What did this Episcopalian deputy mean by "We don't carry water for anyone?"

Factual Questions
1

I was watching CNN’s live coverage of the Episcopalian General Convention, and I’m confused by a bit of idiom that one of the speakers against the confirmation of Rev. Gene Robinson used.

He said (approximately-- I don’t have a transcript) “We must remember that we are only deputies. We don’t carry water for anyone.”

What, exactly, did he mean by this?

The only significance it has for me is as a reference to Christ’s instructions to the apostles to find the house in which they met for the Last Supper:

I have heard this presented as part of an argument that Christ taught tolerance for people who blur gender lines, since, in contemporary Jerusalem, carrying water was the exclusive province of women, to the point of being a practical taboo for men.

I wouldn’t like to see this thread become a debate about the validity of that argument-- I’m interested in knowing what was actually intended to be communicated.

Does anyone recognize this idiomatic expression?

(I’m sorry I can’t provide the identity of the speaker. Television is such an ephemeral medium.)

2

Here’s another use of it click on “cached” after google pops up with the link.

3

As I understand it, “I/We don’t carry water for anyone” means “I/We don’t do the bidding of other people”.

4

Carrying water, toting whiskey, my experience is that this means being submissive to another.

5

Here’s a recent usage I’ve heard: “Stephen Harper was really carrying water for Bush on Iraq.”

In the context of the quote you give, I’d suggest the speaker was saying that the deputies aren’t working on implementing the Gay Agenda™ - they’re just deputies dealing with a specific issue within the church.

6

Agreed. I’d take it as a more religious way of saying “we ain’t nobody’s bitch.”

7

Thanks folks, that makes the meaning abundantly clear!