Elections of the General Synod and Diocesan Boards

The elections for the General Synod and the Diocesan Boards were conducted yesterday and results are starting to come out. My first assessment is that there seems to be no major shift in church policies coming up. But a slight shift in balance might be enough for certain issues to become hot. Two of the most publicized issues for the newly elected General Synod will be to adapt rules of conduct in cases of openly homosexual clergy and to decide whether there should be a liturgical blessing for registered homosexual relationships. Unfortunately so.

Of course, this is my personal assessment only. These issues will definitely cause major division within the church. And there seems to be no way avoiding them. My hope is, however, that fresh thinking will help us avoid the worst case scenario. Local parishes should enforce policies where groups from different sides could coexist in peace and harmony. Well, maybe not harmony. That I don't have the courage to believe. But at least we could try to avoid kicking each others butts. Can we pray for that?