot adequately express how grateful I am to you--and to God for you--and for your commitment and the cost you chose to bear for the good of the Body.
I miss you all, even in this exhaustion--and my commitment to prayers continues, just as I covet yours.
Blessings to you all, Dorsey
