Bishop Mark Dyer is the retired Bishop of Bethlehem (Pennsylvania, USA). He currently teaches at the Virginia Theological Seminary and worships at St. Mary’s, Arlington. He was the only ECUSA representative on the Lambeth Commission. Since the publication of the Windsor Report he has been speaking at many venues across the USA.
An audio tape of his remarks to the clergy of the Diocese of Virginia, on 15 November at Richmond, Virginia can be heard here. This is a very detailed analysis of the Windsor Report. Although it is very long, it is well worth listening to in full.
A transcript of his remarks at the Virginia Theological Seminary on 5 November can be found here.
Some of Bishop Dyer’s views have been strongly contested by American conservatives, see for example
Mark Dyer’s Departure from Theology and Faith Criticized
Mark Dyer, The Virginia Report, and the Promise of The Windsor Report.
Dyer Lecture Twists Windsor Report
Readers of TA must form their own views and are welcome to comment here.
Addition
Here is the statement from Bishop Mark Dyer issued to ENS at the time the Windsor Report was published.
The "conversation" which Bishop Dyer suggests now take place on the basis of the Windsor Report will be conducted, at best, through tightly clenched teeth. Otherwise the temptation to start shouting will be overwhelming.
First it will be necessary to arrive at some common ground where all can stand and know that the other side is at least standing in the same place. The difficulty in doing that will first be apparent when the "authority of Scripture" is being assessed. As things stand there is no agreement on this fundamental point. There can be no discussion when one side says, "This passage is the literal word of God, and to say otherwise is to be against God. This is the infallible truth." If all that can be said is, "You are a sinner, and we love you. But we hate the sin you commit. You must repent and be made anew", then one side of the conversation will stop listening.
Gay and lesbian people have been listening to that line for at least a century. Every one of us who is alive today and who has ever been part of the church has heard it. Most of us reject it -- it does not correspond with our experience of the revelation of the divine in Jesus of Nazareth. Some still have the stomach for the fight, but many more have given up in despair.
The Commission's elaborate ecclesiology (a new development which is unlikely to develop much mementum) must await the completion of these first steps.
Compromise may be possible among a small group of like-minded theologians, despite the differences of opinion to which Bishop Dyer referred, and despite what appears to have been strong pressure to reach unanimity. But nobody is going to be willing or able stand over whole churches and force them to talk to each other.
The distinct tenor of Bishop Dyer's remarks to the clergy of the diocese of Virginia was that it was for ECUSA (and those elsewhere who agree with the steps which were taken in 2003)to attempt to justify their position to the other churches in the Communion. If the explanations offered are not accepted, what is to happen? Should those who took the steps complained of simply "repent" as required by those who differ from the, repeal the acts of their synods and conventions, and go back to their former positions? That is unlikely.
Will everyone be willing to stay in this "conversation", supposing it can get started, for twenty, thirty or forty years? That, too, is unlikely. My suspicion is that nobody currently involved in this debate will be alive to see even the end of the beginning, let alone the beginning of the end.
Posted by: Rodney McInnes on Friday, 26 November 2004 at 4:56am GMT